Vicky Smith
Student Life Editor
@pinkwritinglady
For over 30 years, Cameron Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) Director Danny Toombs has strived to show college students the love of Christ. He reflects BCM’s theme of the academic year: 1 Timothy 4:10: “That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.”
Before Toombs impacted the lives of countless college students, he was a Cameron student himself – one who studied for classes, worked a campus job and attended BCM services.
During his last year of college, he was president of what was known as the Baptist Student Union Council. In 1982, Toombs’s BCM director asked him to join staff part time.
Toombs soon became associate director, a position he filled for 19 years. In fall of 2001, he took the role of director and has held it for over 10 years now.
Toombs said he continues to serve at BCM because of God’s calling on his life, as well as his genuine love for students.
“I still love my job,” Toombs said. “Just seeing students when the light comes on, when they get it, it’s just really well worth it.”
He said his mission is to not only “connect students in a relationship with God but also connect them to a church.”
According to Toombs, every student from every background with every past is welcome through the doors of BCM.
“None of us are perfect,” he said. “I’m a recipient of God’s grace, and all I can do is extend God’s grace … It’s about taking people where they are and helping them move toward a relationship with God … if it’s introducing them to that relationship or helping them grow.”
Skyler Hudson, a junior health science major, is an active member of BCM and a living example of how Toombs serves as God’s water bucket to students; he shares the Gospel to water the seed within each heart and prays it will bloom.
Hudson said his choice attend BCM “has helped him grow in his relationship with God a lot.”
Jessica Fernandez, a junior music major, is a lead singer of the BCM band and has known Toombs for three years.
Fernandez said Toombs is “so positive, and that’s very rare in this world.”
“He’s shed some light in a lot of the darkness,” she said. “People come and they have issues, and they have problems – but Danny, he doesn’t turn anyone away.”
Fernandez said when Toombs greets people, he takes interest in the unique details of their lives.
“He’s really intentional,” she said. “You can see it in the small things. He takes the time to know every single person, not just their name and their face, but he talks to everyone – every time they come through the door.”
For students who desire to be active in BCM, Fernandez said Toombs finds “something for everyone to do to get plugged in so that they all feel ownership of something.”
She said she can definitely see the passion he has for his spiritual work.
“I think every week that we meet,” she said, “he always ends by saying, ‘You guys know that I love you, right?’”
Fernandez said Toombs knows the Word of God and looks to the Lord for guidance in everything.
“I think most of all,” she said, “he’s one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met – doesn’t fake anything. … I think that other people feed off how real he is, and they know that they can trust him. … They know that he loves them.”