The start of something amazing

August is here, and that means FOCUS is gearing up for thousands of freshmen and returning students to flood our campuses in just a few days!  We have an incredible pastoral staff, including fourteen new interns, who are ready to greet those students with the love of Jesus!

Our incredible staff at Port Aransas

To prepare for this new season of ministry, our staff and interns took a retreat to Port Aransas.  The work that we do as ministers is very personal and relationship-based, and we work very closely with other members of our team.  With a team this large and new interns arriving every August, it's hard to build close relationships with the other ministers on our staff.  That's why we took four days to get away and spend some meaningful time together.  We got to know each other better and had fun doing it.

One of the most memorable activities of our retreat came after dinner on Tuesday night.  We all sat around the living room of our rental house (it was a big house!) and told the story of FOCUS.  First, our founding members told how they got the vision for campus ministry and found other like-minded believers.  Then, in chronological order of when we found FOCUS, we all shared our stories of who first invited us, how we got involved, and how God used the FOCUS community to shape our lives.  We shared embarrassing stories about each other and laughed at the people we used to be.  We cried and praised God as we considered His mercy toward us in helping us find this community.  We looked across the room at our co-ministers and said things like, "You were the first Christian I met at UTD," or "I remember meeting you for the first time and being amazed that you wanted to be my friend."  As our stories wove together, we began to see God's bigger story unfolding around us.  The Holy Spirit has always been at work in His people to draw them to Jesus.  Each of us as an individual plays a tiny but significant role in that grand story.

As we stand on the threshold of a new school year, I dream in eager expectation of the new stories that are yet to be written.  College students from around the world are about to set foot on our campuses and be swept up into the story that God is working through FOCUS.  They don't know it yet, but one day we will all sit together around a great banquet table and tell God's magnificent story as He smiles over us.

Please pray for these students who will soon be stepping onto our campuses.  Pray that each one would meet a loving Christian friend.  Pray that believers on campus would not grow weary in doing good, but with all God's energy would meet and befriend as many as possible.  Pray that new students would have a college experience that orients them toward Jesus and leaves them with no regrets.  Pray that families and generations would be changed forever by the work of God happening right now.

Thank you for joining together with me in this mission by your prayers and support.  Praise God!

A Titanic moment on the ferry to Port Aransas with two of our pastors

We ask great things of a great God.

Recent events in our country leave me feeling burdened by the weight of evil and ignorance, but also galvanized in my mission to bring the light and truth of Jesus Christ to a dark and broken world.

Two weeks ago, a young man walked into a church with the intent to murder.  Compelled by hatred, he opened fire and killed nine people.  Upon hearing the news, I was at first stunned by the depth of evil that persists in our world.  Then I heard the stories of the victims' families offering forgiveness when they could have returned hate for hate.  One week after the shooting, a Bible study was held in the same room, and the interim pastor declared, "This territory belongs to God." (http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting-main/index.html)

I am deeply moved by the faith of the members of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.  Their response to evil is a valiant trust in our great God.  I trust along with them in Jesus, who told his disciples to turn the other cheek when they were struck.  This is the Jesus who promised that those who follow him will have trouble in this life.  This is the Jesus who called his followers to take up their crosses daily as they followed him.  This is the same Jesus who promised that he would be with his people always, and that those who gave up much in this age would receive in the next the reward of eternal life.  Our God is good and He loves us.  To this truth we can cling even in the face of unimaginable evil.

You may have heard about another recent news item recently: the US Supreme Court issued a decision that effectively legalized gay marriage in all fifty states.  The issue of gay marriage has been a divisive one for our nation and even for our church, and I don't expect that the recent change will end that division.  Whatever you may think about the morality of homosexuality, my prayer is that you and I and all the church along with us would love others as Jesus loves us, that we would seek wisdom and truth, and that we would embrace the renewing of our minds and hearts that comes from the Spirit's work in us.  If you are interested in reading more about the Scriptural commands regarding sexuality and various perspectives on them, I found this collection of blog posts very helpful (there are a total of 20 posts on the topic).

