This outreach was developed in 2006 at Louisiana Tech through the BCM campus ministry and several churches.  It was conceived of by adapting the confession concept promoted in Blue Like Jazz. 

Watch the video and contact the sources at the end of the DVD.  See: www.studentz.com/lovehate

Those who held the event:

• Casey Casaday - LA Tech, event creator
• Dr. Eddie Gilley - UF BCM
• Tony Olesky - UWF BCM
• Cliff Fuller - Mercer BCM

In February of 2007 UNF BCM took place in an evangelism project that was promoted at National Collegiate Week in August 2006 in Ridgecrest , N.C. Love/Hate started out as an event approved by the school, but BCM's association with the event was kept anonymous to prevent people from being bias when thinking and responding to topics. One of the local churches, Chets Creek (local Baptist church), gave money, advice, and support to help make this event possible.

The first week students went out in the middle of the night and put out 250 signs with the word "Love" on one side, and the word "Hate" on the other. It was interesting because the next day was one of the days when a campus "preacher" came and yelled at students calling them names and proclaiming condemnation. Some of the students listening actually held up signs that they pulled from the ground. Clearly, BCM had a different mission than this man yelling at students. A day later almost all the signs had been stolen but we were able to locate them and get them returned through a third party negotiation.

The next week the students put out 10 response boards with topics such as dating, college, family, friends, religion, and Christianity. There were two columns under each topic for people to respond. In one column people could write all the things they loved about a particular topic. In the other column people were able to write down all the things they hated about that topic. Student Affairs did decide to cover up some of the obscenities that were written during the week. Overall, Student Affairs was very supportive. During the day there would be small crowds of people around each sign reading and writing. It was clearly interesting the campus community. People were trying to figure out who wasa behind it.

At the end of the week, the students in BCM read all of the responses and wrote letters on poster boards. These letters were apology letters for how so many times we as Christians can give off the wrong message…a message of hate and judgment instead of Christ's love and forgiveness. When the BCM students were responding they were carefully reading and hearing what people were saying. It definitely gave them insight into how Christians are perceived on campus.

The next week, these letters were posted on campus for all to see. People were able to read the apology letters and see the hearts of Christians. They were able to see that Christians have hurts and heartache as well; they are not perfect. Everyone in BCM had a "Love/Hate" t-shirt that they wore throughout this week. The shirts enabled the student population to see individuals who were behind the Love/Hate program and ask any questions they had. Many of the students had opportunities to share about Love/Hate and more importantly share about Christ as a result wearing these shirts. One student was in class where the professor saw her shirt and asked her to share with the class about Love/Hate. The shirts provided lots of opportunity for us to share about Christ.

At the end of the week, BCM hosted a forum where people could discuss 3 topics: racism, religious intolerance, and sexuality. This was a success because many people from the general student population came, instead of just the regular BCM crowd. People were able to ask questions they had about these topics and a moderator kept things in control. One of the reasons we did this was a way of taking action on some of the issues raised through the campaign. The school wanted to see our organization address some of the issues that were raised.

All in all, the Love/Hate event that BCM hosted this spring was a bridge that enabled Christians to see the way non-Christians think about life and view Christians; it also allowed non-Christians to see Christians being honest about themselves and their faith. Most importantly, Love/Hate provided witnessing opportunities that may not have taken place otherwise. Christianity gets a lot of bad press through faculty, campus preachers, silence from Christians, and the media. We were able to send a positive message about Christianity to the entire campus community. Everyone knew about Love/Hate. Articles in the school newspaper were published about us as well.

submitted by Melody Davis and Ben Smith from the Jacksonville BCM