Austin's FOCUS Ministry Blog

Hello friends, Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, and thank you for all of your prayers and support. I pray that in some way that what you read here will be as much of an encouragement to you as you have been to me.  The semester is coming to a close here at UT Arlington. Many of the students are currently taking their finals, some will soon be graduating. So just the other evening we had our whole leader team together and took time to just give thanks to God and share stories of what he has done in the lives of college students this semester. There were students emphasizing how much they've been learning from scripture, students expressing how much they have benefited from the friendships that they have been experiencing in core, stories of students ministering to their peers about the truth and good news of Jesus. I'm so thankful for all that God has done. I'm specifically very grateful for each one of these student leaders. Every single one of the

Hello friends, I just wanted to write to you and let you know of some of the most encouraging things that I have seen God doing at UT Arlington over the last month. I pray that you are well, and that this update serves as an encouragement to you today. The Lord is greatly at work in this world. And he is calling all people to know him and to praise his name, including college students! We recently invited a large number of our students to a biblical leadership conference and a great deal of them came! From 9am-5pm on a Saturday the students listened to respected elders in some of the local churches about the importance of reading scripture, and implementing the use of sharing scripture in their ministry with those that they are leading. To many of our young students it not only inspired them again to read the word more often, but it has also sparked important conversations in our community about how we can best minister to one another out of the word of God and not simply out of

Hello Friends, I just wanted to write and update you on some things I have seen God doing at UT Arlington over the course of the last month in hopes that these stories might serve as an encouragement to you. As always I am encouraged by my friendship with each of you. Every month that I write one of these updates, I am filled with gratitude for each one of you as I reflect on your partnership in this ministry. None of what I get to do at UT Arlington would be possible without your support so before I begin sharing the stories over the last month I want to reiterate my thanks. I pray that the Lord continues to bless you beyond what you ever thought imaginable. Over the last month Hayli and I have been inviting the students from our leader team over to our apartment for dinner! It has been so encouraging to hear how God has brought each one of these students to UT Arlington and how God has used Christian community to inspire them to want to make disciples of Jesus on their c

I am sitting here this morning after a long and exhausting two weeks. Classes started at UTA a little over two weeks ago and along with the classes came the return of all of the students. Thousands upon thousands of college students, many of whom were walking into campus for the first time. And because of you our student leaders were there. Our student leaders were there to meet these new students, welcome them onto campus, help them move into their dorms, connect them to friends, invite them to fun events, share jesus with them and invite them into Christ centered communities. All of this is evidence of God’s spirit at work here on the UT Arlington campus. So I’m thanking God this morning. Im thanking God for a hard working student leader team that is as dedicated as I am when it comes to reaching out to their peers with the good news of Jesus. I’m thanking God for his divine appointments. I can’t tell you how many students we met this week who shared how lonely they were feeling, or

Dear Friends, I am excited to share with you this morning what I believe God has been doing in the lives of college students at UTA over the course of this last month. I have seen college students share with their peers the good news of Jesus. I have seen students willingly put aside personal gain in order to bless those around them. And I have seen students build community and unite around the reading of the word of God. And I can't thank you enough for your role in all of this. Because of your support of college ministry Jesus is making a very real difference in the hearts and in the spiritual maturity of this younger generation. Different stories from scripture with artists' interpretation of the stories above This summer we have been doing outreach and evangelism on the college campus every single week. We have met and had conversations with a great number of students. Many of whom we have gotten their phone numbers and have invited into Christ centered community! Th

Hey there! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog post. I pray that you find it to be encouraging as you read about what God has been doing in the lives of college students all across DFW. Some of the guys from UT Arlington throwing a birthday party for their new friend Chris. Over the summer I continue to get to meet with students, study scripture, and spend time enjoying fellowship. Every week we have summer focus where the students come, connect with one another, listen to a sermon together, and worship God together. And after each Thursday Night Fellowship usually we go do something fun and sweet together like the birthday party above. Chris is a guy who is new to our ministry, the rest of these guys have done a great job being his friend, welcoming him in, and making him feel special. Chris' gratitude for his new friendships is so evident when he speaks. Thank you for providing a place for young men to experience friendships like these. The journals of