The reality of college ministry is that FOCUS includes students who grew up attending black churches as well as those who grew up in the shadow of a waving Confederate flag.  Some of our students identify as openly gay while others struggle to suppress same-sex attraction.  Into this reality, I am trying to shine the light of Jesus.  I am doing this along with an incredible team of ministers who are wholeheartedly committed to preaching the gospel to students in Denton and all over the metroplex.  I earnestly request your prayers for this team as we enter into the 2015-2016 school year.  Pray that God would shine His light in the darkness and guide people into His wisdom and love.

The Denton FOCUS staff.  From left to right: Cody, me, Aaron, Matt, Miriam, and Sarah

SICM and Drafting a Leader Team

So much has happened since my last update, but I want to use this post to tell you about one of the highlights of our year in FOCUS: SICM!

Three of our beautiful UNT ladies at SICM

SICM is the Student Institute of Campus Ministry.  Every May, we take a group of students who have shown themselves to be faithful disciples who are committed to our community and humble to learn and grow.  At SICM, those young men and women learn to minister to other students on campus the way Jesus ministered to his disciples.  They learn the importance of deep spiritual friendship and an unrelenting pursuit of God.  They learn how to facilitate small group discussions and one-on-one Bible studies.  They also get to have fun in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

A handful of our UNT group at Peace Arch Park

SICM is a training ground for young ministers, and it's where our staff gets to know these potential leaders.  I had the opportunity to spend time with many of the young women who will be leading in our ministry at UNT this fall.  These outstanding young ladies love Jesus and are deeply committed to bringing His truth to their campus when they return to classes this fall.  It was an honor to get to know them!

Two UNT women relaxing between classes at SICM

After this amazing week, our staff now has the challenge of recruiting a team of students who will lead Cores during the 2015-2016 school year.  We look for students who are faithful, available, and teachable, who have a heart for God and His people, and who take initiative in building relationships and serving others.  I am very glad to say we have many such students to invite to the team!  Please pray for me and the other UNT staff ministers (Matt, Sarah, Miriam, and Cody) as we listen to the leading of the Spirit and carefully make decisions about who we will ask to be leaders this coming school year.  These decisions are crucial because we train and entrust these young leaders to minister to their peers; the spiritual health of our whole community depends on them.

I also want to mention why this post is arriving in the middle of the month.  Earlier in June, my husband Matt (not the same Matt who is a minister at UNT) and I took a vacation to celebrate our five-year anniversary.  I am so blessed to have a loving husband who is faithful to God and to me, and we were very blessed by the opportunity to take this trip to Ireland to celebrate a milestone anniversary.

Kylemore Abbey, a functioning Benedictine community in one of the most gorgeous places I could imagine!

Me and Matt in the gardens of Kylemore Abbey

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!  Vacation was fun, but I am eager to get back to working with students, and I couldn't do that important ministry without your support!

Harvest Time

The school year is wrapping up: students are taking finals, end of the year parties are being celebrated, and we just had our last Friday night meeting of the school year.  Now is the season to see the harvest of seeds planted throughout the 2014-2015 school year.  

Taking notes at Pizza Theology

On April 12, we held our last Pizza Theology of the school year.  Around 300 students packed into an auditorium at UTD to spend four hours learning about our topic: Heaven, Hell, and Everything in Between.  A handful of our staff have been studying this topic in depth to prepare to teach on it.  Questions of the afterlife have always been a primary concern of major world religions.  Our speakers presented a well-developed, thoughtful theology of the afterlife that challenged many popular assumptions while remaining faithful to the biblical metanarrative.  If you would like to listen in, you can do so here.

Pizza Theology was a clear sign of growth in the lives of students.  All year we have taught young people at our six campuses to become true students of Jesus.  We encourage them to put as much effort into studying the Bible as they do into studying textbooks and learning material related to their college majors.  The enthusiasm these young people showed for learning the deep truths of their faith was such an encouragement to me.  

