Introduction to Spiritual Life at HCU
The mission of our Spiritual Life Department is to foster Christian community life and worship by creating experiences for students, faculty and staff in spiritual formation that will support the integration of faith and learning.
We have an amazing team and our desire is for students to encounter the love and grace of God in Jesus Christ, and to walk in the calling that the Lord has for their lives. We are here for your students and here is our wonderful team:
Colette Cross has served at HCU in various capacities since August 2000. She currently serves as the Director of Discipleship which works hand and hand with the Spiritual Life program. We have a great team in which all of us want students to come to know Christ as their personal Savior and learn what it means to walk daily with Him. The name of our discipleship program is Kaleo which means “to call” in Greek. Our goal is to focus on helping students learn to be as effective as possible in their personal journey with Christ helping them know Christ and experience Him in fresh ways through discipling, community, study, and integration of Christ into their leadership and everyday life. She is a native of Missouri and moved to Houston from Kansas City which is a place that she dearly loves. She graduated from William Jewell College, a Baptist school in Liberty Missouri, and then earned two master’s degrees in counseling and religious education. Hobbies include sports (especially Kansas City Chiefs and the Texans) and a love for reading. Advice that she wants to share with students is that it is by no accident we are here at HBU. God knows exactly what He is doing and has placed us here for a purpose so celebrate! We are called daily to seek Him as we join Him in finding and living out His purpose for our lives. Many scriptures guide her daily walk but one in particular is Isaiah 30:21 – “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (NIV)
Our Coordinator for Missions and Christian Service is Jamar Mitchell who has served in this position for the past two years. In this role he has the privilege of leading and connecting students and faculty/staff to local and global mission initiatives. His love is discipling and ministering at HCU and challenging people to live their faith and theology out in their daily lives. Jamar received his bachelors and Master of Divinity from Baylor University. One of his favorite scriptures is Habakkuk 2:2-3, Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
Nathan Mahand enjoys serving as the Baptist Student Ministries (BSM) Director at HCU and is beginning his second year at HCU. As the BSM director he has the privilege of helping students incorporate their faith into daily life on campus through Bible study, mission trips, campus outreach activities, and leadership development. He loves ministering to students as they make decisions that will shape them for the rest of their lives. Nathan received a Bachelor of Arts in Religion at East Texas Baptist University and a Master of Divinity in Theology from Baylor’s Truett Seminary. In addition to serving at HCU, he finds fullness in spending time with his wife and two children. He attempts to live his life through the lens of all scripture and is drawn back to Paul’s words to the Thessalonians“Because we loved you so much we were delighted to share not only the gospel with you, but our lives as well” (1Thess 2:8).
Josie Adney serves as the Administrative Assistant to Spiritual Life and Discipleship. It is her honor and privilege to assist our staff by planning and executing tasks that help make HCU a spiritually nourishing place for students, faculty and staff. She is always happy to help students with any questions they have regarding Kaleo Discipleship and Convocation, whether it be chatting about discipleship opportunities or explaining CLW credits and events. Josie received my Bachelor’s degree in Bible & Ministry from Abilene Christian University and recently moved to Houston with her sweet husband. A scripture that often resurfaces in her mind is, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” (2 Cor 1:20). Christ is the “yes” to every promise of God and because of this we worship and honor him with our lives and actions.
Our Associate University Minister for Spiritual Life, Saleim Kahleh, loves HCU. He graduated from HCU, met his bride here, and has been blessed with three Beautiful & Smart daughters and three Amazing sons and feels he would only be more blessed if they chose to attend this wonderful University. His life was radically transformed when he encountered the Love and Grace of Jesus Christ. As a result his passion is for our students to know they are loved, they are forgiven, and God has a divine destiny for their lives. King David said “You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!” (Psalm 139:16). Since the Lord knows where they have been, where they are, and where He is taking them, we desire to help every student to know Jesus and to follow Him every day of their lives.
For more information on what’s going on, visit the Spiritual Life website.