Cultivate | Cultivate Kingdom Worker Development Fund

In 2020, help God’s kingdom grow.

Since 2015, many have financially supported Cultivate as we have been learning how to best show the love of Christ to the students of Oakland and inspire others to do the same. We at Cultivate are extremely grateful for all the assistance we have received in this matter during this launch season. In these last 4 years, God has sent an incredible, wise, and resourceful team to Oakland University to help establish Cultivate, a ministry designed to develop kingdom workers. As defined by Jesus in Luke 10, a kingdom worker is a person of Christlike character - obedient to God, ready for any challenge, action-minded, and results-oriented - whose desire is to grow God’s Kingdom. Our team is dedicated to this mission, and we are excited to finally announce a way for you to partner with us in this vital work: the Cultivate Kingdom Worker Development Fund. Read on to find out about this exciting opportunity.

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Kyle Vens

Cultivate Director

The Cultivate Kingdom Worker Development Fund

Cultivate’s mission is to develop kingdom workers, and we find the best way to do this is to help give young men and women opportunities where they can serve others in hands-on, practical ways while being coached in meaningful ways by loving leaders. For example, a senior engineering student wants to lead a team which deliberately focuses on students who would never come to church or a campus ministry. He wants to run the Alpha course because he knows it has structure and proven success at welcoming people who wouldn’t normally come. He looks at the Alpha course launch materials, and sees that a free meal is a primary component of offering the course to students he wants to reach. He knows they will come if a great dinner happens on campus, around where these students live. He longs to introduce them to Christ and grow God’s Kingdom in their hearts. However, he is a full time student working an additional 30-hour per week job. How does he, a 21 year old living on campus, get high quality food for 20, 30, or 40 people delivered to campus for 14 weeks to successfully invite those who would not be interested in a standard church setting? That’s where Cultivate, and specifically our Kingdom Worker Development Fund, comes in. With our expertise, community connections, and even our own hands, we can provide a consistent, quality meal for up to 35 students for $150 per week including delivery, as well as one-on-one mentoring and coaching for this student leader during the week. This leaves the student leader to do the “kingdom” work of building a team of volunteer table leaders, inviting non-Christian students, developing friendships, and eventually helping people declare Jesus as the Lord of their life who may never have desired to before.

This is one example, and it really happened in fall 2017. We have other amazing examples of how our Cultivate team has developed kingdom workers by helping them meaningfully serve others, understand their faith, facilitate discussions, start small groups, host events, and most importantly, grow in Christlike character.

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stories of kingdom workers.

Kelly Ray

Kelly transformed from a student-athlete in attending a campus ministry into the leader of that ministry, changing its culture by training athletes to disciple athletes.

Brian Petty

Brian stopped using his charisma for personal gain and started establishing events to help others experience the love of God and advance God’s kingdom.

Noah Nuss

Noah’s heart yearns for God and whichever route Noah pursues, whether in ministry or not, Noah is going to make an impact in the kingdom.

make a gift to support kingdom workers.

In order to fund these opportunities, we are asking for your help. Cultivate is looking to add $20,000 to our Kingdom Worker Development Fund by the end of 2019.

Specifically, we are looking for one time donations in the following amounts: 2 donations of $5,000, 5 donations of $1,000, 5 donations of $500, and 10 donations of $250. Every donation, no matter the amount, helps us continue to develop kingdom workers by providing opportunities for them to serve others while being coached in meaningful ways.

Cultivate receives donations as part of Abide Ministries, a 501(c)(3) organization located in Rochester, MI that provides financial and organizational oversight. All donations made to Cultivate are tax-deductible through Abide Ministries. Abide partners with Donorbox to enable donors to make one time and recurring donations, while allowing them to manage their own giving in a safe, secure, and reliable environment.

online gifts

Online gifts can be made using the form on this page, or at https://donorbox.org/cultivate. You can make one-time or recurring gifts using credit cards, debit cards, or bank transfers. All transactions are processed through Donorbox (a Stripe partner) for the highest level of security and convenience. Once you make a gift, you can manage your gift at www.donorbox.org.

check gifts

Check gifts can be made out to:
Abide Ministries
323 Linwood Dr
Rochester, MI 48307
Please add “Cultivate” to the memo line of all check gifts. For any questions regarding giving, please email [email protected].

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Kelly Ray

Kelly transformed from a student-athlete in attending a campus ministry into the leader of that ministry, changing its culture by training athletes to disciple athletes.

