Beth Gardner said the invites started in October 2024, and in April 2025, they paid off. All that time, a student — Kendall — had been asking another student to come to Baptist Campus Ministries gatherings at the University of South Alabama, where Beth serves as a campus minister. And finally, that student said yes.

“She said she knew she needed to come,” Beth said.

The two students are continuing to meet and study the Bible together. Beth said it’s a reminder for her “of how we should never stop praying and inviting people.”

That’s part of the idea behind Cultivate, a partnership Alabama WMU forged with the state’s BCMs during the 2024-2025 school year. Everyone who is a part of Cultivate prays weekly for BCMs around the state and for the hearts of the students they’re trying to reach. They’re also encouraged to adopt a campus minister.

Candace McIntosh, Alabama WMU executive director, said Cultivate “has gone deep and wide fast.”

“We have just under 400 who are receiving the weekly ‘pause and pray’ emails,” she said.

And Baptist campus ministers are reporting that God is at work — students are coming to Bible studies, sharing the gospel with other students and responding to a call to ministry.