October update

We had four campuses at our Dallas Fall Camp - UTD, RC, TWU-Dallas, and CD (PC: Sean Do)

Hi friends!

Wow. We are already two months into this school year! Two months! They weren’t kidding about how fast time can pass you by. Thank you so much for all your kindness and encouragement thus far, as well as your prayers! They mean so, so much to me. 

Fall Camp

Some of TWU-D girls on the way to Fall Camp

Fall Camp is probably our most exciting event of the fall semester, and it was so great this year. For those who don't know the excitement that is Fall Camp, let me tell you all about it.  Fall Camp is a short overnight retreat (less than 24 hours) that we do with the main goals of spending intentional time with our cores to develop deeper friendships with one another early on in the year. The time we spend in just a couple days at Fall Camp is more than we would have meeting 1.5 hours each week all semester long, so relationships have time to form a foundation for the work God is doing the rest of the year.

TWU-Dallas and Callier representing at Fall Camp!

Praise God because we had six girls from TWU-Dallas come to Fall Camp! With myself and the three other corefas at TWU-D and Callier Dallas, that’s a great showing from our newest campus. I really appreciated the time I had to not only get to know these girls even more, but also to get to witness UTD and RC embrace them with open arms into the community. It was a beautiful reminder that we are not just individual campuses doing ministry on our own, but that we are a part of something bigger and better. Something that we are all called to join God in – His Kingdom! How neat is it that we can have nothing in common with someone by the definition of worldly things, but through Christ, we can really share in our lives together.

We also had worship and played lots of games over the weekend. 

This is us making our respective "wink card" faces for the game Wink!

Speaking of, sharing lives is a key to our ministry. This school year, our theme for FOCUS is Be Brave, and through the weekend at Fall Camp we did just that. We explored what it looks like as Christians to be brave on our campuses, and spent time thinking about where in our lives we have a hard time allowing God to work. One of my favorite things during the weekend included hearing some of our students share part of their testimonies where they chose to be brave and trust God. The fact that they were willing to stand up in front of close to 200 people and be vulnerable with what they were choosing to share was an example of being brave in and of  itself. The students’ testimonies covered a wide variety of topics like anxiety/depression, forgiveness, worship, evangelism, and living in the light. I loved getting to hear the impact these stories had on other students and seeing the encouragement they were to our community.

Amber!

Not our best picture, but it is a picture!

Amber is someone I met in core my sophomore year who has continuously encouraged me in my walk with God and, really, in all the other endeavors of life. I wanted to share about her with y’all a little bit because of her role in FOCUS at TWU-D, but also in my life. What is super neat about Amber is that she actually started coming to UTD FOCUS as TWU-D student on her own, and then the following year, she ventured out and began leading a core at TWU-D! (She is now a grown up working a full time job as a nurse, and of course, she is pretty great at it. She has a heart for God, and compassion and love for His people, after all!) Amber played a big role in me having a desire to get to know the students at TWU-D and now, Amber and I lead one of the cores at TWU-D together this year. So not only is she my roommate (literally), she is also my co-fa (co-corefa)! I really love this girl and I am so, so happy that God placed her in my life when He did. 

20 Year Celebration

One week from today, FOCUS will be celebrating its 20 year anniversary! This is such a big and exciting thing to celebrate. As a student who has learned so much, made so many lifelong friends, and gotten to know God more personally because of this ministry, I am really excited to reflect back on the FOCUS’ last 20 years with everyone and celebrate all that God has done. As a supporter of this ministry, I would love to invite you to come join us in this special time and see the fruit of this ministry and look forward to how God is going to continue to use FOCUS. You can RSVP here and I can introduce you to some of the students I’ve been sharing about!

Thank you!

Thank you to each and every one of you who has invested in this ministry financially and/or prayerfully! Your investment really matters and I hope you are encouraged to see how God is using it.  

Prayer requests

• We are working to become an official organization at TWU-Dallas. Pray that God makes the process smooth and successful, and that FOCUS can grow its presence on campus to bring the students to know God!
• I am 85% funded for this year! Praise God for how He has faithfully provided thus far and pray that He will open doors and provide the remaining!
• We have two cores at TWU-D and CD each week – one on Sunday night and one Monday afternoon. Please continue praying for God to bring girls in and that we welcome them with open arms. Pray that God reveals to each of us what we need to hear and that we allow God to use us in His will.

Thank you again and please let me know how I can be praying for you as well. I love you guys!