As we move into the summer, we will continue to emphasize the importance of education in the life of a disciple.  Each summer, FOCUS holds informal classes called School of Ministry.  Students are invited to study the Bible in depth through commentaries and seminary classes from www.regentaudio.com.  For many college students, summer is a purposeless time of boredom or laziness.  We challenge students in FOCUS to use the freedom of a summer schedule to grow in wisdom and knowledge as they pursue God.  Please pray that these School of Ministry classes would help our students in this kind of growth.

SICM is another time to see the harvest of what’s been planted in the lives of students.  SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry) is a one-week training conference in Bellingham, Washington, where our students are trained to minister to their peers on a college campus.  On May 14, we will take 80 promising young leaders to SICM!  These students have invested their time and energy in their Cores, on campus outreach, and one-on-one Bible studies over this past school year.  Please pray that SICM is a time for these young men and women to learn, grow, and begin to see themselves as ministers and disciple-makers at their college campuses.

Finally, I want to share with you a picture of our new upcoming interns.  These amazing young people have seen the value of campus ministry in their own lives.  They have been changed powerfully by God through FOCUS.  Now, they are dedicating a whole school year to see that many others would have that same opportunity to encounter God on campus.

I am thrilled to be working with these new interns in the 2015-2016 school year!

Thank you for your prayers and support.  Because of you and others like you, students across DFW can encounter the life-changing power of God.  Thanks!!!

Spring Has Sprung!

What an amazing March we had in FOCUS!  Last time I updated you, I asked for prayers concerning SSI, Spring Showcase, and our staffing decisions for next year.  Now I am excited to tell you how wonderfully all of those things went!

SSI stands for Student Spring Impact.  That means a bunch of college Students from our sister ministry in Washington spend their Spring break making an Impact for God on college campuses in Texas.  Our Denton team hosted ten students and two interns for the week.  We drove them around, fed them authentic Texas food, and showed them some of our favorite spots in Denton.  But most importantly, we joined with them to reach out to students on our campuses with the good news of Jesus Christ.  From Monday through Friday, this team, along with many of our staff and students, engaged other students in conversations about God's love. 

The SSI Team from Washington

Questions on Display, one of our tools for starting conversations

Overall, SSI was a huge success!  The passion and enthusiasm of the students from Washington inspired our students to speak boldly about the love of Jesus and invite many new people to experience his love at FOCUS.  Please pray that our students would continue to reach out and build meaningful new relationships with others, so that many would be led to relationship with Jesus!

Bright and early on Saturday morning, we dropped off the SSI team at the airport to return home to Washington.  Later that day, we had almost 600 people at the Spring Showcase!

This incredible event featured music and dance performances and an art sale, all featuring the talents of our students and alumni.  I was amazed by how many outstanding artists were willing to sacrifice their time and efforts to make this event a success.  Wow!

Two UNT students, Chiazo and Kirby, performing at Spring Showcase

But we didn't hold the Spring Showcase just to show off the talent of our FOCUS members; this event raised thousands of dollars to send students to SICM!  SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry) is a week-long intensive ministry training conference where students learn the skills needed to teach Bible studies, facilitate small groups, and lead their fellow students to a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.  We believe in SICM because we believe that when Jesus said "Go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:19), he meant for every one of his followers to do that.  College students have a special opportunity to make disciples because they are surrounded by thousands of open-minded young people who yearn for answers to the big questions in life; SICM equips college students to help others find those answers in Jesus.

The Spring Showcase was a huge success, and the funds raised there will help grow God's kingdom on our college campuses.  Thank you to everyone who performed, sold tickets, worked the event, attended the performance, bought artwork, made a donation, or prayed for us!  You are helping us achieve an incredible vision on our campuses!

Finally, I told you we made some decisions about our staff and intern team for next school year.  I am happy to announce that we accepted thirteen amazing young people to the internship for the 2015-2016 school year!  I am thrilled to be working with such an enthusiastic, intelligent, creative, and hard-working team of new interns.  I am also excited to announce that I will be remaining with the Denton team for the next school year.  We will have a team of six staff in Denton: Matt (currently the Denton team director), Cody, Miriam, and Sarah (current interns who will continue on as staff next year), and Aaron (a new intern).  The six of us will have our work cut out for us as we pastor FOCUS communities at three campuses: UNT, TWU, and, starting for the first time this fall, NCTC.  Please pray for me and this team as we prepare to spread God's kingdom on our Denton campuses.

