Contact: Rachel Elwood, World Gospel Mission, 765-671-7255

MEDIA ADVISORY, Dec. 22 /Christian Newswire/ -- At a time when many college students are determining what to do after graduation, Student Involvement Centers are helping them understand their role in global missions. Todd Eckhardt, director of Homeland Ministries with World Gospel Mission, says reaching students while in college is crucial to their long-term involvement in missions, "Many of our current missionaries received their call to world missions while in college. It's one of the best times to teach individuals about their responsibility to reach the world for Christ."

World Gospel Mission currently staffs Student Involvement (SI) Centers at Asbury College, Kentucky Mountain Bible College, Ohio Christian University, and East Tennessee State University. SI Centers promote mission involvement by hosting cross-cultural events, global missions trips, local service projects, and weekly meetings where missionaries share about their ministry. As many as sixty students turn out for any given event.

"These events help students get an inside glimpse of what it means to be missional and helps them see how they can be involved," says Eckhardt. "The SI staff make missions fun and informative, like hosting a goat roast to promote missions in Africa, or providing opportunities to hang out and talk about how to be more missions-active in their daily lives."

SI staff place a strong emphasis on discipleship and utilize the World Go! Manual, a Bible study focused on missions and available for free on their website, as a resource. Additionally, for students who are preparing themselves for lifelong service in missions, SI Center staff offer one-to-one mentoring -- a service which many consider invaluable.

He continues, "Seeing missions first-hand in a place like Kenya, Uganda, Hungary or Mexico, as many of the SI Center students have, is an incredible life-changing experience. We use those experiences to help them understand how they can remain involved in missions long-term while providing resources that will be valuable for them long after they graduate."

About World Gospel Mission
World Gospel Mission disciples believers to become missions-active Christians. As an interdenominational missionary organization, WGM partners with individuals, small groups, college groups, and churches to intentionally address the physical and spiritual needs of individuals and communities. Learn more here.