Kevin Pike Apprenticeship Blog #9

February Fun

    Hey everyone! Hope y'all have been doing well, thank you all so much for your support! It truly means a lot to me. This month God has been working in my life in many different ways and I can't wait to share them with you.

    Our Tuesday night small group has been doing well. Through outreach on campus, we have had three new guys show up and be consistent with not only our small group but also our hangouts. They do not consider themselves religious but are interested in learning more about Christianity and God, which is really exciting. God has blessed our group to be a place for guys who don't have many friends, if any at all, to come and find people that show them the love of Jesus and what real friendship could look like. One of the new guys told me that he does not have anyone to talk to about any of the mental issues that he is going through and it made me realize how many guys are alone in handling their own emotions. Around this same time at our staff meeting, we went over some statistics about how only 22% of men say they have a friend to talk to during hard times. Here is the article if you are interested in learning more:

https://www.americansurveycenter.org/why-mens-social-circles-are-shrinking/

If y'all could be praying for all the men and women on college campuses to find a group or peers that they can relate to and be friends with. I was in this same position until I found FOCUS and found a community that loved me for who I was. Anyways, here are some pictures of our group hanging out playing paintball and also volunteering at Feed My Starving Children, where we joined two hundred other people and made meals for children who desperately needed them.

    Our Tuesday outreach has been going well! We continue to bring out tri-folds and ask students questions about power and what it means to have power. These conversations are so fun to have as we get to see what these students think about God and challenge them with questions they probably don't think about often. Here is a picture of us and our trifold during an outreach session.

    This past month, the DOE (Department of Education) put out a notice that they will remove wording that specifically protects student organizations. This wording that they are removing will make it to that campuses can shut down or restrict student organizations that turn away students from leadership or other positions because of their beliefs. For example, any university could remove FOCUS from their campus if we turn away an Islamic student from a leadership position because of their beliefs, which is just common sense because they don't have the same values that we have. The same could happen for any Islamic organization too, they could be targeted because they deny Christian students leadership roles.

This is a link to our website that will explain the situation better than I can and give you instructions on how you can help keep our organization and other student organizations across America safe:

https://anyfocus.org/campusaccess/

I ask for prayers regarding this as well, so that FOCUS can continue to outreach on campus and invite them to a life with Jesus.

    Back to non-Supreme Court matters, classes have been so much fun! In our New Testament class, we have the great opportunity to have Dr. Rikk Watts join in every week to answer our questions. He was a professor at Regent College of Theology and has studied the Old and New Testament extensively, it is super cool to have him weigh in on our discussions. Something that I have been learning recently is what the kingdom of God means and how that is important for us. There are multiple that Jesus says, "The Kingdom of God is near." Our teacher explained that when Jesus was baptized by John, the heavens and Earth overlapped and the beginning of the end happened. We are now living in a period where the Kingdom of God is here but not fully, it will only fully be here when Jesus comes back for a second time. But, we now have access to the Spirit of God which leads us on our spiritual journey. We, as Christians, have the opportunity to actively take place in building up the Kingdom by inviting others to receive the Spirit as well. This gives me immense hope for the future and excitement for the second coming of Jesus. 

    I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for your generous support of my ministry. Your contributions have allowed me to continue doing the work that I feel called to do, and have made a tangible difference in the lives of those we serve. Whether it's meeting with students, offering counseling and support to those in need, or simply spreading a message of hope and love, your support has enabled us to make a positive impact in our community and beyond. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your partnership, generosity, and faith in our mission. May God bless you abundantly for your kindness and generosity.

P.S. Here is a student testimony from a student at TWU. Your donations help students like her find purpose and life at college.