Thank you so much for the prayers and support you offer me and all our FOCUS students.  God is doing incredible things in the lives of young people, and you are a part of that.  Thank you!

Problems are opportunities

February was a month of changes and challenges for our Focus staff, but in those challenges God has shown His graceful providence for us.  Brandon recently said in one of our meetings that problems are opportunities; I think that our students and staff have seen those opportunities presented to us and done great things for God and His people.

A few weeks ago, our UTD staff discovered at the last moment that we would not have access to a suitable room on campus for our Friday night fellowship.  Where would we put our 150+ students who would soon be gathering to worship God together?  A local church in Richardson, the Episcopal Church of The Epiphany, graciously opened their doors for our students.  Focus had never met there before or had any previous relationship to this congregation, but Sirak, one of our UTD ministers, had met Rev. Betsy Randall, one of the rectors at Epiphany, just once before.  When they met, she said how excited she was to see a thriving campus ministry and offered to assist Focus.  She probably didn't know we would be calling on her for assistance so soon, but what a blessing to both our communities that we were able to meet at Epiphany.  Our students were blessed to be received into a welcoming environment, and Epiphany has been blessed by some of our students who have since participated as singers and readers at Epiphany's Saturday worship services.  Thanks to this generous, welcoming congregation, a problem turned into an opportunity for blessing!

UTD Focus students worshiping at the Episcopal Church of The Epiphany

In addition to logistical problems like finding a place to meet, our staff struggled last month with a new need for a female staff person at UNT to mentor student leaders.  As a result of these rearrangements on our staff, I am now a Peer Team Leader to six Corefas at UNT.  Corefas are students who lead weekly Core group meetings of anywhere from three or four to as many as fifteen other students.  Those Corefas work hard to plan lessons and meet one-on-one with every member of their Core.  As a Peer Team Leader, I meet regularly with my six Corefas to encourage and support them and coach them in their ministry.  These amazing young women love God and His people.  Although they are taking classes and working, they have committed many hours of their time each week to invest in making and maturing disciples.  Their devotion to Jesus and His mission is inspiring! It has been a challenge coming into my Peer Team late in the school year, but I have loved getting to know these girls and participating with them in the work of sharing the gospel with students at UNT.

Me and Hannah, a UNT Corefa, taking a selfie during one of our meetings

Finally, we have a very exciting challenge ahead of us as a staff: selecting a new class of interns!  I mentioned in my previous post that we had a large turnout at our information session for the internship.  A total of thirteen people applied for the internship, and we are almost finished interviewing them all.  All of these applicants have been committed members of Focus; they have led others in our community through their Christlike influence and example.  Most of them are graduating from college this May, but a handful have applied for this ministry internship after spending a year or more pursuing other careers: teaching, software design, and even film.  Our applicants are more diverse than ever; some grew up in other states and even other countries.  I am so encouraged to see the passion and commitment these applicants have for reaching out to college students.  I and the other staff are also daunted as we consider accepting all thirteen applicants.  Where will we assign them?  Who will supervise them?  How will we accommodate our growing staff in our meetings and retreats?  These questions will be hard to answer, but I can't think of a better problem to have!  Please pray for our staff in the coming weeks as we finish the intern selection process and determine campus assignments for next year.  We need the Spirit's wisdom to know where each new intern will thrive personally and have a powerful, effective ministry.

April, one of our applicants for the internship.  She and I visited UTA to pray for this campus as we prepare to start Focus there!

Last month was tough, but God is good.  He shows us opportunities where we see problems.  When we trust Him and listen to His guidance, great things happen no matter the circumstances!  Thank you for your prayers and support that help us keep going and growing in the challenges that we face!

Winter Camp! Wow!

Wow!  January was an exciting month, and I have some tremendous news to share with all of you!

