Spring Formal
Get used to seeing those beautiful people behind me and Miriam - those five will all be FOCUS Apprentices next school year! |
To wrap up the 2015-2016 school year, we celebrated with Spring Formal. We take this time at the end of each year to honor our graduates and to thank our Corefas, worship team, and other volunteers who have worked hard for God's kingdom on our campuses. Pray with me for our many graduates from TWU and UNT who will be starting their careers for the first time. It's a difficult transition for many of them, but I am confident that through FOCUS they have learned valuable lessons that will help them follow God's path in their futures.
Leader Team
This is our 2015-2016 Leader Team |
I am tremendously grateful for the hard work and dedication of each person in the photo above. It has been an honor to work alongside these students, many of whom volunteered fifteen hours or more per week to lead their Cores. We are already thinking about the composition of our leader team for next school year, and I pray that we find even more students who are just as committed as those above!
SICM
In case you don't remember, here's a photo of our SICM students last year! |
I want to mention a few things about how we selected the students we will take to SICM. Some organizations ask for applications for leaders. Others seek out and recruit people who are outgoing, put-together, or otherwise seem like "natural leaders." In FOCUS, we use the FAITH acronym to determine who could become a leader:
F: Faithful to God and people. Is this person faithfully devoted to Jesus? Does this person keep the commitments he makes?
A: Available. Has this person made herself available by attending community events? Has he structured his life in such a way that he is available to serve and participate?
I: Initiative. Does this person take initiative in leading and serving people around her, even without a formal leadership title?
T: Teachable. Is this person humble and willing to listen when others correct him or share differing views? Has this person actively sought to grow and improve?
H: Heart for God and people. Does this person have a passion for serving God and others? Does this person have an internal motivation rooted in love?
Jesus surrounded himself with twelve disciples who didn't look too impressive to their society. He didn't pick twelve valedictorians, or twelve all-star quarterbacks, or twelve Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, or twelve Senators. He chose fishermen and tax collectors, unschooled, ordinary men. But those twelve exemplified the same qualities depicted in the FAITH acronym. Jesus chose them, lived His life together with them, and ultimately entrusted them with the task of spreading His message. As we look forward to choosing our Corefas for the next year, we look for people who possess the same qualities, because they will be entrusted with the same vital mission.
Please pray now for the students we're sending to SICM. Pray that they will learn and grow as the Spirit works in them, and pray that we as a FOCUS staff would choose wisely as we recruit a team of students who will continue the mission on their campuses.
Moving to Arlington
2015-2016 Denton FOCUS Staff |
Matt and I are now in the process of selling our house in The Colony, and we will move to an apartment in Arlington in June. There, I will join a new team of co-ministers at UT Arlington. I'm certain I will love and respect that new group just as much, but I will certainly miss the people in the photo above. It is with a mixture of sadness and eager expectation that I end this phase of life and begin a new one. I'm so excited to see what God has in store for me in Arlington!
I ask that you pray for everything going on in the life of FOCUS, and I thank you for your faithful gifts that help us answer God's call to reach college campuses in the DFW area.
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