We Came, We Saw, We Conquered

August is finally over, and Welcome Week has finished alongside it! Thank you for all of your prayers. I think this Welcome Week went so well. Last year we didn't have very many freshman join our organization; this year in order to try and change that, we decided to do board games and outdoor games in the residence hall areas 3 nights in a row. I think that helped tremendously!

First FNF

I have been so encouraged this school year to see how hard our corefas and returning students have worked. Meeting new people can be so scary, but every single one of our leaders have pushed themselves to reach out. I would walk around the Student Union, an area that has a lot of food options, and I'd see our students sitting with strangers, trying to meet them and start up friendships. It's so incredible to see our students have caught the vision. They have fully bought into Jesus, and they're working hard for him, trying to bring His Kingdom to UTD!

The last thing I'll say before the student testimony is that our first Friday Night FOCUS (FNF) went so well. We have over 250 people there. As you can imagine, there were a lot of new people, but looking around, I couldn't see anyone new not being talked to! I can't wait to see how God continues working this year!

Student Testimony

Michael Murphey
University of Texas at Dallas
Computer Science
Sophomore

When I cam to UTD, I felt really lost. I didn't have many friends, and it seemed as if my life had no direction at the time. I had known for years that I wanted to study computer science but in the fall of 2016, I was doing little else. It felt painfully meaningless at times. I decided to come to Friday Night Fellowship one night and met Mark Merola. Even though we were complete strangers, Mark took a particular interest in me. After sitting with me during the service, he invited me to come to more FOCUS events and to join his Core.  With Mark and the rest of my Core, I gained a group of supportive peers that I could live life with and learn from. I grew significantly in my faith and also as a person. Through studying the Bible and discussing it with members of my Core, I learned more about who Jesus is, and my relationship with him deepened. My relationship with Hesus also led me to examine who I was as a person and make changes to how I act. FOCUS added a lot of meaning into my life and helped me see who I want to be. I have become a Core facilitator for the 2017-2018 school year, and I now know that the path toward God is the path that I want to take my entire life.