Pratt Church Invests Heavily In Student Ministry At Community College
September 2008
PRATT, Kans. – First Southern Baptist Church in Pratt, Kansas, is situated just a few hundred yards across the street from Pratt Community College (PCC). For several years the church has maintained a fledgling Christian Challenge at the college.
When new Pastor, Bob Fleener, arrived at the church in the spring of 2007, he desired to see that spark burst into a flame. “I have always had a heart for high school and college kids, and that hasn’t changed,” says pastor Fleener whose background includes four years as a volunteer leader and thirteen years as an Area Director with Young Life in Louisiana and Kentucky.
Fleener came to FSBC in Pratt after serving as the Senior Pastor at Cypress Avenue Baptist Church in Sacramento, CA, for the past thirteen years. Fleener says, “I knew that the key to penetrating and impacting the college was in finding the right leadership. Everything flies or flops around leadership.”
The new pastor enlisted Shaphan and Kim Staats to serve as the new ministry leaders for Christian Challenge. Prayer was first, and the second step was to set up a meeting with Bob Anderson, College Ministry director for the KNCSB. Anderson came to Pratt and spent the day in prayer and discussions regarding strategy and resources for building an effective campus ministry. “Our time with Bob Anderson was great! He was willing to spend the day with us and he was a wonderful encouragement to us getting off the ground”, said the Staats’.
The Staats have a heart for college kids. Even before taking on this new leadership role, they had taken college kids into their home. “College age is such an interesting age, a time in your life like no other,” says Kim. “God sent us a group of students ready to grow with one another, have fun together, and support each other in a world that doesn’t give them much credit or thought. Relationships are where it is at! Many are away from their familiar surroundings, their accountability, and most of all their family. Our mission is to step in and be ready to fill in the gaps but also to teach God’s love for them and others around them.”
Campus ministry at a Community College has its own challenges; you only have them for two years. Most of them are day students and many of them leave for home as soon as their last class is finished on Friday. PCC does have dorms. So there is opportunity for some on-campus ministry.
Also, the church already had some strategically placed allies on the campus. The head baseball coach at the time, Jeff Brewer, was a member of the church. Ron and Dee Hill who are members of the church are the coaches of the women’s softball team. One of the PCC Professors, Dr. Bill Hunter, is a Deacon, and there are several other church members who are on the faculty and staff of the college.
In August 2007, the Staats’ organized a “welcome back to school” party, and also participated in another similar event hosted by several area churches. “I was so proud of Shaphan and Kim and the way they were so organized for that event”, says Fleener. “While some of the churches had a table with free pens or tracts, Kim and Shaphan had purchased Wal-Mart gift cards, gas cards, and a TV with a DVD player to give away as door prizes. This allowed for much interaction with students, and they also got names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses for over one hundred kids.”
Prayer and anticipation built for the first meeting of Christian Challenge. While attendance the prior year had run about five students, everyone was delighted to see thirty-five students at the very first meeting – a 700% increase.
Christian Challenge continued to meet every Sunday evening throughout the school year. Activities for the year included barbecues, attending Christian concerts, caroling at local rest homes for Christmas, performing an original drama at the church, and many evenings “hanging” out.
The church hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the students, and a group of women from the church brought baked goods to the church every Sunday morning to be used that night for refreshments at the college meetings. “We are hoping to bring some kids to the college retreat in September this year,” say the Staats.
What does the future hold for the college ministry at FSBC Pratt? “I would like to see us add to the leadership team so that we can cast a wider net,” says Pastor Fleener. “And, I would like to see an emphasis on reaching international students. As many formerly open doors are closing to missionary efforts around the world, one of the great doors of opportunity is to reach international students with the Gospel while they are here in the States. Then, they can go back to their own countries and reach their own people as we never could.” The Staats’ say, “We are looking forward to the upcoming year. We will lose many students being a junior college but we can’t wait to see what God has in store for us next year and also for our students who are moving on.”
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