There is a new face on the HSU campus in the Connally Missions Center, the new Baptist Student Ministry Director, Manny Silva.
His experience as a former BSM member, an associate college minister for a local church in Waco, seminary student and a member of a Hispanic church plant in San Antonio are four previous experiences which Hardin-Simmons University’s new BSM director, Manny Silva, believes has more than adequately prepared him for this role.
Silva grew up in Lubbock, got his undergraduate degree in religious education from Wayland Baptist University and went on to pursue a degree in Divinity from Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University. He began the role as the new director of the BSM here at HSU in June of 2022.
Silva shared his perspective on the importance of the job and why he loves that he has a chance to serve God in this way. “I believe college students are at a very unique stage of life. They are tasked with figuring out who they are, what they believe, and why they believe it, alongside hundreds of other people also on the same journey,” Silva said. “They are figuring out who God is to them, what He was like before, and the relationship they want to have with Him now.”
Silva wants to walk alongside Hardin-Simmons Students, helping them grow, mature and step intentionally and wisely into adulthood.
He believes that college students are one of the largest groups of people who actively try to make disciples of the people around them. He loves the passion and zeal college students have to go share the gospel with their fellow travelers. For many students, college is not just waking up and going to class, but asking, “Does my friend know about Jesus?” He sees one of his goals as cultivating that drive, helping students help themselves grow and help other people turn towards Jesus.
“I hope the BSM becomes a place for both non-believers and believers in Christ. A place where you can come to be encouraged and find community,” Silva said. “In college, a lot of the culture is to always be doing something. Always be studying, if you are not studying, be hanging out with friends, if you are not doing that, you absolutely have to be doing something else. I want the BSM to be a place that is the voice of counterculture. A place where you can slow down, rest, be quiet and listen, listen to God speak to you, because God speaks in the silence.”