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H.O.P.E. Fellowship celebrates Jesus Week

ReAnne Rogers

March 24, 2013

Starting Monday, H.O.P.E. Fellowship will host Jesus Week, where they will fellowship with their peers in hopes of strengthening faith in God and providing students with resources.

H.O.P.E. stands for hope, opportunity, purpose and encouragement.

“The purpose of Jesus Week is to exemplify the love of christ through people,” said Jonathan Hollingsworth, 23, senior radiology major and vice president of H.O.P.E. Fellowship. “It’s not a way to shove Jesus down peoples’ throats, but it’s just to let other people know who Jesus is to us and to share that experience.”

In reflection on past Jesus Week events, Hollingsworth said it has had a tremendous effect on him both spiritually and professionally. It broke the stereotypes of what a Christian is and the stereotypes of religion that had him shy away from the church through interaction with others who were just like him.

Jesus Week began Sunday evening at 11:45 p.m. during the Jericho Walk. Students and members of H.O.P.E. Fellowship walked around the campus to “pray over it, pray against anxiety, for financial support, no injuries at Student Recreation Center, and for productivity on campus,” said Trudy Pilgrim, 19, sophomore and treasurer of H.O.P.E. Fellowship.

The Praise Yard Show will be held at the basketball courts in the dorms Monday at 7 p.m. Different organizations were invited to step in the show. The step show will provide attendees with opportunities to evangelize, and gift cards and food will be given out.

Unity Night will be held on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Northridge Center in the University Student Union. Students will be invited along with ministries from other campuses such as UCLA to discuss what it means to be a Christian and evangelize on campus.

On Wednesday, Cometry Night will be held at 8 p.m. in the Northridge Center, where special guests including comedian Jonnae Thompson will be present. Cometry is a mix of comedy and poetry.

“There is so much power in words and so much power in testifying,” Pilgrim said, who organized Cometry Night.

On Thursday, the Catwalk for Christ event will be held in the Northridge Center at 7:30 p.m. A fashion show will be held where students will model clothing from local designers. The entrance fee is $5.

“People get transformed (that night) – people who wouldn’t normally walk,” Pilgrim said. “We want to give them confidence and eliminate self-hate and be proud in the skin that God gave them.”

H.O.P.E. Fellowships will be raising funds on Wednesday and Thursday to give back to students.

“A lot of people are hungry and need books and tuition and things paid for,” Pilgrim said. “We are asking for green books, old textbooks, pens, paper, canned or boxed food and monetary donations.”

The final goal is to stock up a pantry for CSUN students to have when they are in need. All proceeds raised at the Catwalk for Christ will go toward providing students with these resources.

The last event of the week, Jamfest, will be held on Saturday at H.O.P.E.’s House Christian Ministries at 10654 Balboa Blvd. It is a concert that will be promoting Darnell Edwards, a staff member at CSUN and member of H.O.P.E.’s House, who will be releasing an album.

Saturday morning, H.O.P.E. Fellowship will be having a resource fair where they will provide showers and a food bank for the homeless.

This year’s theme for Jesus Week is, “It’s Just Time to G.O.” G.O. stands for God-given opportunities.

Pilgrim said the G.O. movement is telling people to go for what they want and to embrace all the opportunities that CSUN has, whether being self-confident through the fashion show, expressing themselves through Cometry Night or just finding new people to fellowship with.

“There is a lot of stigma as to who Jesus is and about Christianity. It’s to show us having fun and what it means to be a Christian,” Pilgrim said of the events. “Over the years, it has evolved into a week full of events where we evangelize and give back to the community and have a good clean time on campus.”