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Showing posts from 2018

December update

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Merry early Christmas, everyone! I pray that your season is merry and bright and filled with time spent with wonderful people whom you love. I know during this time of year, it can be easy for me to forget about the actual reason we celebrate this holiday. I think the older I get, the more profound the life of Jesus becomes to me, beginning to end. And the more profound his life becomes to me, the more affection the Lord gives me for campus ministry. There is a very real threat to college students, especially at UNT, and the healing Jesus offers in transformative. So, I ask in the spirit of the season, please pray for radical encounters with the Holy Spirit for the students in Denton, TX. As always, here is our student testimony for the month. This is one is close to my heart because I get to mentor her as she leads a group of young women at UNT in her small group. I've seen Crystal fight through anxiety and stay fiercely obedient to God. I've seen her fight against her nat

November update

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Happy November everyone! I hope this fall season has made everyone feel warm, cozy, and closer to loved ones. As always, thank you so much for how you support the mission of college ministry. Every week, I am humbled a little more in awe and wonder at what an important mission it is to reach college students. This is the time they are most open and willing to learn more about Jesus and we are lucky to get to do that in the freedoms this country offers and in the context of a healthy community. So, thank you! As always, we have our student update! Though he is no longer a student, this is exciting because I actually went to school with him. His name is Kurt Doty and he has been a part of our student ministry, church family ministry, and has been helping out with our SMU plant since it began in 2017. Please take a moment to read his story. Pizza Theology: Every Fall and Spring, FOCUS puts on something we call Pizza Theology. This is a time where all of our campuses come togeth

October update

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Happy Fall, y'all!  As I'm writing this, it is cool yet sunny 60 degrees outside. (Thank God). I am very surprised at how quickly the weather has changed, not only that but at how it seems it will stay that way for a while. I hope you are able to enjoy the weather at least a little bit this week, if that's your thing of course. Student Testimony As always, I like to start this blog off with our monthly student testimony. A lot of times I know who the student is, but this month I don't. And I say that to emphasize how far the reach of this community is in our vast metroplex! And that's exciting and it's the vision that you are investing in. So, thank you. Please take a moment to read Veronica's testimony. Prayer Requests: - Please pray that God would be delivering people from slavery with his truth - Please pray for Spirit to be welcome and active in people's lives - Lastly, please pray for God's will to be done here Fall Camp Every ye

September update

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Hey, everyone! I'm so excited to update you on what has been happening. But first I want to thank you for supporting me prayerfully, financially, and I want you to know that your gifts have been blessings to our students. One of those students is Ulises from UTA. I met him briefly at our leadership conference (SICM), but it was really cool to read his testimony and get to know him a little better. Thank you for pouring into campus ministry and blessing people like Ulises. Welcome Week: Basically, up until yesterday for the last two weeks, our Denton staff team and our 38 student leaders have been hard at work, filled with strength from God meeting so many people on our UNT, NCTC, and TWU campuses. I say that God gave us strength because there is no way we could do it on our own for two weeks straight. At our first Friday Night FOCUS Fellowship for the year, we received 98 info cards from new students wanting to know how to get involved more. Success isn't in numbers bu

August update

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Hey, everyone! First up, we have our student testimony! This is one about Pita, one of our friends we met at NCTC a couple years ago, or as we like to call it "eensy teensy" because it really is so small and self contained. Please take a moment to read her touching testimony and learn more about the people our ministry has had the pleasure of being with. Staff Retreat: Every August and January, our entire staff of around 40+ people get together for a few days to get to know one another more deeply, to pray over the coming year and for our campuses, and to have fun. I feel very lucky to serve on a staff where many of these people are my close friends and people that have shown me that care about me and the people in our ministry. It's a time of reflection before the breakneck pace of the school year starts, and honestly it's a time that is anointed by the Lord. Denton staff 2018 - 2019 Apprentices: This year, we have 12 new apprentices! For those of y

July update

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Happy 4th of July, everyone! Please take a moment to read this month's student testimony. This one is a little closer to my heart because I got to spend some time with Harrison this past semester. Out of seemingly nowhere, this guy started helping us set up for Thursday Night Fellowship every week at Collin College. But of course it wasn't out of nowhere, it was because he had been invited by a student in our ministry to be a part of what God was doing and Harrison said yes. He even moved into a house with a bunch of our crazy Collin guys, and it's blessed him and his new room mates immensely. Summer Focus: During the summer, everyone who stays in town is welcome to come to our collective Thursday Night Focus in Richardson. We have around 200 - 300 students show up every week. We have been going through a really neat sermon series about the temptations that Jesus faced and how this reflects the temptations we face as disciples. It's been really neat, and peopl

