School Year Loading… What Can YOU Do to Help?? (Read on to find out!)

^This is the UTD mascot, Temoc. He is a Comet, who’s name is “Comet” backwards :)

Hello, everyone!!

If you’re new to this blog (a guest reader or a new ministry partner!), WELCOME! I’m so glad and thankful that you are here. Living out my passion of loving college students and pointing them to Jesus would not be possible without my ministry partners, and the prayer/support from family and friends. So for everything you do for me, I thank you!

I wanted to give you guys a lay out of what August looks like, as it’s a PIVOTAL few weeks for the rest of the school year! Or you can skip to the bottom to see how YOU can help me with all that’s about to transpire in the next few weeks :)

School starts August 21st!! AH! You may be thinking, that’s pretty late in August… what even happens between now and then?

August 7th, our whole team of FOCUS pastors from across our campuses will go on a retreat to prepare mentally and spiritually for the school year to begin. We kind of mark the start and end of a year by the school schedule, since that’s how our students operate. So August is the beginning of a new year for us! 

We get back the 10th, and then have a 10 hour prep day for our student leaders on Monday the 14th. We actually do lots of unofficial events the week BEFORE school starts, as that is when Freshman move-in begins.  We plan board game nights starting Tuesday the 15th in the residence halls that have Freshman moving in to give them something to do their first night at college. And trust me, it may sound lame, but UTD students can get down with some board games. Uno, CodeNames, Werewolf, The Game, Bananagrams… if it’s a board game, we probably have it! Those nights are so special, because often, we get to be the first people who Freshman meet. We don’t just say, “Hey, you should be part of FOCUS!” But we seek to establish real friendships, set up one on one time, and invite them to other events we have going on for the following two weeks! 

The week school starts, we continue doing events pretty much nightly. This all leads up to our very first Friday Night Fellowship of the school year, which is August 25th! We call it, “FNF” for short, which you may notice in future blog updates. It’s our large-group meeting where we have corporate worship, a message from one of our pastors, student testimonies, etc. 

The biggest part of our ministry model is probably one-on-one. We have a Bible study called, “Focus on Jesus” that takes us straight to the Bible to get to know who Jesus is. It’s a 10 week study for people of any faith background, whether you’ve grown up in church or are simply curious to know more about who the heck this Jesus guy is, and what he’s about. 

We also have small groups led by student volunteers. These small groups are called, “Cores” as we believe they are the CORE of our ministry! Where meaningful friendships can be formed, where questions can be abaked about faith, where you eat yummy snacks, and where you live real life together. We call our student volunteers, “Corefas” (Core facilitators). They dedicate about 10-15 hours a week to serve in this role; leading Core, studying Focus on Jesus with people, participating in FNF and leading various parts of it… they are an integral part of our ministry!!

So, I know that was a lot of info. How can you help us with all we have going on? What can YOU do to be part of these upcoming, exciting events on campus?!

Pray!

- Pray for our upcoming staff retreat, for safety going to and from, and that we would be spiritually rejuvenated to hit the Weeks of Welcome HARD!

- Pray for our leader training, that our Corefas and returning members would be excited to share the gospel and love of Jesus to our campus and that we would equip them the best we know how, with guidance from the Spirit.

- Pray for our board game nights and initial interactions with freshman. Pray that we would be welcoming, inclusive, and warm as we interact with the people we meet! Pray that God would start to prepare the hearts of students that he wants us to meet and love on

- Pray for ALL of our events, that we would continue to seek out people and show them how much FUN college can be! 

- Pray for our first FNF! That everything would go smoothly, but most of all, that people will have a great experience with Jesus through our community. 

- Pray for the stamina of our staff and student leaders as we go night after night :)

Thank you SO much for your prayers. They are needed and felt. I am SO excited to report back on all that God does during these next few weeks!!!

Love, Kylie