Shayla's Ministry Blog

Hello, friends, family, and supporters! I wanted to start off my monthly update by telling y'all about our annual fundraiser. It's called Keep FOCUS Growing campaign, and our goal is to raise 55,000. This is a lot of money, and you deserve to know what it is for. This money, just like the money we have raised in the past, allows us to invest directly back into our community by allowing for FOCUS to be planted at new campuses (there is a possibility of us being planted at SMU next year) , support new initiatives to bring students to Christ, covers costs for student events, and much more! Please pray and consider investing financially in this campaign. For more information, you can visit  https://anyfocus.org/donate/next20/ . We can hit our $55,000 goal if: 200 people give $10 200 people give $20 100 people give $50 30 people give $100 20 people give $300 25 people give $500 10 people give $750 5 people give $1000 2 people give $2500 1 person gives $5,000 In

Greetings friends and supporters! In case you haven't heard, it's officially November. With this season of pies and thankfulness upon us, I want to reflect back on the whirlwind month of October. Yes, I am aware that I talked about pies and thankfulness in the same sentence because who isn't thankful for pie? 20 Year Celebration On October 8th, FOCUS celebrated its 20th birthday with almost 800 attendees! As a 26 year old apprentice, it was really neat to meet and hear from so many people that were formerly involved or currently involved with this ministry. The Celebration taught me a few things. First of all, it reminded me of the value of perseverance. As disciples, we don't have the luxury to quit when things get tough. Hearing stories of the early days when FOCUS was anywhere from a few to several people only at UTD was really meaningful. These people walked and prayed for our campuses in the rain, and trusted that God would coordinate his vision and timing i

Hello, friends, family, and pets! Happy October, to y'all! How about this amazing weather? I tell y'all what, just when I thought I couldn't take the humidity any longer, I felt like God answered a personal prayer by bringing out the nice outdoor weather. Though, I'm sure He was either answering a lot of folks' prayers, or the weather was finally to chill out. Either way, I am glad the fall weather is here. A pastor's pasture in Denton, TX In the beginning of September, my good pal Samantha, who is a part of the UNT FOCUS ministry, asked me to baptize her. I met Sam almost 2 years ago. At the time, she didn't consider herself a Christian, but due to several different Christian experiences in her life, she was led to FOCUS, and began to ask a lot of good questions about Christianity, discipleship, and the practicalities of being a Christian. I remember thinking that I wasn't smart enough to be her friend or good enough to be a Christian mentor. M

Hey, hey, hey party disciples! I cannot believe my first month as a campus missionary is over. I want to reiterate to my supporters how thankful I am for your belief in my vision for campus ministry. I could not be doing this without you. Thank you so much. As soon as we got back from staff retreat, us apprentices started our classes with the often looked over and misunderstood Old Testament. We'll be covering the Old Testament through the end of the Fall. I'll be honest, I was a bit scared of what I would learn. I think what I was afraid of was that my understanding of who God is would be changed in a bad way. Would I learn that my good, good Father isn't as good as I thought he was? This is an insecurity I have had for a long time. Plot twist : in my basic, beginner's understanding of the Old Testament, I have learned that God was looking out for His people and that He is still good. God was about keeping people safe and meeting people's needs in a broken soci

Cowabunga! This is my first blog post as an Apprentice for FOCUS! First, I want to say a BIG Thank You to my prayer and financial support team. I am able to pursue this coming year of mission because of your belief in college ministry. I am 76% fundraised, which is bonkers to me (in a good way). Seriously, the process of fundraising has brought an unfamiliar depth to my relationship with God. The process of fundraising is exciting, exhausting, and revealing. Fundraising has revealed different ways I struggle in trusting God, yet, He has been faithful and provided the means for me to be able to do ministry. I still have 24% ! If you know anyone who would be interested in hearing about my mission, please send me their number! I would love to talk with them. Thank y'all x1000. I wish I could hug all of you at this very moment, however, an e-hug will have to suffice *hug*. If you haven't set up your online giving yet, now is the time to do so! Follow this Donation link!