FM72

Just nightly concerts and a white tent… or much, much more?

Last night with baptisms!

Prior to last week, I had no idea what FM72 was. I thought it was just a Waco radio station that maybe played worship music, as one of my Christian friends had mentioned it several weeks ago. However, what I came to discover about a week before it started, was that this was no radio station or longstanding Baylor tradition, but a movement that was initiated six (I think) years ago by pastors and college ministry staff from the area.

The “FM” in the title refers to “Fountain Mall,” which is at the center of Baylor’s campus. There is a large grassy area with a large fountain on the one end. There are often concerts or events held on Fountain Mall and if you are wandering around campus, you’ll always see something happening out there.

Secondly, the “72” part of the title stands for 72 hours. During the 72 hours from Sunday evening to Wednesday evening, there is nonstop prayer on Fountain Mall. While originally this sounded crazy to me, I soon saw that God can do amazing things if His people commit and dedicate time to intentionally seek Him.

During this week, there was a stage setup on one end of Fountain Mall for nightly worship and messages. On the other end, there was a large, white tent. This tent was there to provide a space to intentionally encounter God and spend time with Him. They had some tables, chairs, and turf on the ground inside along with Bible verses, prayers, and insights about God lining the sides. The tent was available at all times to anyone and everyone during those 72 hours, from middle of the day to 3 a.m. in the morning, and there was never a time I didn’t see people in it (although I didn’t check at 3 a.m. haha).

Every night there was an hour of worship and a speaker with a specific message and it was amazing to see how many people attended each of the nights. While the speakers were good, the thing that stood out to me and impacted me the most during these times was the worship. Different people led worship each night, so the songs and styles varied slightly, but it was so encouraging to be worshiping alongside hundreds and thousands of fellow Baylor students. We sang songs I’ve never heard before, and worshiped with others that I’ve sung so many times. However, each song pointed us back to the reason why we were all there and the whole point of the event: that God was in control, deserving of our praise, and was the reason why we have true joy.

In addition to these nightly sessions, I was able to make time to visit the tent several times throughout the several days it was happening. It was inspiring to see so many other people there praying alongside everyone else. It makes me so thankful to attend a Christian college and live in a nation where we can do this freely in public without being persecuted for our faith. So inspiring and amazing to see how God is working at Baylor.

One of my favorite aspects of FM72 was the last night where they baptized 32 people! These were people who genuinely had accepted God and wanted to publicly declare to others that they were dead to their sin, buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to walk in newness of life in Him and Him alone. To say that all of us watching and supporting those being baptized were excited would be an understatement. Seeing the physical representation of salvation in someone’s life is perhaps one of the most amazing things we may ever see, in my opinion, and the atmosphere was electric.

Throughout the time I spent at FM72, I was hoping to grow closer to God, which I was able to do, but I also met and grew closer to a few guys I didn't expect to. One of the nights I was able to meet two other guys from a different dorm and pray with them which was cool. I was also able to grow closer with a couple guys in my dorm by worshiping with them, discussing how we’re doing faith wise, and talk about what we took away from the intentional time focused on God.

Baylor is built on tradition, which makes it such an amazing and unique university. From running the line, Homecoming, Sing, Dia, and so many other things, they contribute to the Baylor culture. However, as I mentioned prior, I didn’t realize FM72 was even a thing until a week before it happened. While all these other traditions are fun and cool, I believe FM72 should be ranked with those other traditions due to its impact and how it points the entire campus to God and His goodness.

I’m so thankful for FM72 and the opportunity it gave me to intentionally strengthen my faith. I hope I can take what I learned and experienced into the rest of the semester and the summer to live fully surrendered to God’s will and plan for me. The work God did on Baylor’s campus during FM72 is just the tip of the iceberg, and I can’t wait to see how He continues to move.