Kevin Pike Ministry Blog #17

Opportune October 

    Hey everyone! The weather is cooling down, the rain is here, and it is time to put on some Halloween costumes; time flies when you are doing ministry! So much has happened and I'm excited to share it with y'all! 

    Fall Retreat: 

    Our annual Collin Fall Retreat happened this past weekend and man it was a great time! We spent 24 hours at a beautiful camp, far away from society to focus on God, community, and fellowship! We had two guys from our small group join us, it was great spending time with them and seeing them fellowship with other guys from our ministry.

    The day we arrived, we had large group games for them as an icebreaker to prepare for the weekend. Then we listened to a fantastic sermon about Matthew 5-7 (Sermon on the Mount) taught by one of the FOCUS Collin pastors. We had a great worship service that night which was accompanied by worship stations. Some of the stations included a place to write poetry to God, draw a picture about how God has provided for you, and ask for prayer from a pastor. It was such a neat time, super special to be there with our students. 

    The rest of the time was spent in community sharing, playing volleyball, and hanging out. So many students told me after the trip that they loved it and can't wait for the next one! God really spoke to these young men and women that retreat and I'm glad I could have been a part of it. 

Here is a photo dump from the retreat:

    Small Group Update: 

      

    Our small group that meets on Wednesday night has been such a blast! We are continuing on our "Understanding the Bible as a Whole" plan that my co-leader Cedric and I have made. We are about to finish Romans which gives a great understanding of God's plan and how Jesus fits into the grand narrative. After Romans, we will go into the major plot points of the Bible like Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, 1 Samuel, etc. We want our guys to leave this school year with a greater understanding of the Bible as a whole, an understanding of God's plan, and to see the character of God more. 

    

    God has blessed us this year with a solid group of guys who are truly interested in taking their faith more seriously and learning what it means to be an adult who believes in God. We have great discussions and a great time hanging out with each other. 

    Outreach Update: 

    Evangelism at the Wylie Collin Campus has been a lot of fun recently! We've been bringing board games to the campus union and inviting students to hang out with us, then inviting them to TNF and Core. We also did a "Paint a Pumpkin" event where we had small plastic pumpkins and had students stop by and paint them. It was cool to invite students to hang out with us and gave us ample time to ask them questions and start to develop a relationship with them.

    One of our most recent ones that I really enjoyed was a question we asked students. Now before I say what the question was, something that our FOCUS team had noticed was the emerging ideas from the world that there is no objective truth. Objective truth means that there is a truth that never changes and that will always stay steady no matter what happens. To us Christians, this is God. God is a constant and his character, morals, and love will never change. Nowadays people believe that they can create their own truth and that everyone is right in their own view which is inherently not true. For example, if I believe that 2+2=4 and someone else believes that 2+2=5, then one of us is wrong. There can not be two competing views, that is not possible. So the question that we asked was, "Is there objective truth?". We had so many good conversations with students and had the opportunity to share that we, as Christians, believe that there is objective truth and that we believe that God is that rock that will never change. We plan on having more questions like that which will hopefully get these students thinking more deeply about their preconceived beliefs. Sadly I forgot to take pictures but it was great!

    

    Class Update: 

       

    I am still going through a master's level course called Christian History. We are listening to the audio lectures from the Regent School of Theology. This class takes us through the time frame right after the Biblical book of Acts (1st Century) to the modern times. The class is great at having us analyze how Christianity has grown and shaped itself to be the way it is today. We get to see where traditions and important questions have been brought up about Christianity as a whole, God, theology, etc. Recently we have been going over the High/Late Middle Ages period which is about 1000 A.D. - 1500 A.D. 

    Something that I have found fascinating is one of the recurring themes in history that we have encountered so far. Every 100-200 years or so, a movement of poverty spreads among the Christians. They start to notice that the Church structure as a whole becomes too obsessed with wealth and power, so in defiance of the corrupt system, a single person decides to sell everything they have and serve the poor for the rest of their life. Their devotion and piety to seeking out who God is draws large amounts of people to them and they develop a movement that spreads. The one person that stands out to me the most is Francis of Assisi. He created the Franciscans who devoted their lives to poverty, preaching in the streets, and helping the sick and poor. One of the most fascinating things to me is the thousands of people who joined the Franciscans in only ten years. The movement spread across Europe like a wild fire and people from all classes of society joined it. Seeing movements like this remind me of what the core of Christianity is. Loving others more than yourself and devoting yourself wholly to God. It inspires me to see people in a more loving way and encourages me to seek those who are suffering. I think we could learn a lot from the Franciscans. 

    KFG:

     

    KFG (Keep FOCUS Growing) is an annual fundraiser that helps our ministry as a whole grow. We use the money to help expand to other campuses in the DFW area, staff development, outreach materials, and event supplies. Our very generous ministry partners have pledged to match any of the donations that are sent in from now to November 28th. Please pray about considering donating to this fund so that FOCUS can continue to grow and accommodate the students of the North DFW colleges! If you are interested in donating, go to this link: anyfocus.org/kfg

    Thank You: 

    

    I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you for your generous donations to FOCUS. Your support is a beacon of hope and a source of inspiration for the students we look after. Your contributions not only enable us to continue spreading the message of faith and love, but they also provide a safe and welcoming space for students seeking spiritual growth and connection. Your belief in our mission is truly invaluable, and we are deeply thankful for your commitment to our cause. Together, we are making a positive difference in the lives of countless individuals on campus, and your generosity is a key part of that impact. Thank you for being a vital part of our ministry's journey and for helping us to fulfill our mission.

This is an update from one of our FOCUS students from TWU. Your generous support helps students like her find community and build a closer relationship with our Lord.