Hoop - There He Is!
Anyone following a Campus Outreach ministry on Instagram will have one or more of these responses: 1) Exhaustion over the number of opportunities offered for fellowship and fun 2) Awe at the creativity demonstrated in the variety of opportunities 3) Nostalgia for a simpler time in life when they themselves were free to have THAT much fun. Just this fall at Indiana University there has been a Hot Wings Challenge, Volleyball tournament, bowling, pumpkin painting, a “Friendsgiving” dinner, and an Ugly Sweater party.
The annual “Hoosier Shoot-Out” kicked off the fall. When asked about the method to the madness, Nathan Martinez, CO staff at IU responded, “The goal is evangelism in all things.” The Lord uses these social events to bring initially uninterested students into His Kingdom.
Each year at the “Hoosier Shoot-out” a quick announcement is made to tell the sponsor of the event and there will be raffle tickets for sale with a prize given out at the first Campus Outreach meeting. Then the guys play ball … for hours. Relationships are started, phone numbers are exchanged, and staff trusts the Lord to work. Last year approximately 250 guys showed up to play hoops; Dawson was one of those players.
A freshman, Dawson came from a church background but did not follow Christ. He attended the CO weekly meeting and began getting to know Nathan and the guys he was discipling. Eventually, Dawson agreed to an investigative study to learn more about the Bible and realized that being a Christian is not about a list of rules for living but a relationship with Jesus. He surrendered his life to Christ and made a public profession of faith! This fall, Dawson brought two friends to be on his team at the Shoot-Out and trusts God to change them just as he was changed.
Below you will find a sampling of ministry accounts where you can see faces of students involved in Campus Outreach. Go take a look and ask the Lord of the Harvest to draw these men and women to Himself. Pray that a student attending a pictured event would experience community and meet the Friend that stays closer than a brother - Jesus, the Lover of their soul.