Travis Hamm and Carson Conover are ministering to the students on area college campuses. They recently shared updates about the exciting things God is doing in the area of collegiate ministry.
Travis Hamm – UMKC/Rockhurst
Great Commission Conference
On February 21-24, ministry leaders and students from all around Missouri attended the Great Commission Conference. It was a wonderful conference focused on sharing the gospel of Jesus and learning how we can continuously make disciples
During the conference, Collegiate Impact had a booth to share about our ministry and raise awareness about the numerous college campuses in Kansas City that are still in need of hearing the gospel of Christ. We set up a map to show just how many campuses are in the Kansas City area. Each pin represents an individual who attended the Great Commission Conference that is a current student, alum, or ministry leader on these campuses. We were so excited to continue connecting with individuals who have or are currently investing in the students at these colleges.
Partners Dinner
One of the highlights at the conference was our partners dinner on Saturday night. Collegiate Impact invited leaders and students from various ministries across the Kansas City area. Individuals at our dinner represented six of our Partnering Churches as well as three additional churches who are interested in partnering with our ministry. The evening was spent conversing with one another and building Kingdom partnerships. We praise God for this network of churches we have connected with and pray that He continues to bless these ministries efforts in reaching college students with the gospel of Christ!
Carson Conover – Blue River/Longview
I’m writing this update from St. Louis, MO. I’m on spring break with 6 students from Blue River and Longview Community Colleges. We’ve spent the last two days working alongside another team of college students from Texas to serve the Church at Affton. This church was replanted 3 years ago and we’re helping them update their facility to prepare for Easter. Currently, they use their facility every week to host Celebrate Recovery as well as ministries to refugees and those recently out of prison. They’ll soon partner with several local churches to host a joint Good Friday service. Our team is helping them provide a hospitable atmosphere as they welcome the community into their facility. Additionally, we were invited to visit a local Mosque near the church building to participate in a conversation about Christianity and Islam. The pastor of the Church at Affton has befriended the Imam and is actively sharing Christ with him.
Over the next two days, we’ll be doing some contact work and evangelistic outreach at the University of Missouri St. Louis and East Central College in hopes of helping local ministers and church launch new works on campuses that don’t currently have a baptist collegiate presence. We’ll be doing things like spiritual interest surveys and proxy stations—a conversational tool to help engage curious students about Christ.
We’ve spent spring break here in St. Louis the past two years. Each year is proves to be a valuable experience for students to help them stretch their faith by doing ministry that requires them to step out of their comfort zone. It changes their perspective on what it might look like to do ministry once they come back home. For example, last year a student said on the way home: “I always thought a missionary was someone who left home to go to a foreign country. Now, I understand that we’re to be missionaries all the time, wherever we are.” That’s a win!
Please pray for us—for Dillon, Daniel, Samori, Rachel, Angela, and Emma. Thank you!