by Travis Hamm
For those who may be unaware, Collegiate Impact is a network of local churches and on-campus ministries working together to bring the gospel to over 70,000 Kansas City area college students from 17 colleges.
Just like other ministries and churches, we have had to navigate the challenges of Covid-19. Last March all of our on-campus Bible Studies went online. While virtual interactions certainly have drawbacks, one positive was that we were able to connect students from different colleges to one another. It is through these new connections that God led two of our students to surrender their lives to Jesus. Praise God for His fait
hfulness in the midst of difficult circumstances!
Over the summer months, in addition to continuing virtual Bible studies, our ministry hosted monthly outdoor events at different Collegiate Impact Partnering Churches. These social-distance-friendly events provided further opportunities to connect students to our ministry, to each other, and to local churches. I was pleased to see students not only communicate the fun they had at these events but the spiritual conversations they were able to have with both believers and not-yet-believers.
A new school year has begun, and once again, coronavirus has forced us to change our typical ministry approaches to connecting with new students. Instead of hosting our Welcome Week events on campuses, participating in student organization fairs, and helping residential students move into their dorm rooms; we have turned to social media as a way of engaging with Kansas City collegians. In early September we held a Free Virtual Raffle on our ministry’s Instagram page, and 24 students expressed a desire to learn more about College Impact. We have followed up with them one-on-one to get to know their stories, have spiritual conversations, and invite them to join a Bible Study. Also in September we hosted our 2nd annual Fall Retreat. Students spent all of Saturday enjoying God’s creation at Camp Del-Haven, worshipping Him in song, receiving Biblical teaching, and having some good fun. The retreat serves as good opportunity for students to step back from the busyness of a new semester and be reminded of God’s goodness and priority in their lives.
This school year we’ve welcomed Trey Barnett and Emma Clark to our staff who are participating in our one-year ministry internship. Trey recently received his Associate’s Degree from Maple Woods Community College where he was also involved in our on-campus ministry . Now, he is pursuing an Organizational Leadership degree at Donnelly College where he is also working to launch an on-campus ministry. If you know of other Donnelly students who may be interested in helping us start a gospel ministry on the campus, please let us know. Emma is working with Carson Conover to further gospel ministry at Longview Community College.
We are grateful for God’s provision and grace to our ministry during this unique time. Our desire is to bring the gospel to many more students this year. We would love your help in this! If your church is currently ministering to college students or desires to, I would love to come alongside and help. Please contact me ([email protected] or 816-838-2801) and let’s find a time to discuss this possibility.
If you would like to stay updated with us, I encourage you to follow us on social media.
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/collegiateimpact.kc
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/collegiateimpact/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CollegiateImpct
