Kyle Field is home to the Texas A&M football team on Saturdays, but Tuesday night it belonged to the thousands of students gathered for Breakaway Ministries annual Go! Missions conference. Thirty-nine mission agencies from around the world arrived in College Station for the two-day event to provide students with various mission opportunities.
Mission organizations from across the globe set up tables inside the stadium and presented a variety of overseas and domestic opportunities to students interested in volunteering overseas. Students could narrow down their choices by choosing short or long-term trips. The gates opened at 7 p.m. and remained crowded with students long after Breakaway ended.
We heard about A&M and have had several students help, said Ashleigh Beckmann from Send International, one of the missions. We thought it would be an awesome opportunity to get students who are already really excited about God and to talk to them about joining the mission field short or long term.
Mission organizations had trips for all majors, and some agencies offered internships. The purpose of Go! Missions is to give students the chance to utilize their degrees to help spread the gospel across the globe.
I want to know what a day in the life of a missionary is like and what it is like evangelizing in a country where the gospel isnt widely heard, said Bernine Gaona, junior psychology and sociology double major.
The International Justice Mission is one organization that provides students with an internship.
IJM is a Christian human rights organization that is made up of lawyers, caseworkers, social workers, communication majors, said Lindsey Landers, freshman business major and president of the International Justice Mission chapter at Texas A&M. They go into other countries and push casework through dealing with any type of oppression like human trafficking, child prostitution, slavery. IJM has 16 field offices all over the world. Internships are available and help with the cases.
Jeremy McCasland, director of operations for Breakaway Ministries, said part of what Breakaway does is to spread the word about the gospel, and the missions provide an opportunity to do so.
Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all nations, McCasland said. As part of that command we believe at Breakaway that if we arent providing the opportunity for students to go, then were doing something that is wrong.
The traditional portion of Breakaway began at 9 p.m. despite inclement weather with acclaimed Christian artists Shane and Shane leading the crowd in worship. Shane Barnard and Shane Everett are former students of Texas A&M and have sold more than 500,000 records.
After Shane and Shane performed, Louie Giglio, director of Passion Conferences, spoke to students about the importance of missions. Passion Conferences is an annual gathering held in Atlanta, Ga. for college students aimed at uniting thousands of students in the name of Jesus.
One of the reasons I minister to college students is because they are going somewhere, Giglio said. Missions are about going where your passion leads you.
Combining Breakaway with Go! Missions helps students to reacquaint themselves with their faith and to motivate them to introduce it to others.
This conference is about casting a vision of what we were created to do, which is to honor God with our life, McCasland said. He wants us to share the love he has given us with other people. The core of Go! Missions is the gospel, making sure people hear the good news and sharing it with others.
The second phase of the conference will be held Wednesday at First Baptist Church Bryan beginning at 7 p.m. Current missionaries from Africa, Europe, Asia and other countries will hold smaller sessions for students to ask questions and learn more about the missions.