June 3, 2025
A team of students from East Texas Baptist University’s Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) recently spent a week serving and evangelizing in the Pacific Northwest, partnering with Northwest Collegiate Ministry and Epic Life Church in Seattle, Washington.
Even before landing, ministry had already begun. “God began using our team to spread the eternity-shaping message of the gospel; both Trenton and Shilo had separate and highly engaged gospel conversations with individuals sitting beside them,” Dean of Spiritual Life David Griffin said.
On Friday, the group met with Brad Schneeflock, the Northwest Collegiate Ministry Seattle Director, and began their outreach at the University of Washington Bothell and Cascadia Community College. “Trenton Matlack and I had the opportunity to discuss a relationship with Jesus and even got to dive deep into Scripture and theological concepts with one student, for well over an hour,” Shilo Powell, a junior Christian Ministry and Mental Health major, said. “Adrianna Stark and Diego Narezo had conversations with multiple students on the campus and were led into a spiritual conversation that resulted in impactful conversations and changed perspectives about Jesus.”
On Saturday, the team served Epic Life Church by helping clean a property gifted to the church for parking and community service use. “This included cleaning up trash, painting the fence, lawn care, and removing some thorn bushes,” Matlack, a senior Christian Ministry and Business major shared. “This opportunity allowed us to show our appreciation to the church for serving and hosting us.”
Later that day, the team hiked Carkeek Park and visited Bainbridge Island. “Seeing the beautiful views was an amazing reminder of how great God is and how intricately He created this world,” Matlack added. The team ended the evening by sharing testimonies with members of Epic Life Church.
Sunday’s worship at Epic Life Church left a lasting impact. “My first impression of the church was that they love well and value fellowship,” Adrianna Stark, a senior Psychology major said. “The people we met were from different backgrounds or cultures, but they were all united by their belief in the King, Jesus Christ.” The evening concluded with a backyard barbeque with church members. “Their faith and perseverance in Christ, in the middle of a rather dark culture, shines like a beacon of light in the city of Seattle,” Stark reflected.
Despite Memorial Day closures on Monday, the team prayer-walked three area campuses: Shoreline, Edmonds, and Everett Community Colleges. “Each campus was a reminder of God’s beautiful creation,” Diego Narezo, a junior History major said. “While praying, Trenton and I had a powerful conversation about our campus at ETBU, asking God to bring revival not just here in the Northwest but also back home.”
On Tuesday, the team joined with another mission group from Oklahoma for outreach at North Seattle College. “We served coffee and snacks and attempted to engage students in conversation,” Stark said. “Through both of these means, we were able to talk to a lot of students on campus about Jesus. Our whole team had many great Gospel conversations.”
Later, the group returned to Epic Life Church to help prepare for an upcoming community block party and ended their evening at a Seattle Mariners baseball game. The ETBU BSM team wrapped up their week with a final day of outreach at Skagit Valley College.
During the week, the team had the opportunity to have over 40 Gospel conversations. The team successfully connected people with Bible study leaders and pastors for future discussions.
“Truth be told, ministry in Seattle is a challenge,” Griffin said. “Many people we visited with had no conception of the one true and living God and a very scant understanding of what Christians are like. However, they were kind and open to discussion. Truly, our Christian brothers and sisters in the Northwest need our prayer and support.”