August Updates!

All FOCUS staff at staff retreat

Hey y'all!

Students worshipping at our first TNF! 

This month has been so crazy, but so sweet and encouraging! To kick off, I had apprenticeship orientation and meetings with the admin team to get situated. After our first few classes, we had staff retreat with all FOCUS staff at Riverbend Retreat Center, where I got to spend time with my current Denton staff team and got to learn from several of our staff members from other campuses about how to best manage my time as an apprentice. After that, we hit the ground running with UNT's First Flight Week and Welcome Week, where thousands of students are trying to find where they belong on campus. 

Students Ayamae and Shaun at an after event

During the two weeks, we held events every single day and I got to meet so many students! There are so many people who just want to find community. My favorite thing we got to do though was handing out free coffee and directions on campus, where I got to interact directly with many students who wanted to get connected. A lot of those students we met came to our first fellowship night, called Thursday Night Fellowship (TNF)! We had 293 students show up to TNF, the most students we've ever had at TNF ever! It was so sweet and so fun getting to see everyone worshipping God together, and I am excited to see how God continues to work at TNF this year. We also hold hangouts called After Events following TNF, and it was so cool to hang out with all the students. 

Students at our first After Event

We also started core last week! Cores are our weekly, gender-specific small groups.  We call them cores because these small groups are the core of our ministry! I am leading with a student named Davis, and we are already so pumped about our Friday night core. It is so exciting to see how cores every year are so different and this year is no exception. I have already seen the guys in our core connect with each other, and they are all excited to learn more about God and each other. I can't help but think about all the amazing friendships I have made in FOCUS when I see these guys connect to each other, and I am excited to be a part of them finding community.

Now that Welcome Week is over, I am continuing to outreach to students on campus and am taking classes such as Old Testament Foundations and Spiritual Maturity (because we all know I need that). I am ready to see how God leads me in the coming weeks and happy to bring y'all along the way!

Prayer Requests:

• That we can continue to reach out to students at UNT
• That our core would be a place of vulnerability and growth
• That our staff can be receptive to what God wants us to do

Bonus fish pic

Remember, God loves you very very much and He has a special plan just for you. Go in the grace of God!