Flapjacks, hotcakes, griddle cakes – whatever they’re called, pancakes often result in a mouth-watering smile. “I think it probably goes back to our childhood, maybe. It just puts us back-at-home, where we’re comfortable,” theorizes Jake Hancock, who serves Baptist Campus Ministry (BCM) at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond.
"It was just the most encouraging, heart-warming thing, to hear and to watch my student leaders be risky with their faith and share the Gospel.”
About the pancakes-faith connection:
A ministry event called “Late Night Pancakes” has been an annual event there for years, but the most recent pancake dinner saw an explosion of student interest. “We ended up serving about 5,000 pancakes to about 2,500+ students.” That’s unheard of. Jake describes the patiently-waiting students outside BCM’s building as “a large swarm of people” and shares that “we were trying to cook the pancakes as fast as we can - on as many griddles as we had…and got to build a lot of really great relationships” along the way.
And relationships are what matter. They can lead people to Jesus.
“We saw more Gospel conversations happen” as BCM volunteers met students outside and inside, striking up conversations about college, life concerns, and faith. As the team leader, Jake smiles and tells us, “It was just the most encouraging, heart-warming thing, to hear and to watch my student leaders be risky with their faith and share the Gospel.” That takes courage, the kind that is inspired by God.
But the large response to the free pancake dinner was only the first in what turned out to be an amazing week.
(Rather listen to this faith-filled story? Podcast)
A follow-up outreach, open to freshmen only, was an ice cream social. Traditionally, this event sees about a hundred students, “but we ended up seeing about 350 freshmen show up to hang out, play games, eat some ice cream – ice cream eating competitions – and we saw more Gospel conversations happen.”
For the BCM team, the next day was a third huge answer to prayer. A worship session called “Amplify” maxed out the chapel. To accommodate all the student interest, an overflow room was quickly set up with stools, benches, and couches. “We didn’t have enough seats, so people just started sitting on the ground. And it was just electrifying to see the crowd, excited to learn more about Christ.”
We asked Jake directly, “Was this a God thing?” He emphasized, “Oh, unmistakable! There’s no way a man could pull this off. There’s no way our student leaders or myself – or anybody – could manufacture this! This is 100% the Holy Spirit at work. And we just get to be spectators watching God move.”
Hear our full interview and share in the excitement:
