Christmas Blessings and New Beginnings

Happy New Year and welcome to 2016!  I hope each one of you enjoyed a special holiday season and took the time to reflect on the greatest Christmas gift any of us has received, namely the gift of Jesus Christ our Lord.

December was a time to celebrate many things:  Christmas, the close of the fall semester, and the blessing of family and community.  Let me share with you how I and the FOCUS community celebrated.

Our Denton Christmas Party

 Just before the chaos of final exams, our students gathered together to celebrate Christmas.  This was a time of laughter as our Cores performed silly skits to entertain their peers.  The skits had to incorporate a Christmas song and reflect the unique character of our Denton campuses.  My favorite was the performance put on by Darby, Katie, and Hanna's Core.  Their group re-wrote Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" into "All I Want for Christmas is the Union."  They sang about the new UNT Union that recently opened, and each of the girls dressed in a different costume to represent some aspect of the new building.  Everyone could see that those young women had not only school spirit but a lot of love for each other.  Those skits of course are not meant only for entertainment; we strategically ask our Cores to do something that requires planning, practice, and often a little embarrassment because it helps strengthen the bonds of friendship within each group.

After the silliness of our skits, the party took a more reflective tone.  I read many biblical passages aloud to our students and asked them to ponder the magnificent reality of Christmas.  I read from the Old Testament prophets who looked forward to the glorious coming Messiah and the universal victory of God's kingdom, and I read from the Gospels as they told the story of a baby born to an unwed teenager, surrounded by livestock in a stall.  The meaning of Christmas is tremendous: God has come to earth.  But the visible reality of Christmas is mundane: a Jewish child born into a common family while sheep slept under the watchful care of shepherds nearby.  I encourage you to ponder that paradox of Christmas and these words, spoken by Simeon over the infant Jesus: "For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.  This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed."

From left: Sarah K, Danielle, Miriam, and Debbie

After Christmas, while our students were still away relaxing with family and enjoying the break from school, the FOCUS staff and interns gathered together for a retreat.  We drove four hours to a remote bit of the Texas hill country and stayed in two huge rental houses (there were 30 of us on this trip).  For four days we learned, prayed, and spent much time preparing for the upcoming semester and the many exciting things we have planned.  We also had plenty of time to play together, enjoy each other's company, and strengthen the tight bonds of friendship that allow us as a staff to work together effectively.  As you look at these funny pictures, please pray for this team.  I am privileged to work with some of the most talented, intelligent, self-sacrificing and faithful people in the world.  Pray that God would keep us wholeheartedly committed to Him and that He would use us to bless college students at all of our campuses.

From left: Sirak, Sarah, and me

This is me with my fellow Denton pastor, Cody.  Please pray for the McCartys, as the family home where Cody celebrated Christmas was completely destroyed by the December 26 tornadoes.

From left: Garrett, Tana, and April (with Debbie in the background)

Finally, I am thrilled to tell you that our annual Winter Camp is quickly approaching!  Students from all the FOCUS campuses will gather from January 15-18 at Sky Ranch to worship, learn, and play together.  Please pray that camp will be a catalytic moment in the spiritual lives of these students.  Pray also for students who haven't yet decided to attend; sometimes it's the students who decide at the last minute who have the most meaningful camp experience.

If you would like to come to any part of Winter Camp, please let me know.  Many of our alumni and supporters come on Saturday to hear the lessons and meet the students they support.  I would be delighted to see you there.

Thank you for the prayers and support that enable me to keep making disciples on our campuses!

