EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an expanded article based on the 2020 Cooperative Program Prayer Guide for Oklahoma Baptists. For more information, please visit www.oklahomabaptists.org/cp.
Tulsa Community College (TCC), at both its Southeast and Metro campuses, is a “commuter” school, meaning its students don’t live on campus, but commute to and from it, between work, home and other activities.
This makes Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) work creatively to engage students in discipleship and Christian leadership, but Kyle Thomas is up to the task.
“We strive to enter into the commuters’ routine from parking lot to class to parking lot for the sake of the Gospel,” said Thomas who began serving as TCC BCM director in January 2019. “A main way we accomplish this goal is by being one of the most active student organizations on campus.”
It’s a strategy that appears to be working.
“We’ll have 70 to 80 kids for large group worship Thursday night, and we had 130 kids come to a dodgeball tournament last fall,” Thomas said. “We have four small groups of between five and 15 kids each, and we have 25 of them in leadership.”
Thomas also meets for one-on-one intensive discipleship individually with five male students.
The students served with Disaster Relief in the spring of 2019 in Burgaw, N.C., clearing trees, organizing a warehouse and repairing a house. The TCC BCM also partners with the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, collegiate ministry.
“I felt called to ministry when I was at Falls Creek in 2006,” the Tulsa native said. “For college, I went to NEO (Northeastern Oklahoma College) in Miami and was discipled by a BCM guy there.
“That showed me how important discipleship is,” Thomas continued. That’s where God gave me a heart to do discipleship with students. My goal is to be personally investing in students.”
He and his wife Nikki have two young sons.
Because of the generous giving of Oklahoma Baptists through the Cooperative Program, an amazing array of ministries are supported. This unified giving encourages fellowship with other believers all over the world. Collectively, Oklahoma Baptists are advancing the Gospel together. Learn more at www.oklahomabaptists.org/CP
