Mele Kalikimaka and HUGE Thank You!

I want to start by saying thank you! Thank you to everyone who regularly partners with me in college ministry. And a double thank you to everyone who chose out of their generous hearts to give even further to our annual Keep Focus Growing Campaign. Because of you, we were able to raise $100,000. Because of your generosity this ministry will continue to be able to operate on college campuses with equipped campus pastors for years to come. God's ability and continued willingness to provide for this work never ceases to amaze me. I'm humbled and thrilled to have such supportive ministry partners who see the need and continue to meet it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

You may be wondering why I wrote Mele Kalikimaka in the title above. Well, if you don't know, that means Merry Christmas in Hawaii. And Christmas in Hawaii was this years theme for our UTA Focus Christmas Party.

Pictured above is just a few of the guys in this ministry that I get to spend time with regularly. I'm so excited by their desire to learn more about Jesus and continue to figure out what it looks like to reflect him in their daily lives. In the top picture is one of our several core groups, this one is facilitated by two Ben's. Ben Erickson and Ben Roesche. Meeting with Ben and Ben weekly has been one of the highlights of my year so far. They are both eager to learn, humble, inquisitive, go getters. But they also have been the example this year for the rest of our ministry of what it looks like to facilitate friendship between the guys in their core. Bernard, Aaron, Crew, Lyndon, and Cole are all regular friends even when Core isn't technically meeting. They will hang out and play racquetball together, or just get together for lunch in the UC. I think one of Jesus primary methods of making disciples was to spend regular time with everyone in his "small group", knowing that through their exposure to him, they would learn about and catch glimpses of his kingdom. I love that Ben and Ben are following in the footsteps of Jesus in their approach to ministry.

Thank you again for your partnership in ministry. If you aren't fully encouraged yet, please feel free to check out this months student testimony below!

In Christ,

Austin Gage

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