The Harvest is Plentiful

Our new apprentices this year! From left to right (*deep breath*): Alex, Brittany, Abbi, Emily 1, Emily 2, Sam, a laptop, Reagann, Drew, Amber, Ryan, an empty chair, Darby, and Jesse. 

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they 

were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 

Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'"

Matthew 9:36-38

One thing I've noticed in my brief time in campus ministry is that many of life's forces seem to draw us away from reaching out to new people. It's a constant temptation to get complacent, to cloister oneself away, and to rest on the fact that you worked hard last week, last month, or last semester. What God has been pointing out to me lately is that this attitude creeps up most when I am selfish. Have I gotten burnt out? Have I chosen comfort over faithfulness? Have I lost a heart for others? These all happen when somewhere along the way, I took my eyes off of the person of Jesus and the needs of others.

This summer has largely been a journey of reorienting myself towards the mission of ministry rather than focusing on transitioning staff teams and cities or doing my tasks well. This verse keeps coming to mind. "The harvests are plentiful, but the workers are few." Jesse Wang, a new FOCUS staff member (who has been doing campus ministry much, much longer than I have) frequently emphasizes to me in our conversations how few of the students on campus at UTD are ever invited to study the Bible, to be a part of a small group, or to come to a campus ministry or church meeting. I'm realizing that the people who are closest to the heart for God are by necessity inundated with a heart for bringing people into His Kingdom.

Getting Geared Up

A bunch of the staff getting snowcones during staff retreat. The blonde boy with sunglasses on is Drew Cleveland- we led a core (small group) together my second year as a student leader, and he's apprenticing with FOCUS this year!

We just had our annual summer staff retreat this week, in which we spent a few days hanging out, worshipping God, getting to know one another better, welcoming the new apprentices, and preparing for the explosion of life that is the first few weeks of school! I was struck by how much more at home I felt among the staff this time around. 

Thank You

I want to say a special thank you to all of my supporters again. It means so much to me that you would follow a call to give to support the ministry we do. I hope to keep getting to know you better as the year goes on!

Also, welcome to the new supporters!

Prayer

• Pray for the students we'll be meeting this month on campus. Pray that they would be open to friendship, to growth, and most of all, to Jesus.
• Pray for our students as they meet people on campus. Pray that they would be conscious of God's presence with them, at peace, and joyful. Pray that they would balance their schedules well in order to be able to have a good start to their semesters as students.
• Some of our students have experienced difficult times with the sickness or loss of family members recently. Please be praying for them and their families.