October Updates!

 

Fall Retreat 2024

Hey y'all!

This month has been so busy with most of the Denton staff's work prepping for Fall Retreat, an annual 24-hour weekend getaway for our Denton FOCUS students at Mount Lebanon Camp. But first, I kicked off the month by spending a weekend in Oklahoma with a bunch of friends playing the totally not nerdy and highly respectable tabletop role-playing game Warhammer 40k. Warhammer Weekend is an annual trip that many current FOCUS staff/FOCUS alumni go on to connect and play Warhammer. While we were there, I got to cook pot roast for all 18 people and even got to celebrate my friend Joel's 24 birthday! I loved getting to rest and recharge and loved the opportunity to serve and connect with all my friends. 

My friends Joel, Kevin, and Alex after Warhammer Weekend

The weeks leading up to Fall Retreat were great! A lot of our students were excited to experience Fall Retreat and connect with their peers. For the retreat, each core was paired with another core of the opposite gender to form a team that would compete in games at the retreat. Davis and I got paired with Keelee and Lily's core, and our team became the Greyhounds! Our cores had the opportunity to meet together twice before Fall Retreat, and our guys had a great time getting to know some of the girls of FOCUS, and it made me really excited to see how we would work as a team. 

Go Greyhounds!

Fall Retreat was finally here! On Saturday, our students began the weekend by competing in Survivor-style games against the other teams. Afterward, we got to hear a great word from Ronnie Worsham, a wonderful father figure in our community. Then, we got to participate in more games and also had an amazing worship night (I got to play guitar and sing!), and I feel students connected with God so much. We had a large choir filled with some of our students, which made all of our students so hype. 

Worshipping at Fall Retreat

Our students got to end the night by spending free time with one another (while some of our staff went and got some late-night Sonic). Sunday at Fall Retreat was spent worshipping and listening to some of our students talk about switching from a "me" to a "we" mindset, and I got to interview one of our students Brandon. It was so good getting to hear how our students have been impacted by our community and how they are helping other students grow closer to God and one another. Finally, it was announced that our team won the Camp Cup!

Late-night Sonic run with some Denton staff

Fall Retreat took a lot of work, but it was rewarding to see our students impacted by the short time we were there. We had close to 300 students this year at Fall Retreat, which is such a blessing! While this isn't a numbers game, it is so encouraging to see that God is working on our campuses. I am so happy to be part of the process and God's work on our campus. And of course, I couldn't do any of this without your support, so thank YOU very much! :)

Prayer Requests:

• That students would be anxiety-free during the end of the semester
• That we would end the semester of ministry well
• That students would be receptive to the teaching at Pizza Theology (more on that next month!)

Bonus fish pic ft. Joel

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