Summer Missions through MC’s BSU equips students to ‘make disciples who make disciples’

Mississippi College students Jordan Allen, left, and Emma McConnell championed the cause of Christ by participating in the MC Baptist Student Union's Summer Missions Program.

Mississippi College student Emma McConnell was restless entering her final summer as an undergraduate.

The senior nursing major from Tupelo had never been out of the country, and she wrestled with the idea of spending six weeks abroad on a mission trip through the MC Baptist Student Union’s Summer Mission Program.

Then she prayed. And she found peace.

“God laid on my heart that I had been selfish with my summers,” McConnell said. “I wanted to see God’s heart for the nations up close and let the Lord use me as a vessel for people to hear the Gospel.”

Through the program, McConnell spent six weeks in South Asia, spreading the message of Jesus Christ from sunup to sundown.

It was the longest time she had ever been away from her family, but it was among the most fulfilling experiences of her life: she witnessed several people come to know Christ.

“Many people did not know who Jesus was and certainly did not know the sacrifice that He made for them,” she said. “Those who listened would have this amazed look in their eyes when we would tell them about the cross.

“When we evangelize, we are sowing seeds. God was so amazing to allow me to see how he can instantly work in people’s hearts, and that we are called to share for a purpose.”

McConnell’s classmate, Jordan Allen, was creating a vision board for 2025 when she instinctively wrote that she wanted to be more selfless and to allow God to guide her to a deeper understanding of His Word.

Saying “Yes” to God prompted the senior biology pre-med major from Ridgeland to serve in the Summer Missions Program. For eight weeks, she prepared Bible lessons, sorted food pantry bins, organized clothing donations, and helped lead music and activities at several Christian youth camps, from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade, in and around Arlington, Texas.

“It was inspiring to watch people from across the United States come together to help spread the Word of God,” said Allen, who was part of a team that registered families to receive school supplies. Her most memorable moment occurred when she helped deliver supplies to a family who couldn’t be reached by phone.

“When we knocked, the kids opened the door and immediately hugged us,” she said. “Seeing the joy on their faces, knowing they would be starting school with the items they needed, was unforgettable.”

Nineteen MC students visited nine countries on six different continents this summer, partnering with the North American Mission Board, the International Mission Board and the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board to help share the message of Christ.

Each year, the statewide BSU, the IMB and the NAMB highlight a number of mission opportunities for college students. The BSU equips and sends students across the world to serve either internationally or with the North American Mission Board.

Cody Counts, associate director of the MC BSU, said MC students served in six U.S. states, Mexico, Peru, Uganda, Great Britain, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.

“These college students come back from these trips on fire,” Counts said. “They come back with a purpose. They have a goal to use their time and their opportunities not for themselves, but to glorify God.

“They see their day-to-day interactions differently, with more meaning, as opportunities to share the Gospel. They tend to become more active in their local churches. As a campus BSU, not only do we want Christ’s name to be known, we want students to be discipled to or to become disciples.”

That goal is reflected in MC BSU’s motto: “Making disciples who make disciples.” It’s a simple concept that’s modeled by the Summer Mission Program.

MC students who serve as BSU summer missionaries may come from any field of academic study. Once approved by the statewide BSU and cleared by the International Mission Board or their local supervisors, the students are assigned to a preselected location or are offered another position based on input from their campus leaders and the state BSU Missions Team. Whenever possible, MC students are paired on their assignments with students from BSUs in Mississippi.

“It’s common for a student to be sent on a trip, and their teammate is a student from another college campus in the state,” Counts said. “It’s a good way to meet fellow like-minded believers who want to serve as student missionaries.”

Almost all of the field costs for stateside assignments are covered by the BSUs, who raise funds throughout the year for summer missions. Students selected for international assignments receive a scholarship for each week they will be serving, but must come up with the remaining funds on their own.

“Mississippi College has a history of being a mission-sending school,” Counts said. “You’ll see students in Christian Studies who want to become ministers and missionaries signing up for the program, but you also see students who are going into education or law or health care serving as missionaries.”

As a BSU employee, Counts is responsible for attracting participants to the program. He said there are no greater advocates than the student missionaries themselves.

“The students share the life-changing experiences they had on the trip, and their friends may realize this is something the Lord might also be calling them to,” he said. “We want more and more students to know that this is an opportunity for them to serve, and they can carry the lessons they learn – discipline, patience, how to deal with stress, time management – with them for the rest of their lives.”

After returning from her trip, McConnell discovered that the restlessness she experienced had been amplified by her newfound desire to take the Gospel to every nation.

“God has used me this summer in so many different ways that I never thought I could imagine,” she said. “He humbled and stretched me to the point that I feel like my life is completely different than what it was.

“The desire of my heart is to know Jesus better and to make him known to others. Jesus’ heart is for the nations to be reached, so how can I not go share the Gospel with the world when my Savior asks me to be a part of his great mission?”

Summer missions applications for 2026 will open on Friday, Oct. 3, on https://www.mississippibsu.com. Students interested in being a part of what God is doing through summer missions may visit the MC BSU House from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.