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This article is a part of a series we are running in 2024. You can read Marty’s introduction here.
Marty started working at Impact Campus Ministries (ICM) because of a fire in his belly that was lit in Israel. As he learned about the rabbinical methods of discipleship, he struggled to find a way to implement them in the church. Marty wanted to work with young adults who could make their own decisions, but also have a level of freedom to say yes to opportunities that often elude those of us with families and careers. College students were the perfect demographic.
As somebody with a teaching gift, Marty naturally created a Bible study that was focused on trying to learn about better and more historically informed readings of the Scripture. He had a conviction that young adults wanted more Bible, not less. But in order to engage it, we would need to openly and directly address some of the abuses and misuses of Scripture they knew too well.
Class started in the fall of 2011 with two students on the University of Idaho campus; that quickly became 6–8 students. Two months later, there was one student who began studying with Marty at Washington State University. We had almost 20 students after the holiday break. Those groups of students became a tight-knit community of “disciples.” These students were learning and wrestling together, building friendships that were built on common experiences.
Those groups experienced a two-year curriculum that went through the whole Bible and into church history. Many of them traveled with Marty to Israel and Turkey for scholarship-supported study tours. A few of them joined him in a more intentional, daily discipleship relationship, working alongside him at ICM.
Over the next five years, students would graduate and move on. New groups, filled with new students, would start at the beginning. The groups would grow and evolve, but the college students had a place to be curious and still find spiritual mentorship.
This is where BEMA had its beautiful beginnings.
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