By Erianne Lewis | Staff Writer
FM72 , an event dedicated to praying and worshiping among Baylor students, concluded Wednesday at McLane Stadium amidst the subtle misting showers. The event garnered a large turnout of students, faculty and members of the community.
The event began with worship and then transitioned to guest speaker Nik Ripken, a missions veteran who served for over 30 years in primarily North Africa and the Middle East. Ripken spoke about his mission work, particularly about the time he spent in Somalia and Ethiopia. The overall message from Ripken’s sermon was to remember to constantly obey and listen to the Lord.
San Antonio junior Skyler Robles said she chose to go to the event, not only because she is apart of the Vertical student ministry, also because of how she was left feeling after the event two years ago.
“I wanted to be here, because I was here two years ago when it happened. I just really saw the Lord move through the event and throughout the rest of the semester,” Robles said. “[I’ve enjoyed] definitely how prayerful everyone has been, and the sense of community, that’s just been here. Everyone is willing to pray for each other, and just the vulnerability of so many different students is really, really encouraging, because vulnerability breeds vulnerability. So, we are just able to all love each other better, and see what the love of Christ looks like.”
San Antonio junior Courtney Anderson said she enjoyed seeing the diverse group of people participating in the event.
“I was also here two years ago, when it was on fountain mall. It was so cool to see people from all over Baylor, and all different churches throughout Waco come together worshiping one God, because that is truly what we are doing; that was just a really cool experience, so I was excited to come back again,” Anderson said.
Especially after COVID-19 restrictions, she said she appreciated most seeing everyone boldly worship, in a safe way.
“I think that through COVID, we went a long time without being able to corporately worship and the Lord was still moving during that time, but it’s also cool to see everyone get back and do this in a COVID safe way. Being able to corporately worship the Lord together has been a really cool experience,” Anderson said.
After Ripken spoke, there was more worship and praise. As the event concluded, students were urged to head over to the prayer tent on Fountain Mall to continue praying, worshiping and conversing with friends throughout the night.
