About Refuge Student Ministries

Who We Are

We’re a connecting place; a place of Refuge for teens to come connect with God, connect with new friends, connect with purpose and mission, and then go be a person of Refuge for others in their community. Our purpose is simple: to love and honor God in all we do and to lead others to do the same.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)

So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.
We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:20)

REFUGE IS HERE is the mantra of RSM. More than a name, “Refuge” points to our greatest treasure and love – God. He is our “Refuge”. He is who we rest in, trust, depend on, cling to, look to and desire most.

God has never encouraged believers to run from life, culture, or people who sin differently than we do. He didn’t design the church to be a hiding place for Christians or to be a bubble from sin and danger. God is our Refuge. The church is our connecting family where we can come, grow together, love together, be challenged together, and then go back out together. Our passion as a church is to be Refuge wherever we go and lead others to love this God of Refuge. Our hope is students will come to Refuge, engage God in a real and life-changing way, then want to go be a person of “Refuge” wherever they go; thus, wherever they are they can say “Refuge is here”.

Our Philosophy of Ministry and Missions

Bethany Baptist Church is a gathering of people and families who seek to Encounter God, Equip People and Engage Our City. This purpose extends even to our teen ministry.

Everything we do in Refuge has a purpose. We play games to build relationships, plan activities to help bring discussions and topics to life, go on trips (such as retreats and conferences) to help students grow deeper in their faith and lead mission projects (here at home, nearby or across the globe) to help students understand their role in Jesus’ mission to bring people back to Himself.

Biblically, missions is not something we do, but something we are. We are missionaries sent by God [John 17:18], living among people God loves dearly [John 3:16], working for the peace of the city [Jeremiah 24:9] and begging people to come back to God [2 Corinthians 5:20]. We are missionaries loving people in our own city and schools while looking for opportunities to join God where He is working in other parts of our country and world.

In addition to numerous local projects and opportunities here at home we have also taken students to numerous places engaging, loving and leading people of all sorts of backgrounds. Over the years we have led student groups to: South Carolina, Bryson City (NC), New Mexico, New York City, Philadelphia, Mexico, Kenya (Africa), and Israel/Palestine, to name a few. We take missions seriously, because God takes it seriously.