Kevin Pike Ministry Blog #46

 April Blog

    Hey everyone! I pray that the new year is treating you all well. Thank you so much for your prayers and support; all of you are truly a blessing to me. This month was a blast, let's jump into what happened!

Assertiveness Workshop:

    This past month, one of the staff members, Sandra, and I were tasked by our director team to lead an assertiveness workshop at all the campuses that have a FOCUS ministry in the DFW area. This was because our director team collectively noticed a lack of assertiveness amongst all of our students across the campuses. Our students were having difficulty engaging in conflict with their friends and/or families. They are afraid to call the customer support number and talk to someone over the phone, and tell a food worker that their order is wrong and needs to be changed. Our students also do not know the difference between judging someone and calling out their sin in their life. Sandra and I developed a two-hour workshop to make our students look more like Jesus and stand up for themselves in their own lives. Jesus was an assertive person in his ministry, He let the love of God and His mission to proclaim the good news about God direct His life and nothing else. We talked to the students about setting boundaries with people in their lives, letting their self-worth be in God and God alone, worked through stories in the gospels where Jesus was assertive, and gave them language and example to practice with when having an assertive conversation. I had a great time doing this and travelling to all the campuses. Plus, I learned a lot about what it means to be assertive, as I am not naturally an assertive person.

Here are some photos from the different campuses that we went to: 

Exodus Study:

    The Exodus study that I was hosting this semester just ended this past Monday. We went through the whole book of Exodus in depth, which was such a blast! I really love getting to learn about the historical background and Hebrew language of Israel's scriptures. One of my goals for teaching this study was to get the students to wrestle and ask questions of the scriptures. It is so easy to read the Bible and just gloss over all the words, then finish reading it. But, when we really take a look at what the words say and follow the story, there are a lot of questions that come up. And when we ask those questions, it leads us to a better understanding of the story and often shows us who God is. I got the students to engage with the scripture by having them take turns reading chunks of the passages, and then once they were done, I asked them to come up with one question or make one observation. After a couple of weeks of practicing this, they started asking great questions! I pray that they will take this skill with them when they are reading the Bible by themselves. I learned a lot about Exodus and hope to offer this study every year to students!

General Ministry:

    We are wrapping up the year at Collin! We have two more TNF's and two more Core's then we are done! Our last Core's are going to go over the book of Jonah since it is so short. Our goal with that is to get them to think about where they think God is calling them to and if they believe they are following Him. It also touches on the themes of how our actions can affect other people and if our guys are even aware of how they affect those around them. Mick and I, my co-leader, have been so blessed with the group of guys we got. It is so cool to see them grow closer to God and start to declare Jesus as their Lord. Here are some photos from this past month:

Prayer Requests:

    Recently, my wife, Adriana, had her car get hit when it was parked (thankfully, she was not in it) during the night and it is most likely totaled. It was a hit-and-run, so hopefully the insurance will be able to give us some money for it. I say this to ask for prayers that we find a good replacement car for her with the money that we get from insurance. If you know where to get a cheap car, please let me know. Also, be praying for our students as the school year is coming to an end; they are very stressed about finals. 

Thank You:

    I am so grateful for your generous support of our college ministry at Collin College. Because of your giving, students are finding a genuine sense of community where they are known, supported, and encouraged. Your donations are helping foster Jesus-centered relationships that bring hope, purpose, and transformation into their lives. Even more, you are making it possible for students to grow in discipleship, learning what it truly means to follow Jesus and make Him Lord of their lives. Thank you for partnering in this meaningful work and for investing in the spiritual growth of the next generation.

P.S. This is a testimony from one of the students at Collin that I meet up with. Your donations and prayers help students like Ranjeev find a Jesus-loving community at Collin College.