Winter Formal and Retreat and a Revival on the College Campus

We closed off last semester with a winter formal, but can you believe the new semester has already started??? We leave for winter retreat in 3 days! Below are some pictures of the formal. We invited all our students to dress up and attend a nice dinner for free. We watched skits made by all our small groups and handed out academy awards. But we also just spent time enjoying each others company, and rejoicing in all that God had done through our community this year.

Watching the skits was so fun and I know the students will remember their time together in cores making those videos for a long time. Thank you for providing a place for students to feel special, and make sweet memories.

In just 3 days we will take all our students across DFW to winter retreat! This is our biggest event of the year. Here's a video that gives a sense of what the experience is like. Winter Retreat Video

At winter retreat students will spend 4 days, learning about Jesus, worshiping God, making new friends, playing games, and enjoying God's creation. Countless students that have been through our ministry point to winter retreat as a pivotal point in the deepening of their faith and commitment to Christ. Please pray for the 400+ students who will be in attendance. I can't wait to see what God does!

Hayli, Lucy, and I are doing well! Lucy is almost walking, and we couldn't be more grateful for the gift of her life. Thank you for helping us to make a home for her.

Below is this months student testimony, but also I thought I would add something special this month. This is a link to an article about the ever increasing popularity of Christianity in Gen Z that I found highly encouraging. Christian Revival

God really is doing something big on the college campus. Thank you for letting me be here to get to be a part of it!

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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 ...

Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again; Rejoice!

A lot has been happening this month, in the ministry, in the lives of our students, and in my own heart as I continue to learn what it means to be a missionary and a minister of the Lord. I can't wait to share all of it with you. I pray that you find it encouraging and ultimately that God is praised and exalted because of it. Ephesians 3:20-21 " Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." These are just a few of the guys in my core group that I get to lead every week! Peter, Jacob, and Saurav. I love each one of these guys dearly and I so enjoy getting to meet with them every week and hearing their heart. I meet one on one every week with Jacob, we've been reading through a book called "Experiencing God" this semester recently and it has been very helpful in aligning our ...

When Miracles Are Common and Pizza Theology

A student shared this at our most recent Thursday Night Fellowship and I thought it was so beautiful that I wanted to share it with you. "In Focus, Miracles are happening all the time. People are becoming saved, like I was a year ago, through this community, and equally miraculously people are becoming more like Jesus, like I'm still learning to do. But God is using this community to bring about those miracles. And I know that this all can feel common to us, especially those of us who have been around for a while, but if we are in a community where the miraculous is common , we should thank God for that community." That was shared by a student named Josh Krause who I have the pleasure of studying the bible with over the duration of this school year. I have been so encouraged by his willingness to keep learning about the grace of God and respond by living out of that reality. And I was doubly encouraged when he shared such a beautiful and praise filled sentiment with th...

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