Skip to main content

Hear The Praise

 

Hello friends and family! What you are seeing above is 400 college students gathered together a few weeks ago for our annual winter camp. If you would like to watch a 20 second video clip of this scene and hear our students praise God together, you can do so by clicking here.
https://youtu.be/bb4vBCUvDa8

God was so good to provide a space for these students to come and worship him. The weekend was incredibly encouraging as college students from all across DFW came together to make new friends, learn from an oxford professor on the reliability of the gospels, and just gather in praise. And as far as I've heard, there were no large covid outbreaks as a result. I hope that seeing that these young people are growing in their faith and giving their whole lives to Jesus encourages you today




Same day, different students. The guy on the left is Saket, an international student who told me recently that for him coming to Focus is like coming to a place of peace. He says he has been a part of many clubs at UTA. But that when he comes to FOCUS he feels peace, in a way that he can't explain. I think Philippians 4:7 would have an explanation! Because Saket comes to join us in worshiping Jesus every week, God is blessing him with a peace that surpasses understanding. All that's left is for him to recognize Jesus as the source of that peace and to worship him as Lord.  Jonathan is the guy on the right. Jonathan is one of our core leaders this year. He's a stand up guy, an eagle scout, an engineering major, and is going to get married sometime soon! I love getting to have an opportunity to meet with Jonathan weekly to talk about how to better follow Jesus and how to lead others to know Jesus too.


You're invited to Spring Showcase! Every year we send hundreds of college students to a ministry training conference in Bellingham, Washington called the Student Institute of Campus Ministry. Or SICM for short. Spring Showcase is our annual fundraiser for SICM. It takes the form of a variety show of talented musical acts from vocalists, musicians, and dancers from across the metroplex. If you would like to support sending students to learn how to reach their peers for Jesus, or if you are just looking for a fun date night or evening with the family then Showcase is the place to be! Hope that you can join.

Thank you again for your support of campus missions. God is at work. And your gifts make it all possible. In Christ, Austin.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

More Winter Retreat and Lucy Update!

  The fruit of winter retreat is evident! God really used that time to bond our guys together and point them more collectively towards following Jesus. Since winter retreat we have been able to identify several guys that we are excited to invite to be leaders next year in the ministry from Austen, to Josh, to Manny, to Chris (who's testimony is below) God is raising up young men who are eager to not only know Him but to share him with their peers. I couldn't be more grateful for you who helps to make that kind of heart transformation possible! One of our core groups, led by Ian and Crew has been in a particularly healthy place. These guys look forward to spending time together, reading God's word, praying for one another, and sharing their lives. Here they are hanging out an arcade together recently. But every week they are learning about Jesus together and growing as disciples! Speaking of Growing, Lucy is getting bigger. This photo above was from her first wedding recentl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Learning From the Wise

Dear Friends, Thank you for taking the time to read this ministry update. This winter season has been particularly encouraging and I am excited to tell you about what is coming up soon! The month of December began with a celebration. The school semester was coming to a close quickly so we threw our annual Focus Christmas party in the first week of the month. Talk about Christmas come early. The event was filled with sweet memories, worship, and funny skits put on by the various weekly core groups. Watching those skits is always a highlight of the year as everyone in the core often participates and everyone gets to see each others silly sides. A couple of guys at the UTA Focus Christmas Party. In the bottom picture, one of the roommates couldn't make the event so the rest of the guys thoughtfully chose to find a way to include him in the picture, no matter what.  Once the semester was over and the students went home for the holidays, I had a lot of time to read. Over the ...
2 comments
Read more

Disciple Means Student

Two of the things that I have been most grateful for in the last month is the fact that God gifts us with so much fun in this life, and secondly, how God blesses us by giving us the ability to learn. At our online TNF's we have been hosting after events for our students where we try to do something that helps everyone feel connected. At one of our most recent after events we decided to host "show and tell" where everyone finds one or two objects that they are most proud of owning or they consider to be the most interesting thing they own. It was such a blast to see what the students loved and wanted to show off. In the bottom right Taylor Bass, one of our student leaders, was showing off the set of armor that he and some friends had crafted from cardboard. And 2 blocks above him Nathan Baugh, another one of our student leaders, shows off his autographed pictures of Ariana Grande that he got when he was in middle school. It was so sweet to laugh with those in attendance...
Post a Comment
Read more