We're Back! August & September Recap

 Hi!


It's been a while since I've last updated y'all via blog about how ministry is going! I want to report that fundraising went well over the summer and I was able to be fully fundraised, praise God! Once August hit, fundraising season was over and we started preparing for all the students we were going to meet at the start of the school year. I'm happy to say that God has been faithful yet again and has brought so many new students to our ministry this year! It's been such a humbling experience to be reminded that God is always working even when we don't see it. He's been pursuing these students long before they were they were even born. It is such an honor to get to work alongside God in bringing His Kingdom through the work of college ministry. 

I could write a whole essay on all that God's been doing this year, but I thought including mostly photos would be fun! At the end of the blog I'll ask for some prayer requests, ESPECIALLY since we'll be heading to Fall Camp this weekend!! Pray that God moves powerfully at camp!



A very grainy photo of our FOCUS staff at staff retreat this August. Being split between 15 campuses makes for keeping in touch difficult, but regardless we're all still friends. Love these guys!


Another photo from staff retreat. Coral (to my right), then me, Hannah, Katherine, Steven, Emily, Bailey, and Siena. Fun fact, Coral and Emily were my roommates my senior year at UNT! 


The peer team I'm a part of this year, led by my coworker Kylie. Peer teams are a group of student leaders who are overseen by a staff member weekly. It's a great top-down leadership approach so we know how our Core-fas (core facilitators/student leaders) are doing, as well as their Core members.

Here we are eating dinner after a long day of Corefa training/Welcome Week prep, gearing up for the two weeks of Welcome Week fast approaching!


Welcome week 1 of 2-- these were some of the first students I got to meet. They're all international students from India. It was super sweet and encouraging getting to chat with them and get to know them!


One of the MANY welcome week events we did-- this event is always a hit. It's called, "Need Help Finding Your Classes?". It's a great way to meet freshmen and walk them to their classes, as well as the perfect opportunity to serve them and meet a practical need. I think I got my 10,000 steps in that day!



Speaking of that event, that's where I met Zoé! Peter (my supervisor from last year) set us two up to go on a campus tour, and towards the end I remember nervously giving the spiel about Focus and Core, adding in, "...and you don't have to be Christian to join!" to which she responded, "I actually am, and I'd love to!"

We've been studying Focus on Jesus (a 10 week one-on-one bible study) together and it's been such a sweet, encouraging time! Zoé is one of the most thoughtful, outgoing freshman I've met. She shared that she's been a lukewarm Christian her whole life and is excited to develop a real relationship with God.

Here she is hanging out with my guinea pigs (cue Cuddles running around in the back).



Zoé cuddling with RayRay!


After two weeks of non-stop meeting students, our first break of the year happened-- Labor Day weekend! Staff don't get the day off, but it's the perfect 3 day weekend to rest and get time with new students.

I got to host a pool party at our new apartment complex and invited students who were in town for Labor Day. It was a blast!


I don't have a Co-fa (co-facilitator) this year and am leading by myself, and I'm loving it-- but I sure do miss leading with Isabelle last year. Here we are catching up over breakfast a few weeks into the school year. Over the summer I got to visit her in Austin for her surprise engagement party! I can't wait to see her get married this summer to her sweet fiance, Michael. They're both Seniors and are serving as student leaders this year. They set a great example on how to be servant-hearted disciples.


And lastly, here's a photo of my Core this year! And this isn't everybody-- people had to leave early, or some weren't able to make it this day. I'm blown away at God's goodness and faithfulness, not only in providing a sweet community for these girls, but for the ways God has pursued them their whole lives. The past couple weeks we were able to be vulnerable in Core and share our stories, and included a high and a low in our lives. It was hard and there were lots of tears, but it is so evident that God has been with us through it all. And now, we all get to pursue Jesus together this year! 

The world is broken and so are we, but God is so good in redeeming us and using our misery to become our ministry. I'm excited to see what God does in and through these girls this year!

Prayer Requests


Fall Camp is this weekend! Pray for students lives to be changed at Camp, as well as for their safety as they drive to and from camp (in Mt. Lebanon in Cedar Hill).

Please pray for my Core girls that they encounter Jesus and be changed by Him, as well as for wisdom as I seek to be their pastor and friend. Pray that ultimately I am able to love them well and show them Jesus!


Thank You!


Thank you for your support and for partnering with me in campus ministry!! Without your support, I wouldn't get to do what I do! I am in awe of God and His heart for us, and of all that He's already done this year-- and we're only a month into the school year! Without you, I wouldn't have gotten to meet Zoé, a sweet freshman who loves riding horses and making friends. I wouldn't have gotten to meet Sophie, who hadn't stepped foot in church since elementary school, yet cannot wait to be active in her faith again. And I wouldn't have met Praise, who's parents encouraged her to find a ministry since day one, and is now studying FOJ (Focus on Jesus) with me to learn how to make her faith her own.



To God be all the glory, forever and ever, amen. Love y'all!




Comments

Popular Posts