The Harvest is Plentiful

August has come and gone so quickly! The past two weeks have been incredibly busy but so encouraging. Our main focus at the start of the semester has been to meet as many students as possible on the UNT & TWU campuses. Although my main ministry is at the UNT campus, I've been able to work a bit with my fellow intern Sarah King in reaching out to the TWU students.

The University of North Texas

Texas Woman's University

I had the opportunity to meet new students on move-in day at both campuses. A lot of students had to move into the dorms during the heat of the day with their parents, making multiple trips to and from their cars. A group of FOCUS students volunteered their time to help students move and welcome them to the university, which was such a great way to meet lots of new people all at once. It was really exciting getting to hear stories of where people came from and how they ended up in Denton for school. I could relate--I had just finished moving too!

After move-in, UNT kicked off "Welcome Week" which is devoted to getting students involved in events on campus and meeting new people. FOCUS organized two events called "Capture the Flag" and we had about 200 people show up to play on the first night! Our student leaders were working so hard to make lots of new friends and to invite them to everything. We got to see the results of this hard work at our first official large group meeting of the semester on Friday night (which we call Friday Night Fellowship). Many new students expressed interest in getting involved in the heart of our ministry, small groups we call "Core." Each week, gender-specific small groups meet on or near campus to develop deep friendships, learn about discipleship, and grow in relationship with Christ. Our cores are officially starting to meet this week, so please be in prayer for the students that God is preparing to bring to these meetings.

Friday Night Fellowship

This past weekend we wrapped up August by taking our "Corefas" (small group leaders and facilitators) on retreat. It was really so crazy to see how many students we have from all five campuses (UTD, UNT, Collin College, TWU, & Richland) who are committing to lead students to Jesus this year. One of the goals we have as a staff is for our student leaders to develop personal and spiritual depth. We spent time discussing how to be effective leaders and disciple-makers that have hearts for God and people. One of the topics we discussed was vulnerability, and how making ourselves vulnerable to people we reach out to is an act of courage, not weakness. I was personally challenged by this thought, especially because I have experienced heartbreak in making myself vulnerable to the people I've ministered to.

Please pray for our ministry as we continue to reach out to students, Christian and pre-Christian. Pray for growth and depth for our student leaders. Also pray for me and my fellow interns in our studies, that we can balance our work load and projects with our time to be with students. Thank you all for your prayers and support! God is working through you to reach many people for His kingdom!