Kevin Pike Ministry Blog #27

 September Blog

    The dust has settled from Welcome Week and now things at Collin are starting to get into a grove! There has been a lot of exciting things this month so let's jump into it! 

Core (Small Groups): 

    I am leading two Cores this year with my co-leader Stian. It has been a blast! One of our goals at Collin College is to reach as many as possible this year and so everyone of our staff members are leading two Cores. We have around 6-8 guys at each of our Cores and it has been so fun getting to know them all. All of the guys in our small group are committed Christians so Stian and I are looking to create Bible study plans that really dive deep into our faith so that we can challenge our guys to really live a life of devotion to Jesus for not only themselves, but to the classmates around them so their lives can be changed as well. We plan on exploring the call of devotion that the gospel brings using Ephesians and Romans passages. Here's a pic of one of our Cores that met recently! 

TNF (Thursday Night Fellowship): 

    Our weekly TNF meetings have been a hit! We have a consistent 70-85 students that show up to praise and worship God in the back of the campus cafeteria. It has been such a joy to see all these students take their Thursday night off to spend with the Lord and community. This past week we started a 1 Corinthians sermon series. We chose to go through this book in the Bible because Paul mentions many of themes that are applicable to our students. Some themes include; seeking out wisdom in Jesus compared to the wisdom of the world, choosing to serve rather than be served, building a foundation on Jesus, and unity of the body in the church. This series will help us put on display some foundational Christian values for these students to learn or relearn about. We've found that many students are listening to outside influences and basing their thoughts and opinions on them, rather on the wisdom that Jesus spoke about. We must live by, 1 Cor. 2:2, "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified". Here are some pictures from our recent TNFs!

Our Ministry at Collin:

    The Lord has provided us this year with a completely whole new group of students at Collin this year. Last year, 90% of the students that we had on our leader team and student body, all transferred to other schools or graduated. So we got an entire new, diverse, and eager group of people who are excited to be in a community! Some of them have been Christian their entire lives, some have never been to church before and are curious, others are just glad to be a part of a community that is welcoming and inviting! I am particularly excited for multiple guys who have never been to church and are currently questioning if they want to call Jesus the Lord of their lives. I will be studying our one on one Bible study with two of them. It is also so great to hear the questions they have and the eagerness they exhibit to figure out why this community exists and if there is merit to all of it. Since we have very few returners, we realize that the culture from last year has been lost and we need to reinvent/revitalize it. So, for the first three weeks of TNF, we talked about our three main values; complete devotion to Jesus, raising up leaders, and real friendships. We want everyone to know what we value and be able to internalize that while they are here with FOCUS. God is really moving on campus and we are excited to be a part of it!

Prayer Requests:

    Please be praying for the students who are on the fence about following Jesus. That the Lord is able to soften their hearts and that they will be able to see the goodness of the kingdom. For one of the students specifically as well, he is thinking about turning away from Jesus. Also, that our community is able to flourish and be a welcoming place to everyone on campus!

Thank You:

    I want to thank all of you for your generous donations and prayers to our campus Christian ministry. Your kindness and support are a true blessing, allowing us to continue spreading God’s love and creating a space where students can grow in their faith and find a community of believers. Your contributions are making a lasting impact in the lives of many, and we are truly humbled by your belief in our mission. Thank you for your faithfulness and for partnering with us in this important work. May God bless you abundantly for your generosity and commitment!

P.S. Here is a testimony from one of our students at UTA. She and many other students have been impacted by your generosity and prayers! You directly have an impact on our students.