FOCUS in Fall--Danielle's October Update

Now that many of the new students that are involved in FOCUS have decided to stick around, we make it our task to help them integrate into the community and feel like they're part of our family. To do this, we take all of our Denton students to Fall Camp, a 24 hour retreat to play, worship, fellowship, and eat! Here are some photos that give you a sense of what that was like:

UNT women's bunkhouse

Our worship leaders lead our community in praise

Speedball, a Denton FOCUS favorite

TWU Core led by Adrianne (far left) and Brittany (far right)

Students listening intently to our speakers

Many of the new students I've spoken to said that camp was a great way for them to feel connected, meet new people, and catch the vision of God's work on campus. One of our new students, Chris Young, said this:

"I came to Denton without a single friend here. At my very first campus activity, which was a transfer meet up, I meet Nate Dolores who later invited me to FOCUS. I came to FOCUS and enjoyed it, so I joined Nate and Trent's core and have been attending it for the past few weeks... I saw fall camp as a really good opportunity to become more integrated into the community and it was even better than I could have hoped. The worship services were fantastic, but the real highlights of fall camp for me were any chance I got to meet and talk to other people. The welcome games were fun and immediately allowed me to meet new people. The meal times were great for going table to table and chatting or sitting down with people you met earlier to talk more about yourselves or camp. The free time allowed me to check out speedball and meet even more people as well as provide an easy conversation starter since I had never played before. Lastly, the bunkhouse was lit. A few of us went around telling hilarious stories and cracking jokes until lights out, which just furthered my friendship with my core members and started new friendships with members of a different core. What I am really trying to get at here is that this community is awesome, the people here are open and willing to form new friendships. So if you didn’t make it to Fall Camp don’t worry about it, but be looking for opportunities to connect more because it’s worth it!"

I'm so encouraged by our students reaching out and making our new members feel so welcome! Thanks for your continued prayers for them. Your prayers make a big difference in the attitudes of the students who attend! Many of them are excited to learn about Jesus and his design for the body of believers.

Thanks again for reading and for your support!
<3 Danielle