By Hanna Estes, Ministry Team Member • ABS at the University of Arkansas
Happy New Year! We kicked off 2026 by attending the first-ever Immerse Conference with 10 students and starting the semester strong at The Hedge. Our first Tuesday night gathering welcomed 14 students, including 2 new faces, and we’re excited to see what God has in store this semester. One especially encouraging development has been setting up weekly discipleship meetings — six with ladies and seven with guys.
An Unfolding Story
This week, I got excited while talking with one of our freshmen about a student who visited The Hedge for the first time on Tuesday. As she shared about her friend (someone who isn’t a Christian but is curious and open), I began to see the threads of a story God has been weaving. Here are the three threads I see:
• Priorities — To understand my excitement, it helps to share two focus areas we’ve identified for the ministry over the past year. First, because college ministry turnover is high, we’ve prioritized connecting with freshmen. While we deeply value our upperclassmen, a ministry without students from every class year risks everyone graduating at once. Second, we’ve encouraged students to use their time in college to live on mission for God. We want them to see college as more than personal growth and to actively share their faith — viewing Tuesday nights as opportunities to invite friends into a community of faith and everyday moments as chances to live missionally. When these priorities became clear last summer, they felt daunting. There was no question this was what God wanted — and equally clear that He would have to help us.
• Chloe — During this time, I was preparing to leave my job at the U of A to come work at ABS and was still attending orientation lunches with incoming freshmen. I was also scheduled to attend church camp at Ozarks Baptist Encampment, but a work orientation during camp caused a lot of stress. I prayed about it, and one day I noticed the orientation appointment had dropped off my schedule — thank you, Lord! While at camp, I met Chloe over breakfast. She was an incoming freshman at the University of Arkansas and planned to major in my department. When I mentioned we’d probably see each other at orientation, she told me she had canceled it so she could attend camp instead. She was the appointment I had stressed over! I invited her to The Hedge, and she is now a regular and has been sharing her faith with a friend of hers since the fall!
• Abigail — When parking for the first Razorback football game of the season last fall, we had the pleasure of meeting an ABS alum and his incoming freshman daughter, Abigail. We invited her to our BBQ Party the following week, and she came! I noticed that Chloe and Abigail seemed to be hitting it off really well. Come to find out, they have known each other since they were kids! Abigail is also very involved in small groups and personal discipleship. She also brought the new friend on Tuesday night!
The Bigger Picture
Two new freshmen is something to celebrate. Two freshmen eager to grow in their faith is even better. But two freshmen who are inviting their lost friends to Bible study and large group gatherings? That is something to truly rejoice over. I realized in my conversation this week that these girls, whom we had prayed for, were being faithful to engage their lost friends in spiritual conversations.
What may look like a coincidence is actually God answering prayers and unfolding His mission through students.
Prayer Requests & Praise
• Wisdom for the new semester and planning for the summer
• Continue making new student connections
• Fundraising Praise — Between monthly committed support and one-time donations that I received between July and December, I was able to achieve 100% of my fundraising goal for the first year! Thank you to everyone who has contributed monetarily and in prayer.
Thank you for your support and prayers.