Kelly started with Cultivate in its first semester in 2013 as a freshman at Oakland. Coming from a missionary family, Kelly knew a lot about her faith, the bible, and the importance of reaching out and accepted Christ at a very young age. However, she still had her obstacles to overcome, in spite of her upbringing - the pressure of being a pastor/missionaries kid was one of those obstacles.A fear of missing out on God’s promptings for her life was a prevailing obstacle by the time she made it to campus. As a successful student-athlete in high school, Kelly had a plan and direction for her life, but she was afraid of one day waking up and thinking she had missed or left God’s plan some place in the distant past. As a new freshman living away from home for the first time, this fear was fierce; still, she wanted help to put God first in her life.In a divine connection, Kelly became connected with the Cultivate team. She was befriended, prayed over, and joined a women’s group. She participated in twice weekly faith discussions, and began to pray significantly on her own. In her second year, she began a relationship with a female mentor who she still spends time with 4 years later as she has begun graduate studies at Oakland. Kelly began to grow, and as a result, started to become a kingdom worker, desiring to serve others to show them the love of Christ. She began to look at campus organizations to see where she could be of assistance.As a student-athlete at Oakland, Kelly formed relationships with members of her track team, and became a part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). During her junior year, she launched her first small group, inviting in several athletes who lived in her residence community on campus. One of the young women she invited was struggling deeply in her faith, but Kelly continually encouraged her, even when it sacrificing sleep for late night discussions and overcoming difficult circumstances. Two years later, that same young woman has rekindled her relationship with Jesus.Kelly has encouraged dozens of students in her time at Oakland. From roommates, to friends, to athletes - Kelly is always looking for ways to grow God’s Kingdom in the hearts of others. Every summer from 2015-2017, Kelly has served as a leader on a local SpringHill Day Camps team in metro Detroit with other Oakland students, working primarily with special needs campers. Beginning in fall of 2016, she became president of FCA, working to establish and build up a faith community amongst Oakland athletes. In April 2017, she led an initiative to bring a worship concert to Oakland’s campus in an effort to unite various Christian organizations, and even now as a graduate student is investing in undergraduate students to help start new sport-specific small groups. Cultivate offers Kelly valuable assistance and coaching as a kingdom worker amongst student athletes. Through the Kingdom Worker Development Fund, Cultivate has been able to help Kelly - and by extension of her leadership role, FCA - with outreach events, worship concert fees, leadership materials, and more - even offering to pay for Christian counseling for those struggling deeply with depression who Kelly was working to encourage. Supporting the Cultivate Kingdom Worker Development Fund helps us get people like Kelly and the people she serves the help they need to be successful in growing God’s Kingdom. Please consider a gift to the Kingdom Worker Development Fund today.

Brian Petty

Brian stopped using his charisma for personal gain and started establishing events to help others experience the love of God and advance God’s kingdom.

Brian became involved with Cultivate in February 2016 after being recommended by a local church to connect with Cultivate leaders at Oakland. He had barely stepped foot in a church since he began college in 2014, and he didn’t exactly know what to expect from a meeting with ministry leaders, especially at Oakland, where he was extremely well-known and involved. Brian had grown up as a Christian, going to church with his single mom nearby his home in westside Detroit. However, as a high school student, he began to drift away from his faith. Shortly after graduating high school as valedictorian and starting school at Oakland, he began to spend more and more of his time partying and socializing. While he gained popularity in the residence community at Oakland, he was sliding away from the foundation of Jesus in his life. In the summer of 2015, he was selected to be a resident assistant in the dorms, earning free room and board to go along with free tuition; however, shortly into the fall semester, his life began to unravel. He was caught with alcohol as a minor, and proceeded to lose his job as an RA, being placed on probation by one of the strictest judges in the metro-Detroit area. It was during this time he began to reconsider his faith, and start going back to church, which led to his connection to Cultivate. Brian connected with the leader he met, and they began to meet regularly to help with his spiritual growth. That mentoring relationship helped Brian as he continued to navigate these difficult situations without the help of local family; which included continued legal hurdles, a car accident, and a financial-aid issue that cost Brian a semester and set him back several thousand dollars. Through it all, Brian wanted to grow as a kingdom worker. He began to invite fraternity and sorority friends to the young-adult group he joined at Kensington. He formed Facebook communities to help his friends become aware and keep updated about faith-based opportunities. He joined YoungLife - a campus ministry - and begane promoting it as well as helping Cultivate leaders connect with new students for mentoring. Brian actively used his connections and charisma to help people find their place in local churches and campus ministry groups in order that they may know more about the love of Jesus. This semester, Brian has doubled as the Special-Events Coordinator for International Oasis, helping to plan and host events for 150-300 international students six different times already, and a small group leader for Kensington Church’s young-adult ministry, 1829. He has an incredible ability to remember names and form friendships, as well as the courage to suggest people to consider faith in Christ who may be uncomfortable with the idea. Between International Oasis, 1829, and his connections at Oakland; it’s safe to say that Brian is actively engaging with 200-300 students as he encourages them to pursue their faith more and more.When Brian was struggling with his financial aid and tuition issues, the Cultivate Kingdom Worker Development Fund was able to pay his tuition to help him get back into school at Oakland, where he is a key influencer of students. Through mentoring, coaching, and resourcing (both training & funding); Cultivate has helped Brian to be effective as a kingdom worker at Oakland, simultaneously working to solidify his faith and maximize his talents so that God’s Kingdom could grow through him.Making a gift to the Cultivate Kingdom Worker Development Fund helps to empower students like Brian to become effective kingdom workers by learning how to use their God-given gifts and strengths, and to overcome the obstacles that hinder them. Please consider a gift to the Cultivate Kingdom Worker Development Fund today!

