By Andy Dawson, Samford Athletics Communication

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Around 2008, if you walked through the food court after a Samford football practice, you probably would've seen the "Football Bible Study." Now, about six years later, if you walk into the Mountain View Hall lobby on a Monday night you would walk into RANSOM (Radical Athlete and Student Oasis Ministry). RANSOM is an on campus ministry and worship outlet led by students and athletes alike out of the Mountain View Hall lobby. 
 
Former Samford defensive back Jamael Lett led the group the first year when it was just football players. The year after that, former Samford Assistant Football Coach Chris Brasfield opened up his home for the group and began to take leadership as it grew. Around this time of change, the group became open to other male athletes and eventually any male student. 
 
During the time they were meeting at Coach Brasfield's house, he received a job offer and transitioned to another school. This transition saw the Bible Study change to meeting in people's apartments off campus. In the summer of former defensive lineman Jeremy Towns' sophomore year all of the football players lived in Mountain View Hall. This is where the Football Bible Study found its home in the Mountain View Hall lobby. 
 
In that same summer, Lett and Towns talked to senior soccer goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead and they decided to add a women's Bible Study. Whitehead assumed the role of leadership for the women. But with all the changes, the leaders realized that they had to use a name more unifying and all-encompassing than Football Bible Study. That is when "RANSOM" was born. 
 
It has morphed from its humble beginnings on the couches in the food court, to meeting every Monday night in the Mountain View Hall lobby. 
 
"We talk about real topics at every meeting," Towns said. "We try to help people understand the need for Jesus Christ."
 
RANSOM has a huge emphasis on community and that is one of the main drawing points. There is not a specific leader or person "in charge"; instead there is a team of equal leaders all working towards a common goal. The leadership team at RANSOM does a great job equipping students and making sure that everyone is ready before they are put in a position of leadership.
 
"We definitely have a lot of people that put in work," said senior sports marketing major Will Cavanaugh. "We look at it more as a team effort…we've really been pouring into some younger guys, mentoring and preparing them and letting them gradually get to the place of leadership.
 
"That was JT's (Towns) big thing," Cavanaugh continued. "He didn't want anyone thrown into a leadership position no matter how strong they were in their faith during their freshman and sophomore year. He was all about preparing them and making sure we're not doing it just to speak in front of people and get the limelight." 
 
Since the start of the Football Bible Study the group has not only spread across Samford, but in the past two years it has moved across the city to downtown Birmingham and to be more specific, UAB.  
 
A month ago, they had a United Night where RANSOM Samford traveled to RANSOM UAB for a time of unity and worship between the two like-minded groups. 
 
At RANSOM UAB, there has not been as much of influence or leadership from athletes yet but there have been great results up to this point. 
 
"The vision for the future is to keep reaching all students on campus but focusing on athletes," said Towns, "We would love to see RANSOM_SU and RANSOM_UAB continue to partner with each other. But one of the most exciting parts of the vision is finding ways to allow RANSOM alumni to pour back into the college ministry as well as go blaze their own ministry trail after college. We want students to grow in such a way that they would learn how to reach others wherever God leads them after college."
 
Through many changes in locale and name, the primary goal remains the same for the leadership team at RANSOM: This is to reach the athletes first and foremost, because none of the other campus ministries target student-athletes. 
 
The expansion and growth has seen a change in demographics, representative of the wide range of students on Samford's campus. But the emphasis has stayed the same through the use of Christian Rap during worship times and sports analogies to help speakers drive home the point. 
 
"We try to be really sacrificial with our time outside (of RANSOM), leading small groups and mentoring people," said Cavanaugh. "It's been really rewarding to see people grow, especially from an athlete standpoint. Seeing guys and girls who came in to Samford with no prior conviction of the Gospel take root in it, we're real thankful that RANSOM's been able to be a part of that."
 
There are now five small groups affiliated with RANSOM that meet together in addition to the weekly worship service on Monday nights. The aim of these groups is to help build community and dive more in depth into what was covered on Monday night. The integration of applications and discussion questions help get the point across and bridge the gap between students and athletes on campus. 
 
Another one of the main aims of RANSOM is to create an environment where people can just be real and talk about real life problems without having to put on a façade. It is all about coming as you are. 
 
"The diversity along with being under Christ just makes for an interesting dynamic," Cavanaugh explained.  "On Monday nights, seeing a bunch of different people gathered under one name has always been one of my favorite things."
 
RANSOM_SU will host another "United Night" with RANSOM_UAB on December 5^th to close out the fall semester and will resume with classes after the break. It is incredible to see how the Lord has used a handful of athletes to impact a campus. From Dr. Westmoreland down, the impact that RANSOM has had on campus should make everyone proud to say that they are Bulldogs!