Skip to main content

Core Visits and The Future Generation

Hey friends!

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. I pray that reading some of the stories will encourage your hearts and minds as you see how Jesus is at work on the college campus.



Featured here is just a few of the guys involved in the ministry in our most recent halloween party. Some dressed up in costume, others didn't, but everyone had a great time, and it was encouraging to see so many young men and women together celebrating life together after one of our Thursday Night Fellowships. A lot of these pictures are pictures of guys who are all in the same core together. Cores are our gender specific small groups where college students go to each week to read scripture, make friendships, and grow in their relationship with God. Over the last month I've gone to go visit all of the men's core groups and I have been so encouraged! Not only are men responding to the good news of the gospel, they are growing and maturing as disciples as they respond to the word in community. So many of them are regularly expressing how much they love their core and how grateful they are to God that they were invited to one. These cores lead to even further bible study and discipleship in our one on one settings. But I can speak from my own experience how transformative it was in college to have a group of peers that all wanted to know Jesus more together. These are the kind of mini communities that you are helping to build when you give as a partner in college ministry. I can't thank you enough for that!
On December 3rd we are having our annual Keep Focus Growing Fundraiser! This event helps support so much of what Focus gets to do as an organization on the college campus, from providing students access to full time campus missionaries and pastors, to providing for supplies for outreach and one on one bible studies. The gifts we receive during Keep Focus Growing help us to keep donig what we believe God has called us to do on college campuses across DFW so that we can be here for this generation of college students and the next one, and the next one, until the day of Christ's return. And here is some really exciting news! Some of our generous donors have banded together and agreed to match up to $36,000 in total donations during this campaign. So if we receive $36,000 in total contributions, they will kick in a SECOND $36,000! Your first chance to give will be on December 3rd! Would you please consider giving a special gift on that day through our facebook page? https://www.facebook.com/anyfocusministries/

 Below is the student testimony for November! I would really encourage you to read it as it is often one of the best ways for you to hear from a student on how your gift is making an impact. I think this one is particularly powerful as I can speak from experience how important it was for me to have this community when I lost my one of my parents in college. Thank you for your partnership in ministry and for all your prayers. To God be the glory.

 In Christ,
Austin

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SICM, Staff Retreat, and Start of the Semester

 Hello friends and partners in ministry, The summer is over! We are back into the full swing of things, and I got to tell you. God is good and I am so excited for what is to come in just the next few weeks of campus ministry. This last week we got to have our staff retreat in Bridgeport, Texas. The goal of staff retreat is to collectively as a team of ministers recenter ourselves on Jesus and his work in the world, reflect on why we do what we do, and spend time together relationally. Pictured below is our UTA Campus Missionary Team for 2021-2022.  From left to right we have Jalen, Graham, Myself, Bailey, Emily, Sophie, Taylor, Emily, and Sarah. Myself, Jalen, Taylor, Emily, and Sarah are our returning campus ministers, while Sophie, Graham, Emily, and Bailey are our apprentices for this school year. If you don't know what an apprentice is, these are recent graduates from the ministry who are either interested in vocational ministry long term or just want to spend a year learning a
Post a Comment
Read more

You're Invited to Spring Showcase '21

 One of the most fun and important events that we get to put on each year is Spring Showcase. Spring Showcase is our annual fundraiser for developing future leaders in our ministry. All proceeds go to sending our students to a week long ministry training conference called SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry). All week the students are engaged in classes where they learn how to be effective ministers for Jesus to the peers that they meet every day on campus,and every year college students leave the conference fired up to go make disciples of Jesus on the college campus.  So to support this amazing cause we bring together an eclectic gathering of immense talent from all around the DFW metroplex to perform a variety show that we call Spring Showcase. This year showcase is entirely virtual. AND also for the first time ever, showcase is name your own price. So if you want to contribute to a great cause and listen to incredible vocalists, singer songwriters, and world famous mentalist
1 comment
Read more

End of an Era (Tons of Pictures)

 The school year will officially be over in just a few weeks and with that comes the end of an era. Our leader team will be different next year, and several of our seniors are graduating but God has always been faithful to us and he always will be. Pictured above is our UTA Leader Team. I am so proud of each of them. After 2 years of a pandemic these students volunteered this year to befriend their peers and commit to making Jesus known on the college campus and I have loved getting to work alongside them. Every week these students led small group bible discussions with the people in their core, and studied the bible one on one with those same people, and met with campus pastors weekly to receive coaching, feedback, and encouragement. It is a large commitment to be a corefa. But God is so good to bring us these students who are not only willing, but who are excited to get to have the opportunity. So much of what God is able to do in our community is through these students who have step
1 comment
Read more