November 8, 2025
BIG TIMBER, Mont. — Few, if any, of those who organized the Georgia Baptist Student Union (later renamed the Baptist Collegiate Ministry) one hundred years ago had likely ever heard of Big Timber, Montana. Nor could they imagine that it would become a part of the living legacy of BCM a century later. That legacy includes two generations of Georgians who have been nurtured and shaped by the BCM.
Joel and Wendi Murphy were two young college students at Georgia Tech when they met at the BSU in the 1990s. They were both pursuing degrees in engineering and were married by Warren Skinner, who was serving as the BSU director at Georgia Tech at the time. After finishing their degrees, they began their careers and became active in their local church as teachers and in other areas of service. Oostanaula Baptist Church in Calhoun, Georgia, became their home church.
The couple had two sons, and Wendi transitioned to a full-time mom. Through a missions outreach ministry of the Gordon Baptist Association, God began to speak to them about a deeper commitment to life and service. It was what eventually led them to Big Timber.
Through the years, the Murphys have maintained contact with many of their friends from Georgia Tech. In the summer of 2024, a Tech BCM reunion was held in Montana. As the planning developed for the gathering, it morphed into a mission trip.
A crew of 21 gathered from across the nation to support the work in Big Timber. Wendi noted that many of their friends had met their future spouses through the BSU, including six of the couples on the mission trip.
This past summer, the work in Montana added a new generation of Georgia BCM missionaries serving under the Send Me Now emphasis. Ryley McKoy, a senior at Kennesaw State, and Jaylin Anderson, a junior at the University of North Georgia, spent eight weeks serving in Big Timber and Livingston, Mont. They were immersed in community missions to support the work of local churches.
McKoy, from the Atlanta area, is the technical director at FBC Lithia Springs and is majoring in Mechanical Engineering Technologies. He is a true BCM legacy; his parents met at the BCM while students at North Georgia College. His dad is currently serving as the discipleship pastor at FBC Villa Rica. Ken Jones was the BCM director at North Georgia in the 1990s when McKoy's parents, Kevin and Christy, met and he later conducted their wedding.
When McKoy and his parents went for a campus visit at KSU, they stopped by the BCM building and were surprised when Ken emerged from the office. McKoy said, “My mom and dad absolutely flipped out because we had no idea that he’d come out of retirement, or that he was at Kennesaw.” McKOy continued, “You talk about intergenerational! I mean, he’s (Ken Jones) discipled me; he’s discipled my dad... he continually encouraged and taught me what it means to actually be a follower of Christ!”
Anderson, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies, is active at The Branch Church in Dahlonega,Ga. He readily admits he was out of his element in Montana. Raised in Norcross, Ga., he considers himself a city boy. But by summer’s end, Anderson had acquired cowboy boots, a hat, a rodeo belt buckle, and a pearl-buttoned shirt.
McKoy and Anderson spent the summer coordinating the work of 28 mission teams from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Tennessee. At times, they worked with as many as three teams a week, which varied in size from 15 to 50 members. The focus of their work was meeting community needs through service.
In this largely unchurched region, Anderson explained, “There’s some people that have generations of family who have never been Christian, they have never been exposed, so it’s important to show love to others... because eventually people realize that there’s something different about you. And when they ask the question ‘why,' you can point that back to Christ.” The moto of the churches where they served is, “If you have a need, call us.”
Anderson said one of the jobs mission teams took on was cleaning porta-potties during the annual rodeos in Big Timber and Livingston. The townspeople had two responses to their work. The first was, “These are the cleanest porta-potties we have ever seen!” The second was, “Why are you out here doing this?” And that, he said, can lead to a gospel conversation, and they can point them to Christ.
Both Anderson and McKoy point to the same experience as the defining moment of their summer mission work. In Livingston, they met a 34-year-old man confined to a wheelchair by a degenerative neurological disease. His washer and dryer had stopped working, and the mission team used part of their funds to replace them—hauling out the old machines and installing new ones.
The next day, volunteers returned to mow and clean his yard. Both young men described the dramatic change in the man’s attitude and countenance toward them and the other mission teams as they helped take care of his needs.
Later, in a follow-up conversation, Darryl Brunson, pastor of Expedition Church in Livingston, said the impact was ongoing. “Let’s just say he has invited us into his life,” Brunson explained. “We are continuing to work on that relationship, sharing the gospel and caring for him at the same time. What we have found in Montana is that relationships that grow lead to spiritual and gospel conversations that stick.”
Furthermore, Brunson said he emphasizes to the summer missionaries and the church that, “Your life should match your words, and the love of Christ is sharing and living the gospel. Nobody loves Livingston like Jesus does!”
As the Georgia BCM marks its 100th year, the stories of the Murphys, McKoy, and Anderson echo the impact of a century of ministry that has shaped countless lives. Through the faithful giving of Georgia Baptists to the Cooperative Program, students have been discipled and the gospel has been shared from campuses across Georgia to communities like Big Timber. With continued prayer and support, the influence of BCM and Send Me Now will continue to touch lives and carry the message of Christ even farther in the years ahead.
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