It's Worth It

The 2nd Annual Keep FOCUS Growing Initiative is in full swing.  Thank you to those of you who have already made a donation!  If you haven't heard about this fundraising campaign, please click here to learn more and watch the video below:

In this video, Sarah King, one of our campus pastors, shares stories of the UT Arlington students she spends her time with.  Let me tell you a few brief stories of the UNT students I have the privilege of ministering to:

On a Sunday in November, hundreds of our students gathered for Pizza Theology, a lecture and pizza dinner.  The lecture topic was How to Think Like a Christian, and it outlined a variety of perspectives on epistemology, the sources of our Christian theology, and ultimately how we as Christians should think about issues we face today that are never addressed in the Bible.  A young woman who has been a member of FOCUS since August was there.  She's told me a little bit about her upbringing; she was raised in a Christian denomination that she found close-minded and oppressive, so as a teenager she rebelled against her church's values and called herself agnostic.  In the few months she's been in FOCUS, she's been invited to ask questions and examine her own thoughts about God and the Bible.  At Pizza Theology, she said, "I can't imagine my old church ever doing anything like this.  We were never encouraged to think about things this way."  She had encountered a new way of thinking that both satisfied her desire for answers and allowed for a spectrum of different viewpoints.  Pray with me that she would make the choice to wholly devote herself to Jesus.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, many of our students returned to their hometowns to spend time with family.  One of our young men went "back home" to stay with his parents in another city and realized while he was there that he dearly missed the friends he's made in FOCUS.  He said that Denton has become "home" to him because of the meaningful relationships he's made with other followers of Jesus there.  He even posted an encouragement to other students on our FOCUS Facebook page: "God will make Denton your home if you let Him."  Pray with me that as our students return to their hometowns over the longer Christmas break that they would maintain the friendships they've made and that the break from school would not also be a break from spiritual growth.

I share these stories with you because I believe God is using campus ministry to change hearts and lives.  I believe it's worth it. 

The money we raise through our annual fundraiser and donations throughout the year will cover a variety of expenses, large and small, that help us reach students with the life-changing message of Jesus.  Your donations help us pay for:

- On-campus advertising.  Many FOCUS students and alumni (including my own husband, Matt Schlitz), have come to FOCUS because they saw a poster on campus advertising our meetings. 
- Focus on Jesus books.  FOJ is the curriculum we use to help students study the Bible one-on-one together.  The cost of one booklet is small, but the value of a semester spent studying the Bible with a caring mentor is priceless.
- Counseling services.  Some of our students face severe mental and emotional struggles that require the help of a trained counselor or psychiatrist.  When students can't afford to pay for these services, FOCUS helps them get the care they need.
- Camps and events.  We believe that disciples grow in their faith best when they're connected to a community of close friends who are also disciples.  The camps and events we host help students build and strengthen friendships that provide support and encouragement as they pursue a life devoted to Jesus.
- As well as many other needs that come up.

If you want to keep hearing stories like the ones above, please consider giving to the 2nd Annual Keep FOCUS Growing Initiative.  Your investment can help change lives.  It's worth it.

It's time for Fall

Hello friends!  I can't believe it's November already and our students only have about five weeks of school left this semester.  October was a busy month, but so many incredible things are happening at FOCUS!

UNT, TWU, and NCTC students at Fall Camp

 Fall Camp

I mentioned last month that we were getting ready for Fall Camp.  Well, it was a blast!  Our students spent a day and a night together strengthening friendships, worshiping Jesus, and having fun.  The them of the camp was Defining Moments.  We encouraged students to look back on moments in their lives when they made choices or experienced events that changed everything.  We challenged them to prepare themselves for upcoming defining moments by seeking earnestly after Jesus.  One of the statements made by Amy Knoles in her sermon was this: "You can't always plan for your defining moments before they come, but you can decide who you will be when they get here."  Our students were blessed by her sermon and the time they got to spend together.  I have already seen in the few weeks since Fall Camp how the relationships fostered there are impacting students in big ways.

Everyone at our annual Leadership Conference

UTA intern April sharing during worship at Leadership Conference

Leadership Conference
Each year, our family of churches and FOCUS ministries gather for a one-day Leadership Conference.  This is a moment to celebrate the ways we've grown and changed over the past year and to prepare ourselves to move forward.  We talked about the power of friendship to have a transformative impact on people's lives.  Jesus set the model for friendship in his own ministry.  He surrounded himself with twelve friends and lived his life in close contact with them.  They were transformed by that relationship, and after Jesus' death and resurrection, it was those twelve who carried the message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  Our goal is to follow the example of Jesus in every way we can, including our friend relationships.

