Life to the Full

Our students during evening worship at Fall Camp. Getting to do something stripped down in an 
outdoor pavilion was such a great experience!

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Jesus in John 10:10 (NIV)

“Let us all live snugly without risk, 

and life will soon be little more than a 

thick gelatinous stream of 

comfortability and ignorance.”

Myles Connolly in Mister Blue

It's been a while! I'm sorry for not looping you in on things. 

In short, you haven't heard from me because we have been hitting the ground running in a way that we haven't in a long time. By the time this Fall semester came around, every college campus FOCUS has a presence at had been devoid of any "official" campus life for nearly 18 months. 

That means people who had only been in school for a semester when universities shut down due to COVID are now upperclassmen! 

As they come back onto campus, they are experiencing very different mindsets. Some students feel like they're making up for lost time, and want to hit the ground running in the party scene (which while very small at UTD, is undoubtedly growing). Some students feel frozen by their social anxiety, and by anxiety surrounding the pandemic. Either way, Jesus offers a full life of intimacy and change that looks like neither of those things, but speaks to both of those people. 

So now that we're back on campus, we've been meeting students as much as possible, and God has been so, so good in providing connections and protecting our students. 

Thank you for making that possible!

Fall Camp

We got to do a camp this September for our students, and it was such a fun and meaningful time. The theme of the camp was making and sticking to decision for God- something so relevant and helpful for college students, especially at the beginning of the year.

Michelle, one of our apprentices, talking to the students about Communion.

Nhala (left) and Sion (right) are two of the nicest guys you'll ever meet! Nhala was in my peer
team last year, and continues to serve the community super faithfully, and Sion has been in the
community for years and serves on the worship team. 

Students playing basketball at Fall Camp. I'm passing the ball to Landry like my life depends
on it, because in that moment, it does. Just kidding.

Jadon, here seconds away from doing something
very silly, is a senior this year, and has become
one of my favorite people over the last couple of years.

Prayer

• Pray for continued safety for our students.
• Pray for our students to get closer to Jesus, and to find meaningful Christian community in our cores (small groups).
• Pray for resilience for our student leaders and pastors as we seek to be as present to people as possible.