From January 16-19, our entire Focus community learned, worshipped, and played together at Winter Camp.  Thank you for bathing this big event in prayer; it paid off!  God blessed us with great weather, safe travel, and an event that ran smoothly.  Almost five hundred people attended Winter Camp - current students, staff, a handful of alumni, and even a few family members of students.  

Worship at Winter Camp, led by many of our talented students

Dr. Iain Provan brought a powerful message to our community.  He taught on this year’s theme, Words of Life.  Dr. Provan’s expertise is in Old Testament studies, so he educated our students on how God’s story flows through the Old Testament, the New Testament, and into our lives today.  Many of our students were unaccustomed to thinking about biblical topics at a highly intellectual level; Dr. Provan’s lessons pushed them to “love the Lord with all their minds.”  What a privilege we have to study our great God at the same academic level we study topics in our college majors.

Everyone who committed themselves to paying attention during the lessons walked away with new information and a deeper understanding of God’s activity in our world, but don’t think that the whole camp was solely focused on listening to lectures.  Our students also developed new friendships and deepened existing ones.  At UTD’s first Friday Night Focus of the semester, a few days after we returned from Winter Camp, we opened the floor and asked our students to share about their experiences at camp.  Two students stood and shared stories that I now want to share with you.

Henry is a Richland student (Richland students are now joining with UTD on Friday nights, and we are thrilled to have them!).  I met him at Winter Camp when he came to my registration table to sign in.  He seemed happy to be there, but he didn’t know many people.  At our open mic time after camp, he shared about his struggle with autism and how he had trouble making friends.  He said that Winter Camp was an amazing time for him because so many people wanted to meet him, spend time with him, and become his friend.  Praise God!

Hunter is a UTD student who recently joined Focus.  While playing a game at camp, he fell and twisted his ankle.  He had to spend much of camp resting in the cabin instead of outside running around with friends.  At the open mic time, he shared how encouraged he was when many of his Core members spent their time in the cabin talking with him.  They sacrificed the fun of being outdoors to make sure that one of their brothers could share in an enjoyable camp experience.  Amen!

UTD students, a few alumni, and even a future Comet at bottom right!

These are just a few of the small but amazing stories that happened at Winter Camp.  If you talked to all of the students who attended, I’m sure you would hear hundreds more!

After Winter Camp, our staff starts looking toward the future, and that means selecting a new class of interns for the 2015-2016 school year.  We had our Internship Interest Session on a Sunday afternoon, and twenty people expressed their interest in applying for the internship.  Some plan to apply for this coming year, while others wanted to get some more information as they consider doing the internship in future years.  Everyone who expressed their interest is someone who has been a consistent, contributing member of our community, and any of them would make great interns.  Our challenge as a staff is now to decide who will join our team next school year and which campuses they will be assigned to.  Please pray for wisdom for us and the applicants as we consider this important decision!

Finally, I am excited to announce a big decision I’ve recently made.  As of today, I am officially a full-time staff minister for Focus!  Previously, my commitment to Focus was on a part-time basis, and I also worked full time at Alpha Omega Insurance Agency.  I am grateful for the time I had at Alpha Omega, and it was a tough decision to leave.  Many of my coworkers there have become like family to me, and I always enjoyed the challenge of the work I did there.  But I believe God has called me to serve our campus communities through Focus, and I am ready to begin!  I  know you are probably wondering what I will be doing with more time to devote to ministry.  My role as the internship coordinator will expand as we accept more interns and train them to be effective, powerful leaders.  I will also have more time to devote to teaching the Bible to international students at UTD, and I will begin planning more organized efforts to get our current Focus students reaching out to those international students.  Over time, I will also have the opportunity to mentor more of our student leaders.  I am thrilled about all of these developments!

As I transition to a full-time schedule, raising my support will become even more vital.  Please pray for me as my role with Focus expands and as I raise the funds to power my ministry.  Your prayers are crucial to my success in this area!  If you are able to commit to a monthly donation (or increase the current amount of your donation), please talk to me.  Your support means I and the other Focus ministers can continue to build God’s Kingdom on our campuses by making disciples and training leaders!

Thank you so much for the love and support you have shown me!