The past two weeks have been incredibly busy with our PFA Pre-Retreat and with all the freshmen that have just moved onto campus. It's hectic and exhausting but already very rewarding.
For our Pre-Retreat, we took a group of 45 upperclassmen and staff to Ocean City, NJ for a few days at the shore. The purpose of the Pre-Retreat is threefold: to have a great time of fun and fellowship together, to draw close to God in prayer, teaching, and worship, and to inspire and equip our upperclassmen to reach out to freshmen once they get back on campus. We had a great time on the shore. The mornings were filled with worship and training, the afternoons were free for games and beach fun, and the evenings were devoted to worship, prayer, and teaching. On our last night, we heard a powerful gospel message from Scott Jones and two students decided to follow Christ for the first time in their lives!
Since coming back to campus we've held a large number of events aimed at meeting freshmen, helping them get settled in, and introducing them to PFA. On Saturday we had our Move-In reception with all the other evangelical campus ministries where we got to meet a number of freshmen and their families. I was really moved by one couple who showed up to the reception without their freshman son. They have been missionaries in Africa with Campus Crusade for Christ for the past 25 years and their son, who has grown up with them on the missions field has recently decided that he's an atheist. They were initially afraid that they were sending their son to a "spiritual wasteland" but were pleased to see such a strong Christian community on campus. They gave me some information about their son and asked me to reach out to him by any means possible, passing on their mission to me. I'm on it!
On Monday we had our Open House where we met a ton of freshmen and told them about our ministry. On Tuesday we had a lawn party with badminton, bean bags, bocci ball, frisbee, and food. There, I met a sophomore who was a freshman back when I was a freshman! He took 4 years off to play bass with his rock band and toured the East coast and the South. Now he's back as a sophomore, turning 24 at the end of the month. He said he's interested in our Bible Courses so hopefully he'll get involved and we'll have another talented bassist on the team.
Thursday we had our first Disney Movie Night featuring The Lion King. Unfortunately it rained so we had to relocate indoors which means the crowd diminishes significantly. We only had about 40 people there but a high percentage of them were freshmen so that was a success. On Friday night we had our first "802" meeting of the year. "802" is the name of our large-group ministry meeting for PFA with videos, announcements, worship, teaching, and fellowship. We broke all of our attendance records with around 170 people showing up at the first meeting. Our average attendance last year was around 75 so this was a major success. Our ministry director (and my boss) Dan Knapke gave a great message on the supreme value of knowing Jesus Christ.
Last night, Sunday, we had our second Nassau Christian Center service of the year and had plenty of new faces in the congregation. Our worship band is sounding better than ever with a couple of great new additions. Pastor Quincy Watkins gave a great message on sowing and reaping in the Spirit. Overall it's been an incredible blessing to be a part of this ministry. I've learned so much in just the past few weeks that it's hard to believe I've only been here that long. Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers. Stay tuned for more updates!
For our Pre-Retreat, we took a group of 45 upperclassmen and staff to Ocean City, NJ for a few days at the shore. The purpose of the Pre-Retreat is threefold: to have a great time of fun and fellowship together, to draw close to God in prayer, teaching, and worship, and to inspire and equip our upperclassmen to reach out to freshmen once they get back on campus. We had a great time on the shore. The mornings were filled with worship and training, the afternoons were free for games and beach fun, and the evenings were devoted to worship, prayer, and teaching. On our last night, we heard a powerful gospel message from Scott Jones and two students decided to follow Christ for the first time in their lives!
Since coming back to campus we've held a large number of events aimed at meeting freshmen, helping them get settled in, and introducing them to PFA. On Saturday we had our Move-In reception with all the other evangelical campus ministries where we got to meet a number of freshmen and their families. I was really moved by one couple who showed up to the reception without their freshman son. They have been missionaries in Africa with Campus Crusade for Christ for the past 25 years and their son, who has grown up with them on the missions field has recently decided that he's an atheist. They were initially afraid that they were sending their son to a "spiritual wasteland" but were pleased to see such a strong Christian community on campus. They gave me some information about their son and asked me to reach out to him by any means possible, passing on their mission to me. I'm on it!
On Monday we had our Open House where we met a ton of freshmen and told them about our ministry. On Tuesday we had a lawn party with badminton, bean bags, bocci ball, frisbee, and food. There, I met a sophomore who was a freshman back when I was a freshman! He took 4 years off to play bass with his rock band and toured the East coast and the South. Now he's back as a sophomore, turning 24 at the end of the month. He said he's interested in our Bible Courses so hopefully he'll get involved and we'll have another talented bassist on the team.
Thursday we had our first Disney Movie Night featuring The Lion King. Unfortunately it rained so we had to relocate indoors which means the crowd diminishes significantly. We only had about 40 people there but a high percentage of them were freshmen so that was a success. On Friday night we had our first "802" meeting of the year. "802" is the name of our large-group ministry meeting for PFA with videos, announcements, worship, teaching, and fellowship. We broke all of our attendance records with around 170 people showing up at the first meeting. Our average attendance last year was around 75 so this was a major success. Our ministry director (and my boss) Dan Knapke gave a great message on the supreme value of knowing Jesus Christ.
Last night, Sunday, we had our second Nassau Christian Center service of the year and had plenty of new faces in the congregation. Our worship band is sounding better than ever with a couple of great new additions. Pastor Quincy Watkins gave a great message on sowing and reaping in the Spirit. Overall it's been an incredible blessing to be a part of this ministry. I've learned so much in just the past few weeks that it's hard to believe I've only been here that long. Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers. Stay tuned for more updates!
RSS Feed