August Wrap Up!

 Hey Guys!

I’m officially one month into the apprenticeship! August was a month full of learning, adapting, meeting new students, overcoming obstacles, and trusting that God will work in some pretty neat ways. I'm excited to tell y'all about it!

Welcome Week

At the beginning of each school year, UTD normally hosts two Weeks of Welcome for the new students. This gives FOCUS a great opportunity to put on events and welcome students into our ministry. Given the current circumstances, our staff had to get creative with how we planned to meet the students that are stepping on to campus for the first time. We hosted online events in addition to a few socially distant hangouts at UTD. After one week of having in person plans, the campus announced new regulations. These new rules prohibited student organizations from having any kind of presence on campus. To be honest, this news was frustrating and hard to understand. It seemed as though very few people were willing to fight for the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of the students. Around the same time, I met a freshman girl that had just moved into her dorm about a week prior. She told me that I was the first person that she has seen and spoken to since moving in! I took her to lunch and during our time together she kept saying she couldn’t believe she was finally making friends. I knew there were more people like her out there! It was painful to think about all of the lonely students on campus and not being allowed to meet them. However, our team adapted and changed the plans we had for the following week. We went completely virtual and were blown away at how God still provided a way for us to meet students online! 

This is from a zoom meeting different UTD ministries attended to train and prepare us for a virtual event  that welcomes UTD international students! 

Core

Last week we had our first Core! Core is similar to a small group. It is a place where a small group of students can develop deep friendships, explore scripture, and learn about God. It was really sweet to learn about how God has brought each girl to our Core. It makes me really excited to see where these friendships will go! I am also eager to see how God is going to draw each girl closer to Him throughout this year.

Late night ice cream runs with students in our ministry are a blast! I love getting to continue to do life with college students. 

Class

It still amazes me how rich the Old Testament is!  We started the apprenticeship going through different myths Christians tend to believe when it comes to the Old Testament. I realized that I used to think that it really doesn’t have much to offer to those of us that live on this side of the cross. I was so mistaken! I approached books like Leviticus and Numbers with much dread, only to discover that examples of God’s love and grace are all over them! Last Thursday, we started our evangelism class. This class is going to be really helpful in thinking through ways we can bring the gospel to students who are hard to reach.

These are the AWESOME apprentices I get to work with! It's really sweet to think about how God will use each of us on different campuses in DFW. 

Prayer Requests

-Please be praying that the university’s regulations will be revised for the sake of the students’ spiritual and emotional well being. 

-Pray that FOCUS staff and student leaders can find students that are lonely and craving friendship and purpose.

-Pray that God will continue to work and make His name known on UTD’s campus despite our current circumstances.

-Pray that the girls in my core will have the desire to know God and His Word well. Pray that they will catch a vision for making disciples and sharing their faith with their friends/classmates. 

I am so thankful to have a team of people that are willing to pray for my ministry! I would love to know how I can be praying for you guys too!