Thursday, December 8, 2016

Wrapping Things Up

Hi friends,

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving break, and I'm hoping that you have a restful and fun Christmas break as well. I went home to Amarillo for Thanksgiving with Laurence and my friends Peter and Paul Ueng. It was a much needed break! I've felt like the past two months things have been going a mile a minute.

October we had so many events (20 Year Celebration, Jesus & Politics Class, and the All Church Leadership Conference), and I also got ENGAGED!!!!!
*We're planning to send out invitations soon, but we want you to all know that you're invited:) You can find all of the details and RSVP on our low-tech Facebook event here. We hope to see you there, and we are both really excited to start our life together!

November was a blur of ramping up for our annual fundraiser, trying to do some wedding planning, and meet with as many students as possible before the break.

Sweet December brings a much needed change of pace. All of the students are gearing up for finals, so it's hard to get meeting set up with students you don't know as well. It's been a great time to catch up on all the administrative work that has been piling up.

Any who I wanted to share two things with you: 1. Our Annual Fundraiser, and 2. Our student testimony.

Keep FOCUS Growing Fund

We started this fund a few years ago, and it has been vital to keep our ministry growing on the campuses we're already at and expanding to new campuses we feel like God is calling us to. With the money from this fund, we were able to plant a ministry at 3 new campuses. It allows us to invest in student outreach, put pastors on campus who would otherwise have to spend time support raising, and generally seize opportunities that the Lord puts in our path.

The Keep FOCUS Growing Fund will play a huge role in what 2017 looks like as we pray and consider what to do at SMU, how and whether to expand our Collin outreach, how to grow our presence at UTA, and how many of our amazing young apprentices to bring on to our long-term ministry staff. There are important decisions that will have major repercussions over the next 20 years! This year we're trying to raise $55,000!

We can hit our $55,000 goal if: 
200 people give $10
200 people give $20
100 people give $50
30 people give $100
20 people give $300
25 people give $500
10 people give $750
5 people give $1,000
2 people give $2,500
1 person gives $5,000

So I'd like you to do 2 things:
1. Pray for God to provide richly for the mission to these campuses. He has always given us what we need, and we are confident He will continue to do so if we continue asking in faith.
2. Maybe the Lord would want you to be a part of the answer to that prayer--would you consider giving a special gift? You can go to anyfocus.org/next20 for everything you need to know. 

Student Testimony


I hope you enjoy reading this and that it encourages you. It just reminded me why all of the handwork is worth it, and why I really love and believe in campus ministry:

"My name is Sammy, and I am a freshman at Collin College. During this past summer I went through a dark stage of my life. After a rough break up, I was left feeling depressed and alone. On July 27th the depression had become so bad that I attempted suicide, and I didn't tell anyone about it. A month later I heard about FOCUS through Matt at a Welcome Week event on campus, and after having a conversation he invited me to FOCUS. My core group and FOCUS helped me see I wasn't alone; they showed me the love of Jesus, and it drove me to become a Christian. I've learned how much Jesus Loves people and how he cares for everyone. I'm closer to God than I have ever been before, and I feel loved in a safe community. God has changed my life through FOCUS!"

Sammy (Freshman, Collin College-Spring Creek Campus, Nursing)

***
I just wanted to say thank you for reading this. It's so encouraging to know that I have people out there praying for me and my ministry. 

Bye for now:)

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