Skip to main content

Happy Fall!

I don't know about you, but September flew by. My time was spent hanging out with girls and prepping for FOCUS's fall retreat. Fall retreat was a success. Its purpose was to create time where people's small groups were able to grow closer together. There was board games, crafts, and ultimate frisbee. Almost all of my core girls were able to come. Nothing bonds people together like staying in a cabin. 

I want to share two moments from fall retreat. First, during the afternoon, some girls and I made homemade cookies. It was a fun moment because one of my girls was able to show off her talent. She is from South Carolina and is a fantastic baker. Her specialty is cakes and decorating them. She made a recipe for buttery shortbread cookies. She was in charge of the mixer and while everyone else searched the kitchen for ingredients. We had fun goofing around as the cookies baked. The cookies ended up a little overdone, but I feel that it is in simple moments like this where friendships are made. 

My second moment is from a conversation I had. I have been meeting with this great girl on campus. She is not a Christian but has been very interested in FOCUS. At fall retreat, there were small sessions on the topic of community where we discussed benefits and costs. I was walking with a couple of girls and we talked about past experiences in community. When it was time for her to answer, she discussed how she had never had a bad experience with the church. Then she went to say that she has been enjoying getting to be a part of our community. This encouraged me because she truly feels welcomed by the people she has met through FOCUS. I also was reminded not to assume about people's experiences. I am excited to see how she continues to engage. Keep her in your prayers. 

I can't say it enough: thank you for making this apprenticeship possible. I am thankful to be able to be doing this work. Be praying for the different one-on-one studies I am doing. Also, pray for the students as they do midterms. Stress levels are starting to rise. 

Our photo after a successful fall retreat.
We have made it a tradition to take a photo after core. Lots of stripes in this photo.
Here we are before our first session. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

February is a little slim on photos. Forgive me.  The photo from above is from my small group making valentines for our ministry. Here's one of cards: I know, it's baby Yoda. So basic. Much of this past month has been much of the same: meeting up with girls and doing bible studies. We have seen some recent growth in our ladies side of the ministry. This has been encouraging, but it feels like we are bursting at the seams. It feels like there are always more people to meet up with. Pray that we are able to build up new leaders to help with this growth.. Especially pray for God to bring ladies to lead.  Something exciting and new is that I have picked up some studies at DBU. Yes, there’s a FOCUS at DBU. It’s small and still growing, but we are there. It has been mostly pioneered by students from other FOCUS campuses. The staff at UTA has recently over the past three years joined in to help this group. For me, this is the vision of our ministry: equipping...
Post a Comment
Read more

Below Freezing Baptism

Happy Snow Day! Of course, January would end white and icy. Graham, Waldo, and I are holed up in our third-story apartment. Pray, we figure out when to take our dog out in this weather. Waldo doesn't really want to put his paws on the ice and I can't blame him. While the month started off restful, the end of the month was full of activity fairs to meet new students. Graham and I were constantly printing off flyers and buying candy to prepare. We got a lot of free lunches, so I can't be too mad. Be praying we meet students who want community. The spring can be awkward for students because they assume everyone has friends except them. Pray they have the boldness to overcome that.  We had our annual Winter Retreat this past month. A short story time: this retreat was my only interaction with FOCUS before working with them. This is where I learned about the ministry internship and saw this amazing community in action. I had never seen so many young people praising Jesus ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Summer

Hello, July!  I want to start off just sharing some praises! God has been incredibly kind (again). Graham and I have both hit our fundraising goals. Thank you how generous you have been. Thank you for believing in campus ministry. Thank you for seeing value in people like me getting to be available on campus to minister and share the good news. You are an important and integral part of this mission. I hope you feel just as blessed as I do. June was restful. Graham, Waldo and I got to go to Hot Springs.  Work-wise, we have already begun planning for welcome week in August. Welcome week is one of the most important rhythms of the year. Freshman and international student alike flood the campus looking to make memories and friends. This where my prayer warriors come in. Please be praying for the students we will be meeting. Pray that our leader team will have the boldness to invite people to our ministry. A little refresh about our ministry is that our student leaders ac...
Post a Comment
Read more