Jay Winn

Growing up with a single mom and six siblings brought its fair share of chaos and struggles in Jay’s life. One of the main struggles was not having his dad, or even a father figure at all, to guide him through life. Instead of being able to rely on a father to teach and raise him, he relied on friends and culture to teach him what he needed to know about the world and life in general. As one might imagine, that did not go well for him. He got into a lot of trouble and had a hard time staying away from sin. His family did not regularly attend church, but they did go every Easter, so he was familiar with the concept of God.

After completing his 9th-grade year, Jay was invited to a youth summer camp but unfortunately did not have the money needed to go. However, church volunteers surprised him by paying for him to attend camp. This is where he ultimately decided to give his life fully to Christ and trust Him with everything. He was baptized a week later and began actively serving anywhere and everywhere that he could.

In his senior year of high school, Jay felt drawn to Oral Roberts University, but without a way to pay for it, he thought there was no way it would happen. In another act of extreme generosity, God led a couple from his church to pay for all four years of his college at Oral Roberts University. It was there that he graduated debt-free with a degree in youth ministry and met his wife.

When Jay thinks about his life, where he came from, and where he could have ended up, he is so thankful that God completely transformed his life and pulled him out of where he was. He is grateful to now serve as a youth pastor, a job he once felt underqualified for. Leading teenagers closer to Christ every day is a true honor and one that he will forever be thankful for. This is exactly why he is so excited to partner with Collision and bring the hope of Christ to every teenager so that they all have an opportunity to respond to the gospel.