“You’re the Christian.”

Rayanna Cape hears this often during her work on campus at the University of Vermont (UVM). She serves as a collegiate missionary through the North American Mission Board (NAMB). “Yeah, I am the Christian,” Cape responds. She has interacted with countless students on campus who say she is the first Christian they have ever met.

Shandon Baptist Church introduced Cape to the partnership in Vermont through a vision trip supported by the Janie Chapman State Missions Offering. During this trip, the missionaries opened Cape’s eyes to the need on campus. “It was amazing to see God’s light in the darkness,” she said. The trip was a confirming factor for her to follow the Lord’s calling to Vermont.

Navigating Spiritual Darkness

A university with a rich historical tradition, UVM was chartered in 1791, the same year that Vermont became the 14th state. It was also the first established secular university in the U.S. According to recent studies, less than 11% of Vermont residents identify as evangelical Protestant, and less than 4% identify as Baptist. These facts present barriers for believers and the advancement of the Gospel in Vermont, as church planters and missionaries face religious skepticism and often find difficulty in building trust. From what she’s seen, students on campus are “environmentally and social justice conscious, and they want to be helpful and love well, they just don’t know how,” Cape said.

She experiences rejection often, many times purely because she is a Christian. “I got rejected this week by a girl because of my stance on something, which was funny because I never actually said my stance on anything. I just believed in God and in the Bible,” she said.

Despite this, she has seen students come to faith. “We’ve had people already accept Christ who know nothing about the Bible, but the Holy Spirit awoke their heart to it,” she said. “That’s kind of what it’s like on campus. It’s like walking in a dark place, but you’re just watching God do miraculous things at the same time.”

Partnerships in Vermont

SCBaptists are partnering to share the Gospel in Vermont and supporting missionaries through NAMB’s Send Network and the Baptist Churches of New England. SCBaptist sent teams of college students to help with a large regional college ministry event, hosted a training to equip collegiate pastors, and sponsored several Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) students to serve as summer missionaries on campuses across Vermont.

Recently, SCBaptist leaders took a team of South Carolina college ministers on a vision trip to Vermont to encourage churches to partner in reaching college students in this region. Looking ahead, SCBaptists plan to send a group of Winthrop University’s BCM students to Vermont in 2025 to meet with missionaries, see the campuses, and share the Gospel with students.

Starting New Work

Just down the road from Cape, Hannah Jackson serves on campus at Vermont State University, where her role is to pioneer the campus and help connect the local church to start a ministry on campus. A graduate of the University of South Carolina Upstate, Jackson first learned about the opportunities in Vermont through her involvement with BCM. “While in Vermont, I got to not only tour the campuses and learn about the culture on campus but also meet some of their students and hear their experiences,” Jackson said.

Through her efforts on campus, she was able to start a Bible study for students. The group allowed the students to meet other believers, form relationships, and create community. Jackson never envisioned herself as a missionary in Vermont. “You never know where God’s going to put you. I definitely did not see myself here, but it’s been great, and the return is tenfold,” she said.

In addition to sending and supporting collegiate missionaries, SCBaptists are exploring partnerships with churches and church plants in Vermont and New England through vision trips. “One of the things I’m reminded about every time I venture out into different parts of New England is there is a constant darkness that just seems to hover over this place spiritually,” Tim Owens, Church Planting Catalyst in Vermont with the Send Network, said. “We believe it’s our responsibility through planters and other pastors to help change the story of a city, of towns, of villages, and of this nation,” he said.

Doug Mize pastors Greer First Baptist Church and joined a recent vision trip. “Pray about Vermont,” he said. “It’s not just a beautiful place, but where the Gospel is desperately needed in one of the most unreached states in all of the country.”