Since stepping onto campus in the fall of 2016, I’ve dreamed and prayed for this moment.
In the last seven years of ministry at Oakland, God has refined, equipped, and prepared me today. Through success and failures, I have learned so much about what it means to live for Him and help others do the same.
I would be honored to share with you my story of how God has molded me and my view of ministry to prepare me today.
My first step onto Oakland’s campus was a leap of faith. Entering my junior year, I felt the holy spirit’s tug to transfer to Oakland University to do ministry. At the time, I was playing collegiate baseball at a Christian University in Grand Rapids and was confused by God’s leading. In obedience I transferred, trusting God would be faithful. Coming in to Oakland, I was full of knowledge and vigor but lacked humility and grace.
Within two months of transfering I was offered an opportunity to work for an international ministry, International Oasis I was tasked with furnishing international student’s apartments for free with the goal of developing relationships and evangelizing. What would come from what sounded like an off-brand U-Haul job changed my life and view of ministry forever. In the next year and a half, my team of volunteers and I helped to furnish over 100 students’ apartments. During that time, I developed deep relationships with international students. I lived life with them and shared what it meant to follow Jesus. I learned how to share the gospel and my heart broke for the lost. Through my ministry with International Oasis God revealed to me His heart for all to be saved. He showed me the importance of relationships and humbled me as I spent weekends moving furniture in the winter.
As my body began to experience the wear and tear of moving sofas I got connected to a college ministry, Younglife. The next three years of my life were dedicated to serving the Lord through Younglife. During that time our ministry more than tripled in size and God was moving. I had the honor of being the spiritual director of the organization and grew as a teacher and shepherd. Throughout this season the Lord showed me what it looks like to lead and tend the flock. I grew in my ability to teach and began discipling young leaders to help them grow in their faith. God gave me a glimpse of his calling for my life and how to lead others well. I was young and had much to learn, but God established a foundation of what it meant for me to know Him and serve Him.
In the fall of 2019, I took over the role of director of Cultivate. Cultivate is a leadership and discipleship program that serves campus ministries, nonprofits, and local churches. In the last four years of serving as director, I could not be more thankful for the ways the Lord has moved. Through Cultivate we have discipled over sixty young men and women individually on a weekly basis, partnered with fifteen ministries, witnessed five students go into full-time ministry, seen the growth of every campus ministry we partnered with, and, most exciting to me, witnessed the men and women we’ve discipled go on to disciple others!
Along the way, God continued to shape and mold my emotional, intellectual, mental, and spiritual health to be more like Him. I was ordained as a pastor through Masters Christian Ministry in the fall of 2020. In the Fall of 2022, I married my wonderful wife, RaeAnne. In the Spring of 2023, I graduated with a Master’s in Clinician Mental Health and work as a licensed therapist. Most recently, I published a book titled Relational Discipleship: A Guide to Mentoring with Confidence in June of 2023. Growth and learning are a continual process that I am thankful to be in. I am thankful that through education and mentorship, I can continue to pursue and grow in the Lord as I lead others.
Since coming to Oakland in 2016, I, and so many others, have been praying for a church at Oakland University. We believe God is calling us to take another leap of faith by planting Foundation Christian Church (FCC) in the fall of 2024.
Foundation Christian Church operates off the belief that all are called to build a firm foundation on Christ. We believe that only then can believers live in obedience to His calling.
Our model for FCC is shaped by our experience in ministry at Oakland. We strive to create a space of discovery, development, and a strong community for years to come. We believe that through radical obedience to God’s calling, a focus on living missionally, and living relationally with one another that all will come to know Jesus, love Him, and live for Him.
I would be honored if you would consider supporting me on my mission to lead and serve Foundation Christian Church as we commit to making disciples who make disciples!
-Kyle Vens