by Caroline Shin
Hello! I’m Caroline, a fourth year at UCSD, and this is my last year being a part of Lighthouse’s College Life Ministry. College Life was previously led by Pastor Patrick, but now that he is our head pastor (woohoo!) and heading the Single Life ministry, Hansol An and Johnny Kim have taken charge of the college ministry with Peter Lim as our overseer. It has honestly been a huge encouragement seeing the college ministry continue to thrive, even without our old college pastor.
We are currently going through the parable of the four soils (Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8). So far, we’ve gone over the path soil, the rocky soil, and the thorny soil, which have been taught by our male, senior staffers. It’s been awesome so far getting teaching from a different staffer each week. To sum up the past three messages, there are dangers to being a path soil, a rocky soil, and a thorny soil. Each soil represents the condition of a person’s heart. If you’re one of these three soils, it is due to the fact that you have a shallow view of your sins and do not desire to live in light of the gospel.
Aside from the messages, after every bible study, the collegians enjoy eating out and playing games together. Our after bible study hangouts have always been a highlight for College Life. These are the times when collegians and staffers get to deepen their relationships with one another. I’ve personally seen the benefit of fellowshipping during our trips to hole-in-the-walls and game time at the collegians’ apartments. Many of the collegians, who are members, have been intentional in furthering their conversations with newcomers by meeting with them outside of bible study and church. It’s neat to see collegians take on the discipler-disciplee attitude.
One blessing that I’ve seen from College Life this year is the number of freshmen who have decided to stay at Lighthouse. I’ve been really encouraged by their eagerness to learn, grow, and serve the church body. Although I’m notoriously known for being the grandma of the collegians, being surrounded by the freshmen’s presence really helps me to feed off their energy and make me feel younger. I’m truly excited to see how God will prove His faithfulness to the college ministry this year!