The Leadership Conference was also an encouraging time to reconnect with friends from our different churches and campus ministries.  I think we all left feeling reinvigorated and inspired to build God's kingdom wherever he sends us.

Dating
Last Friday, I preached a sermon on dating relationships.  Our Cores also discussed the topic of dating and healthy relationships that week.  Every year, we talk about dating in FOCUS at least once (often more).  I sometimes hear students who have been in FOCUS say things like, "Didn't we just talk about dating last semester?"

We talk about dating a lot in college ministry because many of our students are actively dating, whether that's going on dates with different people or pursuing an exclusive relationship.  Many of our students (even those who aren't dating) want to get married within a few years of finishing college.  This topic matters because it has a direct bearing on the lives of all our students, and because dating is a confusing, emotionally fraught thing to do!  In my sermon and in our Core discussions, we called on people to love each other the way Jesus loves us, by sacrificing our own rights and preferences for the sake of what's best for others.  This is the attitude I believe we should take into every relationship, including dating and marriage.  We also encouraged our students to seek advice about relationships from wise, godly counselors.  Too often I ask students who their advisors are and find that they are asking advice from other 18- or 19-year-olds who don't have a track record of healthy dating.  We all need to seek advice from people who have wisdom, experience, and a true knowledge of God.

If you'd like to read some of the resources about dating that we recommend to our students, click here.

As we look to November and the end of the fall semester, I ask that you would pray sincerely for our students and the upcoming events that we are planning for them.  Please pray:
- that our students would be a blessing to their families as they travel home for Thanksgiving.
- for Pizza Theology as we guide our students in thinking critically about major issues in our culture today
- that our students would date in a way that blesses individuals, strengthens the community, and leads to healthy, God-honoring marriages.

Please keep an eye out for a series of videos to be released in conjunction with our 2nd Annual Keep FOCUS Growing Initiative.  You can Like our Facebook page here in order to see all the videos!

Denton campus pastors Sarah and Miriam dressed as Jessie and Mrs. Potato Head from Toy Story.  Hope you had a great Halloween!

Thanks for your prayers and support, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Getting into the groove

By this point in the semester, routines have calmed down and the various things we do in FOCUS are chugging along nicely... but there are still many exciting things to share with you!

First, I want to let you know about our #FOCUS140 fundraiser.  Almost one year ago, we raised over $31,000 through our 1st Annual Keep FOCUS Growing Initiative!  We are so grateful to all those who donated, and I am glad to update you on what that money has done in the past year.  With your help, we:

• Established a new campus ministry at UT Arlington and started groups at both NCTC and TWU Dallas as well.
• Finished establishing FOCUS as a separate church legally, which protects our assets and ensures they will be used for campus missions in the years to come. It also gives us increased flexibility to meet the specific needs of our mission field. 
• Launched a new website to meet administrative needs and better communicate with incoming students.  
• Welcomed 14 new full-time interns, our largest class to date.
• Trained more than 150 student small group leaders to be missionaries to their campuses!

If you'd like to see a more detailed breakdown of how we used those funds, click here to go to Brandon's blog.

Our 2nd Annual Keep FOCUS Growing Initiative will launch next month!

Next, I'd like to tell you about our Denton students.  We have lots of new and returning students who are enthusiastic about participating in Christian community and growing closer to God.