Dear  Friends, Thank you for taking the time to read this month's update. I pray that as always you will be encouraged by what you find! This month we took over one hundred students to the Student Institute of Campus Ministry. While there the students learned how to make disciples of Jesus on their college campus and were equipped to read scripture, engage in evangelism, and lead small groups! The students who went are so excited about what they learned and can't wait for the school year to start so that they can reach their campus for Jesus. Cameron, Ricky, Stephen, and Taylor These were the guys that I had the pleasure of living with for the week! They were inquisitive, and eager to learn more about what God had to say in their lives. I was so proud of them as they each shared what it was that they were taking away from their classes and how they couldn't wait to apply what they had learned. Jeff's Baptism A young man in our ministry named Jeff made the

Dear Friends, I just want to thank you once again for taking the time to read this months update. I have many exciting things to share. One of which being that our school year has come to a close. This can be a bitter sweet moment as many of our students return home. But it also is such a neat time of year as we collectively take time to praise God for all that he has done through this community over the past year. I want to share with you a few of the things that I am so grateful for. The first thing that I am grateful to God for this year is our leader team. So much of the ministry that happens on the day to day is done by our student leaders. These students will meet with their peers, study scripture with them one on one, and point their classmates to Christ. Which is already such a neat neat blessing. But what makes it all the more sweet is the character of these students. Each one of them is encouraging, genuinely caring and compassionate, as well as intelligent and kind. It

Dear Friends, Thank you for taking the time to read this month's update. This last month has had it's fair share of difficult situations. I've had several conversations recently with different students who are facing the consequences of sin in their life. Students who report feelings of loneliness, depression, anger, and sexual brokenness. And yet in the midst of all of this, it has been so clear to me how God is working to show himself to each one of these students. I'm reminded of the beginning of the book of John starting in verse 4 where John describes Jesus in this way. " In him was life,  and that life was the light  of all mankind.   5  The light shines in the darkness,  and the darkness has not overcome it." Even in the midst of all of our sin and hurt, Christ still reigns, and he loves us enough to pursue us even as we feel lost, or run away ourselves. There is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ J

Dear Friends, Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog post. I pray that you find the events of this last month to be as encouraging to you as they have been to me. In this last month we have been given the opportunity to witness four of our male college students make a decision to be baptized! Through doing so each one has made a commitment to follow Jesus as one of his disciples for the rest of their lives. On the left is Ricky Hudson, one of the young men who was recently baptized. It's exciting for me to report this news to you because scripture tells us that when someone is baptized in the name of Jesus that person is made new, given a new life, a new identity. When someone in faith makes the decision to be baptized, they are literally born again. John 3:3  says this  "Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who

Dear Friends, I want to thank you again for taking the time to read this blog post. I have been incredibly encouraged as I have gotten to witness in the last month God's Spirit produce fruit in the lives of the students that I get to interact with on a daily basis. I want to share with you some of those stories so that though hearing them God's Spirit will encourage you as well. I want to thank you for your generosity in supporting college ministry. God is using your gift to produce His kingdom on college campuses and I am so grateful to you because of that.  This was our turnout at the most recent winter camp retreat! Over 600 students came together to worship God, play games together, and hear teaching on what it means to be a sent disciple of Jesus. Since the camp I have had so many follow up conversations with students who attended and just over and over again I have gotten to hear how God's Spirit has inspired those students to rethink their faith in a way that i

Hello everyone! I pray that your holidays have really been special this year. I pry that time with your family has been restful, and that the Lord has used this time of remembering His birth to strengthen your spirit. I pray that this letter and update will also serve to encourage you. I am always certainly encouraged whenever I think of you and your partnership in this ministry. This is a fun, albeit blurry picture from our end of semester Christmas party. This years theme was Disney Christmas. These are a few of the guys that have been a part of my core group for this last semester. Troi on the left dressed as Maui, Josh in the middle as Kylo Ren, and Yafet as Mickey Mouse. Myself as Jolly ol' saint nick. This evening was filled with fun and laughter. There were definitely some great skits involved. But we also got to have a really sweet time of reading from the Gospel of Luke the story of Jesus' birth and then we all joined together in praise and worship to God as a resp