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December 2024

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Happy New Year, all! I'm excited to share snippets from the past holiday season. First, our student alumni testimony:  December was a good and chaotic month. There were many Christmas parties (students, staff, family), a stomach bug that took Grant and I out (and much of our denton staff) for several days, prayerful enrichment, and some much needed down time. Thank you each for following along, praying along, and giving along. Below are some snapshots:  This is a picture I took of my little brother, Damon, my SIL Mikayla, and my nephew/godson, Paxton! My mom got us all matching pajamas for Christmas eve. I would've included the group photo, but it didn't turn out very good. Each shirt implies that we each committed some type of Christmas crime and are being held in a correctional facility in the North Pole. I love my family.  Speaking of my SIL, she got baptized in early December. Her and Damon have been involved in maturing their faith and becoming leaders in the TRACK m...
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November 2024

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Keep FOCUS Growing is Underway!  $77,000 in Matching Funds Pledged for Keep FOCUS Growing 2024! Make a gift now  to keep us reaching new students and expanding to new campuses Denton FOCUS Friendsgiving It's an annual tradition in our Denton FOCUS community to have two cores plan a Friendsgiving. It gives students a chance to take ownership in the community, plan ahead, host, be thoughtful, and onboard other students in the community to contribute, celebrate, and to love one another.  Samantha and I 's core co-hosted with Michael and Jaxon's core (our group from Fall Retreat). Michael led us a in pastoral thought, someone from each group prayed for everyone, we ate, laughed, and played games together. Very thankful for our little communities that form within our big community.  Here's some photos!  My back porch filled with students eating thanksgiving food. We went around sharing a favorite Thanksgiving memory and got to know each other better.  A very int...
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October 2024 update

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It has been a busy, wild, interesting, yet encouraging semester. We've had many new baptisms, our student leader team is big, we're have 260ish show up on our fellowship nights, and have well over 300 involved with small groups. We just had our largest turnout for our Fall Retreat ever for Denton FOCUS. The Lord seems to be adding to our number daily and we are increasingly relying more and more on his grace (praise God).  Here's a snapshot and prayer request from our director of FOCUS (he's over at UTD), but very similar things are happening with them:  "So many students are studying the Bible for the first time, learning about Jesus for the first time, wrestling with his call to follow for the first time. They are facing down all sorts of strongholds in their lives--drug addictions, past or present abuse, mental and physical illnesses, identity issues, money troubles, problems in their families--basically anything you can imagine. But we know "The weapons we...
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September 2024 update

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Baptisms and Book Recs Hey y'all! Some great news over here. Since August, we've had 8 baptisms in Denton FOCUS. Most recently were 5 girls. Grace (UNT), Diana (UNT), MJ (TWU), Chris (TWU), and Nia (TWU)!  Chris, MJ, and Nia's Baptism! A TWU baptism for the ages! Josh and Emiliee Robinson of Denton North Church let us use their pool. Josh was in FOCUS with Ryan and I when we were in college! Diana's baptism. I got to study foj with Diana 2 years ago and her corefas Mackenzie and Mikayla from that year got to baptize her. What a sweet moment. Mackenzie is now on staff at Collin, and Mikayla is back in Houston :'( Grace's baptism. I had the honor of getting to baptize her. We were co-fas last year and I loved leading core with her. A very special moment, her friends and family together to celebrate! Sean and Vianet (also friends of Ryan and I's from college), have let us baptize countless people over the years. What a blessing they are! These baptisms are good...
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August 2024 update

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July 2024

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Hey, all! First up, we have our student testimony straight from TWU.  Gearing up for the school year:  I wanted to share some thoughts from the director of all of FOCUS as we approach the new school year. Please read a long and pray with us! We're so thankful for you.  From Brandon Worsham: "I was in prayer this morning for the thousands of new students who will be coming to our campuses in a little over a month. And then I was reminded of these words from Brady Bobbink, one of my ministry mentors: "There is a passage in Jonah where the Lord speaks of Nineveh being a great people where they do not 'know their right hand from their left.' What a pithy but sad description of how morally confused and lost people can be even though they are part of a powerful, rich, and well-educated empire. When I think of our campuses, I think the Lord would say the same thing about lots of secular students and the professors who lead them. "But here is the surprise. The Lord’s...
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June 2024 update

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 Ciao! Hey guys, it's been a heck of a summer. I'm excited to download y'all on the amazing things I've experienced as a result of God's provision. First, please read the student testimony from Jonathan at Richland College.  The Truth and Beauty Project: Christian Immersion trip to Rome: For 6 days in June, a group of 13 including focus alumni, current focus students, and myself and Grant traveled to Rome for a Spiritual Formation Immersion. There's a non-profit that one of our Denton alumni is connected to called the Truth and Beauty and Project. The founders of this non-profit are passionate about young adults intentionally living out their faith to the Lord through their vocation. This trip is aimed helping young people discern the direction God is calling them to, empowering young people to be faithful with the talents God has given them to bless others, and to mature them in their faith through connecting with historical Christianity in Rome via Christian a...
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