Me and Tifiny at Recycled Books #brownbagswag

With so many students attending our weekly Friday night meetings, it's easy for students to stick closely to people they already know and miss out on the chance to make new friends.  One way we help our students connect with new people is Brown Bag Buddies.  To participate in Brown Bag Buddies, students write their name and phone number on a slip of paper, drop it in the brown bag, and get randomly paired up with another student.  Brown Bag Buddies are encouraged to hang out with their partners at least once during the week.  They can do anything that sounds fun; some meet for lunch, study together, or attend campus events.  The picture above is of me and my Brown Bag Buddy at Recycled Books, a popular used bookstore in Denton.  If you'd like to see some of our other students' adventures, just click here: #brownbagswag

Denton Senior Staff

I also want to show you this incredible team of people that I get to work with every day.  These folks may be quirky, but they love Jesus and college students.  The people in the picture above are some of the hardest working, most talented people I have ever met, and it is an honor to work alongside them.  Please pray for these folks; pray that we would be able to lead our students toward Jesus and counsel them with wisdom and grace. 

UTD's Fall Camp - Ours is October 10-11

One last prayer request: our Fall Camp is quickly approaching!  Above is a picture of UTD's Fall Camp, which already happened.  In my next post, I will be able to share with you how our Denton Fall Camp went.  We do this event each year to help students build the relationships that will help them grow nearer to Christ throughout the year.  Please pray that our students would come to camp and be open to God's guidance while they are there.  I can't wait to tell you about another awesome Fall Camp!

Thank you for your prayers and continuing support!

September is Here

August has come and gone, and what a fun-filled, exciting month!  New students have moved in, classes have begun, and we’ve started our Friday night meetings and our Cores.

Our team at UNT Move-In

Freshman move-in day at UNT conveniently coincided with my birthday.  I got to spend the day working alongside this dedicate team of student leaders to get new students moved in to Victory Hall, one of the newer dorms on campus.  We met so many new students (and their parents) who were thrilled to be starting their college career at UNT.  Our FOCUS students worked tirelessly to carry boxes, bags, and even a few mini-fridges.  Every year, we volunteer to help with move-in at our campuses for a few reasons.  First, this is an amazing opportunity to meet new students and invite them to FOCUS.  But perhaps even more importantly, this is a chance to bless and serve our campus.  New freshmen often arrive at college without knowing anyone in the area, and we can help them by befriending them, getting them settled in on campus, and showing them around Denton.  So many cool stories came out of move-in day that I can’t even begin to share them with you!

My new friend Tingting

If you think being a freshman in a new city is tough, try being a new IELI student!  The IELI (Intensive English Language Institute) is a department at UNT where international students come to develop their English skills before applying to a regular university in an English-speaking country.  These students come from China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and many other countries.  They arrive knowing very little English and even less about UNT or Denton, Texas.  One of our goals in FOCUS at UNT this year is to mobilize our current students to reach out and connect with IELI students.  These young people desperately need friends to show them around, help them practice their English, and most importantly introduce them to Jesus Christ.

There are so many opportunities to get to know these international students!  There’s a ladies’ group that meets every other week.  Many of the women in the IELI program come to the US with their husbands and sometimes their children, so they appreciate the time to relax with other women.  There’s the Conversation Partner program where an English-speaking volunteer is paired with an international student.  The partners meet together once a week for about an hour to talk, have fun, and practice English.  Then there’s the weekly Conversation Hour, where a large group of IELI students meet together with a few volunteers to discuss basic topics and practice speaking.
Each one of these programs is a chance to change someone’s life through the simple power of friendship!  Pray with me that our students would reach out in love to these new internationals.

First Friday Night FOCUS

After move-in and the hectic adventure of Welcome Week, we celebrated with our first Friday Night FOCUS.  We overcame some last minute technical difficulties and had a great time praising God together.  And we had so many new people who are excited to join together with us and walk their spiritual journey side by side!

Prayer Needs:
- Please pray with me for our student leaders as they begin their Cores and one-on-one Bible studies.  Many of these leaders are new to leading, but I am confident that God will use them in amazing ways to bless this campus and the lives of other students!
- Pray for international students on our campuses.  Pray that they would make friends, overcome homesickness, and find connections with Christians who will share the good news of Jesus with them!
- Pray for our interns.  The interns have begun their classes now, and they are facing the challenge of intense study in the Old Testament.  Pray that they would work hard and learn a lot, and that what they learn would ultimately help them to love God and communicate His truth effectively.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

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