Heather Adams
Published: November 9, 2005
Baptist Collegiate Ministries hosted Schmack, an annual cookout with music and prizes, on Oct. 26. It was a good turnout for the group with approximately 490 students coming to get a free hamburger and to listen to the music from Takin Back, a local band.
Tony Olesky, director of the ministry, has helped to put on Schmack every year for 20 years. The purpose is to promote the ministry and to provide free food and prizes for the students.
The members of the club walked among the tables of students asking very politely if they would mind filling out a survey, which included questions like, “If you died today, do you know what would happen to your soul?”
“We want people to check us out and come visit. They’ll find out it’s a friendly place,” Olesky said.
Leuis Garvin, 24, is a student from University of West Florida, and he has been a part of the club since 1999. He has had a variety of positions in the club including president and vice president, but took the title of master of ceremonies for this year’s Schmack.
“I think it lets people know that we’re there to help them and to tell them the good news of Christ,” Garvin said.
The ministry does several things in the community such as hurricane clean up and fund raising for evangelical missions trips.
“We try to focus on one person, and we try to get everything they need done,” said Jon Mark Olesky, president of the club, referring to the hurricane clean up trips.
The activity the group participates in the most, however, is prayer.
“We pray for the PJC campus. We pray for the people who go here and for our teachers,” Jon Mark Olesky said.
Anyone interested in going to a Baptist Collegiate Ministries meeting can meet at noon on the first and fourth Wednesday of every month, in Rm. 509 of the student center. The club also meets at UWF on Thursdays.