Shayla's Ministry Blog

 Howdy!  There are lots of exciting things happening around here. Bible studies that are finishing, seniors  graduating, taking future leaders to SICM, baptisms, and a fraternity revival night. It definitely seems as if God is expanding his kingdom in new and exciting ways at UNT, TWU, and by extension, NCTC. Thank you for being a part of it by praying and giving!  Here are some photos from the month!  Here are some photos I took from our last TNF of the school year! Upper left: Caught a sweet moment between some friends during the last worship song. Upper right: one of our music students who leads scripture studies in the music department, DJ. He and Casey (to the right) dressed up as Monday Night Football announcers to announce the last announcements for the year. It was great.  Middle left: Me and Kayah! Kayah is one of our sweet girls who is about to graduate. She was in my core two years ago and has left a great mark on our ministry.  Middle right...

Howdy, howdy, howdy!  Save the Date! We have 30 years of campus ministry to celebrate and you're all invited. One of my good friends, Krysten, is pictured in the center right. She was one of the first FOCUS apprentices at UTA!  Please read Chloe's story. She is one of our student leaders and worship leaders here in Denton! She's been very faithful with TWU! Washington students enjoying the sun on top of the parking garage at UNT! Spring Break Outreach: Another year of hosting students from Bellingham, WA in TX for their Spring Break mission trip! This year we had 8 people from Washington where they got to be hosted by FOCUS students and staff, got to do on campus evangelism, and make new friends! Pictured is Drew from FOCUS leading a devotional for them before their first morning of outreach.  A picture of the Washington students with Chelsea Davis and Cathryn (focus staff). Chelsea and Brad are FOCUS alumni and made smoked chicken, mac and cheese, and collared greens for...

 Howdy, all!  As always, I'm excited to share what's been going on here in Denton FOCUS. I'll give a brief rundown and then share more through a series of pictures.  The rundown: February is this interesting liminal space of managing of what we're doing while staying open to new opportunities and thinking ahead for next school year. Crazy, right? Some new things we're trying because we have the staff numbers and student numbers: we switched from 3 planned after events after our TNF service to the students inviting each other to multiple things they can do after TNF (might sound trite but I promise it isn't). We have a Stop the Rot social campaign coming up on campus to invite students to stop brain rotting and start flourishing as God intended. We have a lot students who are not corefas who have been in ongoing coaching to further our reach on campus and the response has been posititve - taking ownership of where God has place them. All of this is in the midst o...

Winter retreat was over a week ago! What a phenomenal way to start the semester! It was our largest turnout ever (around 830 people came). The students are so hungry for God. You could see it in the way they worshipped, the way they loved one another, and the way they were so responsive to the teachings from guest speaker Marty Solomon.  Marty did 5 different teachings through Genesis and myself and others were laughing, crying, getting convicted and a lot of audible responses from the audience. It had been a minute since I felt like I learned something new from Genesis. I really learned so much and so did our students.  Here's a picture of Marty teaching. He has some pizzazz to his teaching style and the students loved it! You can learn more from him from the BEMA podcast.  Here's a snapshot of worship from one of the worship sets. I wish y'all could've been there. There was so much energy and unity in the room. Dancing, jumping, shouting, hugging! We have much to lear...