Kevin Pike Ministry Blog #23

 April Blog

    Hey everyone! Wow, it is almost May already, school is about to be out! It has gone by so fast and our students are ready for summer to finally hit. I hope you all are doing well! Let's jump into what this past month has been like!

    SOW Week:

    Every other year or so we have students and pastors from a ministry that we partner with in Bellingham, WA come down during their spring break to spend the entire week doing outreach with us. It was such a blessing to have them come to spread the word to the students of our college. 

    It was like another Welcome Week, an outreach marathon every day on the first week of school in August, but during the week they were here. The pictures below show some of the activities that we did throughout the week. It was so cool getting to talk with them to compare and contrast with their experiences doing outreach in Washington. They told us that students in Washington are not often open to having discussions about religion and are often pretty cold to strangers. It definitely made me more thankful for the southern hospitality we had here. They also remarked that it was very sunny and the clear skies were a nice change of pace. 

    Here are some of the pictures from their time in Texas:

 

For our TNF event that week, our afterevent was Texas square dancing since the students from Bellingham wanted to have an "authentic Texas experience" so we taught them that and then took them out to eat BBQ at Pecan Lodge which was amazing. Best BBQ in Dallas for sure. 

    Core: 

    We are about to have our last Core, which is our small group, of the year and it has been such a great time getting to know our guys and explore who God is with them. Our lesson last week was about how we can continue to meet up and keep each other accountable with reading the Bible and spending time in prayer. The summer is a blessing because they will have so much more free time which can also be a curse because they have so much free time and often do not pursue the Lord. So my co-leader and I wanted to make sure that these guys will be intentional with the relationships that they made and continue to pursue one another to seek out the Lord.

    Most of our guys are graduatinig which is exciting but also sad because they will no longer be at Collin. That is one of the hard truths that is associated with working at a community college because the students leave so fast. We've had a great time with them all and I'm excited to see what God does with them in the next stage of their life!

    Outreach:

    Outreach has been going great! Our last outreach event will be handing out encouragements to the students as they prepare for finals. This is one of my favorite outreach events as we get to hand out scriptures and affirmations to students who could be desperately needing someone to acknowledge them especially during a hard time of the year. 

    Another one of my favorite outreach events we did recently was a shoe washing station. In the same vein of Jesus washing his disiciples feet, we washed the shoes of students who were passing by. We did this while the Washington students were here and we had a blast. It was very sweet to do for the students and we all had a great time! 

    Here are some of the pictures from our outreach events recently: 

    Prayer Requests:

     We are about to start fundraising again so if you could pray that I am able to get fundraised to my goal so that I can continue to serve God at Collin College, pray for the students as they are about to start their finals, and for all the students to continue to seek God and his community during the summer that would be much appreciated. 

    Thank You: 

    I am so grateful for your unwavering support of our college campus Christian ministry. Your generosity is the cornerstone of our mission, and it is with appreciation that I extend my sincerest thanks to each and every one of you. Your donations and prayers serve as a powerful expression of your belief in our cause. Your faith in our ministry fuels our passion to create a welcoming and inclusive community where students can explore their spirituality and deepen their connection with God. Your contributions make a tangible difference in the lives of countless individuals on campus, and for that, we are truly blessed. May God's grace continue to shine upon you, and may your kindness be multiplied in ways beyond measure. Thank you for your continued support and for being integral members of our ministry family!

P.S. This is from a student who goes to our UNT campus, your donation and prayers help students like her find God and community.