Forgot to pack your faith for college?         
     
    Cindy Guiles has a bit of advice she wants to pass on to high school students-it's cool to be a Christian.
     Guiles is director of Stetson University's Wesley Foundation.
     In an effort to create a spiritual link between middle, high school and college students, Guiles and active students in the campus ministry hosted three United Methodist youth groups from the DeLand District in March. 
Guiles said partnering with local churches is an excellent way to "pour back into the local church." "We are training leaders for the church." 
     Jana Hart, executive director of the Florida's Conference Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry, said the ministry's goal is reaching out to young adults, who are often searching for their identity or becoming disconnected from their local church once they go away to school.
     The ministry calls students into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, trains them to become servant leaders and sends them to serve God through the local church.
     But BHECM is working to do an even better job helping college kids serve their church and keep the faith. It's creating partnerships with young adult ministries surrounding each campus site to assist the conference in developing young disciples as ministers/servants in the United Methodist Church. It is also encouraging campus ministries to raise more of their ministry funds and continues to evaluate the structure of accountability for its board and local units.
"We want to bridge the gap that happens sometimes when kids go off to college; they fall away [from their faith]," said the Rev. John Denmark, BHECM chairman,
.      "We have students who were unchurched come to know the Lord. We are preparing a new generation of Christian leaders. We're excited about the future of campus ministries."  Full Story