On The Mark

Each year Southern Baptist International Student Ministry (ISM) workers gather for a one-day gathering called High Impact. This ISM gathering promotes fellowship and collaboration with those who work with the brightest minds in the world.  The meeting is annually timed to be held just prior to the Association of Christians Ministering to Internationals (ACMI). Columbia, South Carolina will host this 2011 June 1-2 meeting.

The details and registration for this meeting will be released by the NAMB collegiate evangelism team around December 1st on www.studentz.com.  Here are a few things you can expect from this meeting.

1.  On Wednesday the meeting will begin with registration at Columbia International University (CIU) followed by dinner at the USC Baptist Collegiate Ministry.  The dinner is provided by the BCM South Carolina state collegiate office.   During dinner participants will hear from a USC speaker and then tour the campus and downtown area.  A bus will take people from and to the CIU campus.

2.  High Impact seminars will begin Thursday morning at CIU.  The 9 am- 3:30 PM meetings will include two general sessions and two breakout sessions.  Each breakout is being designed to facilitate specific concerns of volunteers and full-time ministers/missionaries.  Kevin Ezell, new president at the North American Mission Board, will speak to the group via a pre-recorded presentation. Breakfast and lunch are provided by NAMB as well as overnight campus dorm housing on Wednesday evening.

According to the US State Department, during the 2009/10 school year there were 721,000 international students and scholars on US college and university campuses.  In addition to students, there were 113,000 research scholars and 58,000 intensive English study students.  More detailed statistics can be found at Open Doors.