All I Can Say Is… Who Else Is Worthy?? (August Update)
There’s been a worship song that has been on my heart the last week or so called, “Who Else”. Here are some of the lyrics:
I am an instrument of exaltationAnd I was born to lift Your name above all namesYou hear the melody of all creationBut there's a song of praise that only I can bring
Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?There is no one, only You, JesusWho else is worthy? Who else is worthy?There is no one, only You, Jesus
This week has been one that that question just keeps coming to mind. We’ve been hustling the last two weeks to meet new students and offer them an invitation into community. It’s been a lot of hard work! Many hours, some tears. But, who else is worthy? There is no one… only Jesus! The gospel of Jesus that we are proclaiming on campus is SUCH good news. We offer people friends and community, but most importantly, we offer them Jesus. Who is the only one worthy to make Lord of their lives.
It’s been so fun to meet all the new students. We’ve had TONS of events in the last two weeks. I’ll highlight a few below!
Move-In Parties
This is the first thing that we do to welcome in the freshmen moving in to the dorms. For 4 nights, we set out games, bracelet-making material, and board games. We set up at a grassy area right by the dining hall, and invite people to come play with us or sit and chat. We have found the University doesn’t do a ton for freshman moving in, but some of them move in a whole 7 days before school starts! That’s a long time to be lonely in your room, especially if you’ve moved from far away and your family isn’t there. So, these are typically pretty successful in terms of turnout and being able to invite people to our future events!
Mi Gente
We have a couple of touch points for students from different cultural backgrounds to engage with other students from their culture. One of those is our LatinX ministry, Mi Gente. These are not separate ministries from FOCUS; they’re more groups of students within our ministry that meet in addition to our large group things to connect on this level. One of our pastors and my dear friends, Andrea, heads this up and hosts a Latinx Meet and Greet each year during our Weeks of Welcome. This year, we had about 100 students that showed up to eat some of their favorite nostalgic snacks and play a human bingo, where you fill out a bingo square with the initials of the person that answered a question for you. It was so fun! People had already left when I snapped this picture at the end.
The Grove
Every Friday of the school year, we have a large group, church-esque service that we call, “The Grove” Our goals with the grove are to root deep in Scripture, branch out to others, and bear fruit of a transformed life. We offer small groups (called Core) that are extremely popular, but we want to give them an experience to learn about scripture from our pastors through teaching, to connect with our broader community, and then take what they learn out into real life.
All of our events build up to The Grove. We spend two weeks inviting people and hoping that we’ll cap off the weeks of welcome with an awesome time of coming together to worship God. Last year, our kickoff for The Grove had 220 ish people. This year, WE HAD 320 PEOPLE!!! A record high attendance in Friday Night history. It’s not about numbers/butts in seats. But, having an extra 100 students there, having had students graduate from last year, was just SO encouraging that people want to engage with God and His people! Here’s a pic and a couple videos from worship:
Love, Kylie
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