Kevin Pike Apprenticeship Blog #5
Fall Camp!
Howdy Y'all! Hope everyone's October was great and spooky! This has been a crazy fun, jam-packed month with many exciting events.
Our annual Fall Camp was a blast! We had a great time at Mt. Lebanon Camp and were thankful for them to host us. It was only 24 hours long so it went by in a flash, but it was definitely memorable. Many of the guys in our CORE (small group) were able to make it out here so that was a huge blessing. We had great worship services, amazing sermons, and great fellowship time with one another. The sermon was about living in a community and how we should serve one another. It was a great reminder that our lives should be spent helping one another and that if we all truly adhere to this principle, then everyone would be served. It was also great to share the camp with UNT and see my old friends too!
The church I go to, which supports FOCUS ministries, had a retreat this past weekend at Camp Lebanon in Wylie, TX which was something I truly needed to be a part of. We had a guest speaker come and talk to us about hospitality in the gospel and what that should look like in our day-to-day lives. His sermon gave me and I'm sure the rest of our congregation a lot to think about for the next few months, it was so life-giving. We also got to witness a baptism of a new church member, play games together, and share our lives with one another this past weekend. It was a fantastic weekend!
CORE has continued to be an amazing experience. I am thankful for how committed, consistent, and communicative our guys have been. Tom, Diego, and I have created a six-week Bible study centered around the topic of "Identity in Christ". We have noticed most of our guys and ourselves are trying to find an identity elsewhere but we have to remember, we have to be rooted in Jesus or our lives will fall apart. I am so excited to start it in a couple of weeks and I ask for prayers that it goes well!
Tuesday morning outreach has also been going great! We are starting to create signs that have questions that are intended to capture people's attention and engage them in conversation about topics they probably don't think about often. For example, this week, we had a sign that said, "Does God see color?", by color we mean skin tone. This is because we hosted a Latin event on campus and we wanted to ask a question that was intentional and related to the event. Many of the students were interested in the question and came to discuss it with us. We think these types of questions get students interested and more willing to talk about spirituality. Next week, we are planning on having coffee and conversations, I'll let y'all know how it goes in the next blog!
The OT (Old Testament) class has come to an end. We have read and discussed the entire OT in about three months. This was my first time reading through the entire book and it has been so life-giving. Before I took this class, I thought that the OT was not as relevant as the NT (New Testament). Now, I realize that it is integral in learning more about our merciful, slow-to-anger God. At the beginning of next year, we will start the NT class which I have heard great things about!
To replace that class, we are starting The Holy Spirit. This class is a deep dive into what exactly the Holy Spirit is and how us modern folks should think about it. It has helped me realize that the Holy Spirit is not just an "it" or a dove, but he is a person that is a part of the Trinity. The book we are reading is called, "Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God". I would highly recommend it to anyone curious or unfamiliar with the spirit like I am.
Thank you all so so much for the support you have given me. Your gifts and prayers have helped reach the hearts of many students who are lonely and looking for a Jesus-centered community. You are the backbone of this organization and you are investing in the lives of the students here at Collin College. I ask for prayers regarding the students, as many of them are stressed out about their classwork. Also, I ask for prayers that the staff of FOCUS can continue to pour our hearts into these students with everything that we got and point them to Jesus. Thank you!
Here is another student's testimony about how campus ministry has changed her life. These testimonies are stories that they will tell for the rest of their lives and it is all thanks to donors like you!
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