Back in Action

Hello Everyone,

I cannot believe another month has gone by!

    To start...because our work on campus gets a little slower in the winter with students going home for the holidays- our staff takes a retreat that equips us more as ministers before they get back for the next semester.

I love my fellow apprentices!

    So quite obviously, large group events are more complicated this year. Planning something like an all-staff retreat had its difficulties, and over half of our staff chose to participate in our discussions via zoom, but luckily all of the newbies on our FOCUS staff team (as pictured) were in a healthy and safe position to attend in person! It was an incredibly restful experience and reignited my passion for campus ministry after not having students around for so many consecutive weeks in a row. 

We had a devotional time in the mornings where each staff person told their story of how they got involved in campus ministry and some common themes stuck out to me. Currently for me, these themes apply to campus ministry, but I think they could apply to wherever you choose to do your own ministry..so DON'T MISS THIS READERS! Here's what kept coming up: being warm and welcoming, being relational, and inviting people into day to day life. These are things I often get sloppy on and take for granted, but God has used these things OVER and OVER again to impact souls, draw them into community, and more importantly, into His kingdom. 

How are you living out those themes? What does that look like to be warm and welcoming at your school? To be relational in your work place? To invite your next-door neighbors into your day to day life?

Can you tell I'm becoming more comfortable with this whole "pastor" thing?

    Shortly after we got back from our retreat, students came back to campus! It has been so good to get back into meeting up with people face to face!

    Cores and one on ones have started up again and I've been encouraged by the girls' eagerness to be back in community with one another. Some of these girls are really developing an authentic love for God for the first time in their lives and I would love if you chose to pray alongside me for that work in their hearts to continue this semester. As I've watched this unfold, my goal for a few of these girls has transitioned into developing them not solely as women that love Jesus, but ones that are also strong leaders and disciple makers.

Big News!!

    I am BEYOND excited to announce that I am officially staying on staff with FOCUS for the 2021-2022 school year at UT Arlington! I know God will continue do awesome things here and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. I will continue fundraising my support and if you are excited about the idea to either continue or start supporting me financially, feel free to text me, email me, or comment on my blog! I'm so thankful for those of you who have chosen to support me this school year during my apprenticeship and I am eager to partner with some of you for longer.

PRAYER:

• For our FOCUS staff and students to be wise with Covid-19 precautions and also for protection from the virus so that ministry will not be any more hindered
• For my ministry to be purposefully extended to my roommates (who are also students) rather than just to my core and the girls I study the Bible with