May update

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Hey, everyone! Happy May! I am so excited to tell you about SICM and about Summer Focus. But first, our student testimony. I actually had the pleasure of knowing Bekwele when he was at Collin College last year. I'm also excited to get to work alongside him again when I move to Denton! Bekwele is at TWU, and I'm so proud of this guy and how he has followed the Lord. Check it out! SICM: This year we were blessed to be able to bring over 100 students from all of our campuses to the Student Institute of Campus Ministry. This for last 10 days, they took intensive classes on how to be ministers to their campuses. They learned why Jesus calls us to outreach, they learned how to ask good questions, lead small groups, and more importantly they learned how to be disciples on the campuses and in their lives. Collin College Focus staff at SICM Meet Courtney, Jordy, and Mya. Students from our ministry! This is Kristen. She and I will be working together on the Denton F

April update

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Hey, everyone! It's been a bit since my last post. I am excited to update you all on everything that has happened since March! But first, as always, I'm happy to share another student testimony with you. This one comes from a student at UTD named Sienna. Take a moment to read her testimony! God is really good, y'all. Spring Showcase: I just want to take a moment and say thank you for praying and contributing to our annual Spring Showcase fundraiser. God really provided through all of you, the students, and the performers ,and artists. Not to mention Bent Tree Bible Fellowship Church in Carrollton for being so gracious, supportive, and helpful to provide a space for us for this fundraiser. Spring Showcase is our annual fundraiser to help send over 100 students to a discipleship training conference in Bellingham, WA called SICM. Many cannot afford the 715 price, so this event is a way to help with that. Thank you again for praying for them! All of our students are

March

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Happy spring, everyone! I am so thankful for this time of year. The sun is out which means more vitamin D which means people generally happier... I think? Anyway, guessy-science jokes aside, I am pumped to fill y'all in on what's been going down in FOCUS town. First, I want to update y'all about a sweet guy named Devin. I knew him when I was a student at UNT. He and I were a part of a group that would watch The Walking Dead on Sundays, and I always enjoyed hearing what he had to say about the show, what he was learning in school, and about his small group. I've witnessed him grow in boldness, and develop deep friendships over the years in our ministry. Take a moment to read his story! He's quite vulnerable here, but I think it has the potential to impact a lot of people struggle with intimacy in friendships. Pizza Theology: Ready or not...here he comes! This was the legitimate title for our pizza theology this semester and it was about the second coming and

February update

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Hey, everyone! It's been a little while. I can't wait to tell you what's been happening in our ministry since my last update. But first, we have our first student testimony to share with you from SMU. This is really exciting because FOCUS at SMU is new this year and already a handful of people have found their home through FOCUS Canterbury (the SMU name for FOCUS). Here is Candice's story. Outreach: As the Spring semester starts at Collin we deal with a number of transitions. We encounter a whole new group of students who decide to start and our ministry experiences a second wave of interest. Every Tuesday and Wednesday, we host a formal outreach to meet new students, and if they're interested, we invite them into our lives and to FOCUS. It's hard for our staff to tell from the inside to see if there is any fruit, but after reflecting on it, we have experienced new people who are excited to learn more about Jesus, more people who are attending our

January update

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Hey guys, Happy new year! As always, I am excited to share our student update for the month. It's particularly exciting because it is someone from our campus at Collin College. Graham a good guy with a great heart and I'm excited to continue to work with him. The 2nd year in a row Graham has drawn a staff picture of us for Christmas! These are our spirit animals attached with us. Mine is a red panda :) Keep Focus Growing: Thank you so much to everyone who contributed and prayed for this campaign. Through y'alls support, and many other, God provided extravagantly and we went past the 50,000 goal. The official numbers are not in yet, but when they are I will be sure to let you know! Again, thank you so much for your generosity and compassion for our students, and for us. Winter Camp: My favorite event of the year is upon us. As many of you know, the first winter camp I attended with FOCUS was January 2013. I was in a weird place, mentally and had been for a