Noah Nuss

Noah’s heart yearns for God and whichever route Noah pursues, whether in ministry or not, Noah is going to make an impact in the kingdom.

When Noah entered Oakland University as a freshman in 2017 one thing was clear, Noah was good at connecting with people. Noah’s winsome personality, humor and tender-hearted spirit quickly brought him many new friends within the first few months of school. Noah quickly became known around Oakland’s campus and developed a reputation for being a fantastic guy. During this time, Noah’s faith was stagnant. He grew up learning the basics of faith, but never connected with God personally. In high school Noah transferred to Lake Orion High School and made friends with a group of people who were on fire for the Lord! They peaked Noah’s curiosity in the faith, and he began to attend church irregularly.His life continued into his freshman and sophomore year at Oakland University and he began attending Younglife, a campus ministry at Oakland, but admits now that he did not really know what he was searching for. Noah truly enjoyed meeting with Younglife on a weekly basis and tremendously appreciated the encouragement they offered. Noah’s friends continued to encourage and inspire Noah to search for God, but he continued to feel like he did not deserve a relationship with God. As Noah’s search continued, he found great success on campus, he was offered various jobs, became well known within campus life, and did well in his classes but despite his success he felt like there was something missing.In the winter of his Sophomore year Noah attended Younglife’s winter retreat. On Saturday, during Younglife’s evening message, there was an opportunity to receive Jesus. It was in that moment that the holy spirit moved powerfully in Noah’s life and he was filled with emotion. Noah accepted Christ in a moment of true surrender to Him.As Noah returned to school after the retreat it was clear that there was something different. Noah was a changed man; he was a man on a mission to make an impact on the lives of the people at Oakland. Noah’s personality has always given him influence and helped him to promote different activities on campus, but after giving his life to Christ, Noah began to use his influence to invite people to Bible studies, church, and campus ministries. Noah became one of the core outreach members of Younglife without even taking a leadership position. He began inviting everyone he knew and helped shape the spiritual journeys of many of his friends. Noah began meeting with Kyle Vens, the director of Cultivate. They walked through the foundations of the faith and discussed some of the early struggles of following God.As his sophomore year ended Noah took on the challenge of becoming a counselor for Springhill camps. Noah worked with children ages 5-11 and traveled the metro Detroit area sharing the gospel and leading fun activities for the kids. Over the summer Noah learned so much about himself and about what it means to truly follow Jesus. Noah gained confidence in sharing the gospel, learned what it meant to pursue God daily, and gained a fuller understanding of Jesus’s person.As the summer ended and Noah began to think about where he would like to get involved on campus, he was given an opportunity to work with an international ministry serving foreign exchange students and working professionals in the Oakland county area. Noah began working with Connect the Nations run by one of Cultivate’s dear friends, Alexa Lawlor, towards the end of the summer. This year Noah has had the chance to connect international students to conversation partners, help plan and throw holiday events, develop relationships with students and lead Bible studies. Noah’s gifting has truly allowed him to thrive in this role and has helped him to gain direction in his future career path.In addition to serving within Connect the Nations, Noah played a significant role in Cultivate’s success this year. Noah’s ability to connect with others and form relationships allowed him to start mentoring a few young men gave him the opportunity to lead a couple of his friends to the Lord. In addition to mentoring other students Noah has developed a keen interest in apologetics, the study of philosophical, logical, and scientific reasons for the existence of God. Noah has become a well-read apologist and loves meeting with people from various religious backgrounds.Noah has done incredible things this year and has made a significant impact in the lives of numerous students at Oakland, but what may be more impressive is the maturity that Noah has developed. Despite being relatively new to the faith, he demonstrates the wisdom and humility of someone much older. Noah’s willingness to surrender before God is truly inspiring. One of the many reasons for Noah’s growth is that he began meeting with one of cultivates other mentors, Dave Shuman. Dave is the youth pastor at Citylight Church and has been an amazing influence on Noah’s life. Dave has been an encourager, challenger and friend to Noah and has helped Noah to see the world through a different lens. Noah’s wisdom is being noticed by those around him and others are beginning to seek him out for counsel. Noah has become a spiritual leader on Oakland’s campus and is making an incredible impact on the Kingdom.As Noah is getting ready to enter his senior year, he longs to make an impact for the Kingdom. Currently, he has various opportunities to be involved in youth ministry, college ministry, or continue pursuing international ministry in front of him. He has not yet decided where he would like to serve, but one thing is certain. Noah will make an impact regardless of which organization he chooses to be a part of.Noah isn’t sure what he would like to do with his degree in Communication. He doesn’t have a clear direction on what profession he would like to have. Although he may not have a clear profession, he does have a clear goal - to serve the Lord with everything he has. Noah’s heart yearns for God and whichever route Noah pursues, whether in ministry or not, Noah is going to make an impact in the kingdom.