Happy Fall!

 I hope you guys are doing well and enjoying the cooler weather that has come our way!  Fall is my favorite time of the year because we get to meet so many new students and start new small groups.  We start fresh every year especially at a campus like Collin where most students are only there for a year or two before transferring to the big city schools.  This fall has been one of the most successful starts to the year I have ever seen in my personal ministry and I am so excited to share a lot of good news with you all!

Outreach

If you read my blog last month you would remember that there were some initial uncertainties with outreach this year.  We weren't sure how we were going to bring new students into our ministry when we all are socially distancing and some students may not even have in person classes.  We had to get creative and not rely so much on free food events, or a campus organization faira.  We went door to door and handed out flyers at the student housing on campus.  We just simply went up to people and asked them if they wanted to be apart of Christian community in the halls of the campuses.  We put flyers on cars.  We made signs asking if people needed to talk or where looking for friends.  My sign (pictured below) simply just says, "looking for friends, fellowship and faith? I'm a campus pastor, lets's chat!" I sat at that table with that sign for a couple of hours and to my surprise it worked really well.  A handful of people came up to me and had real interest in what we are doing and wanted to be apart of it! I have been involved in this ministry about seven years now and I have never had welcome week go this well.  Not everyone comes around but a good percentage of students we talk to end up checking us out!  I have never had so many students actually want to talk to me, who are seeking community and genuinely want to experience God.  I think some of us had some fears going into the school year with it being such a unprecedented time.  We thought it would be so hard to have new students, but there has been growth in our ministry in the past month! 

My studies 

Outside of sitting in the cougar cafe with my sign, having two small groups and a handful of girls I study the bible with, I am taking this year to read the entire bible and learn from audio classes through Regent College in Vancouver.  This is to prepare me ministry life long and to better know how use the scriptures in my ministry.  I getting to learn all about what the scripture is saying and the context of who the authors are saying it too.  I have also learned quite a bit about God's character and His intention for the world and His people.  I started these classes back in August and I am already about 3/4th's of the way done with the Old Testament.  The biggest takeaway I have thus far is  simply that God is faithful.  Starting with the creation story God created the world and everything in it to be ordered and perfect.  Humans ruined it with their sin and from there on, the biblical narrative consists of God trying to redeem His people and bring them back to Him, so much so that He eventually comes down to earth as a man to set things right and so we can be free from sin and to redeem people.  This studying of scriptures and seeing the faithfulness of God through it makes it less surprising to me that this year is going so well.  Things seemed like they were going to be so hard and challenging but in reality it wasn't.  God is been faithful to us throughout the years and that did not change just because things got "hard" or had to be different.  He is still working powerfully through us and our ministry!   

As always, thank you for supporting our ministry!! I look forward to updating you and am thankful that you have chosen to support what is doing God within the students and staff at Collin College!  

Prayer Requests

    Our students.  Just that they seek God and are eager to deepen their faith. 

    For our staff to have wisdom and guidance as we are getting to know students and are studying the scripture with them.

    For my fundraising, I am still fundraising and getting closer to my goal! Prayers that I do not get weary and continue to trust in God in that process!

With Love, 

Erin Cavanuagh