'Tis the Season!

As our semester draws to a close I wanted you to know how thankful we are for the impact your support has made on our ministry.  We couldn't do any of this without faithful people like you behind us!

In the last month our ministry tackled everyone's favorite topic...DATING!  In all seriousness, dating and relationships is an important issue though not always popular.  This year Brandon and I led a three part series  that gave the students lots of biblical principles to think about when trying to look at the modern world of dating as a disciple along with the idea of arranging your own marriage.  There were several student discussions throughout the series one compared modern dating with the old arranged marriage tradition.  I was impressed with the student responses.  For example, one student shared that dating can give you the opportunity to serve others if you are thinking about what is best for the other person.  Another student shared that she thought a real positive of the arranged marriage situation was that you would go into the relationship looking for the best in the other person and how to make things even better.  It was so refreshing to hear college students discuss dating and relationships in terms of what they could see God wanting for them instead of just what they wanted to do. Here are the links to some articles we shared with the students to get them thinking!
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001371.cfm
http://www.crosswalk.com/11621158/


We had our last official Friday night fellowship this week.  We put together a Christmas devotional...yes it was Christmas in November!  Our worship team picked some great songs (Oh Holy Night, Oh Come Emmanuel, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, Joy to the World, Silent Night) and encouraged us to really think about the message we were singing and make it worship and praise not just a Christmas carol. In between each song we had people sharing thoughts on Christmas.  We heard moving stories of how God has used this special time of year to heal families, spread His word, move people to generosity and bring hope.

 Our ministry has recently experienced a sad loss.  One of our members, freshman Ryan Schutze, passed away in a car accident on his way home from Thanksgiving break.  Matt Clark, our campus pastor, reminded us that although this is a sad time there is also so much hope because of our great God.  Ryan loved the Lord and impacted many organizations on UNT's campus. Please be in prayer for Ryan's family and the many students that have been touched by his life.

On a lighter note the annual FOCUS Christmas party was tonight.  We invaded the student union with Christmas cheer using the theme "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" Students enjoyed cocoa, cookies, fellowship and laughs!  Students were organized into "family" groups and given several Christmas traditions to act out including a white elephant gift exchange and singing Christmas carols to other families to name a few. The evening concluded with a core group competition.  Groups brought their creativity and performance skills to the table to bring traditional Christmas songs to life!

One tradition had family members singing Christmas songs a la chubby bunny :) 

On a personal note my husband and I found out that we are having a boy and a girl!  Keep those prayers coming!

Lots of news!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers!  We get to see the fruit of those prayers everyday as we work with the ministry. I know that you only get these small windows to catch a glimpse of what God is doing to answer those prayers.  Please know how much we appreciate your faithfulness and what power it has in the kingdom!

     I have the privilege of co-leading a small group of student leaders called a peer team.  In this group the student leaders come together to share news, be encouraged, grow in their spiritual lives and build friendship.  This year we are studying through the book Finding Calcutta by Mary Poplin.  Mary shares about when she went to volunteer with Mother Teresa and the lessons she learned about God and herself while she was there.  This book has really sparked some powerful conversations as we look into our own lives and our relationships with God. I personally have been really challenged by the questions the girls are asking!

   Several students collected donations to throw a costume party this past Sunday.  The party was a blast!  Students brought guests that had not attended a FOCUS event this year, but felt comfortable coming to a party.  It was a fun night of fellowship, but that wasn't what impressed me most.  What impressed me was the incentive that the students had to plan the function on their own and the fact that so many students gave generously to make it a success.

A sampling of the awesome costumes

The most exciting news is the baptism that took place tonight!  Ana, one of our student leaders, has been studying the bible with Marissa, another student at UNT, for a while now.  Recently Ana really challenged her to step up and totally give her life to God.  Marissa's answer was absolutely yes!

A picture before the cold water :)

Praise God!

I will close out this post with an exciting bit of personal news...My husband and I are expecting twins!!!  The little Knoles will be arriving sometime in late March or early April.  More updates to come!

Thanks again for everything you do!

      

October Update!

Friday Night Fellowship is in full swing!  Core groups are up and running! Fall Retreat was amazing! The most exciting thing yet...God has been richly blessing our ministry! 

No matter what life has thrown at us the past few weeks, we have been reminded that God is good and that we are strong when we remain in Him. You wouldn't believe the way things have worked out better than we ever could have planned.  Brandon Worsham was set to speak at FNF a few weeks ago, when he came down sick the night before.  Spur of the moment he planned for us to show a video about following Jesus and then have a discussion.  The student feedback after that event was incredible.  That discussion was building on things already going on in the students lives spiritually.  Luckily Brandon was able to speak the following week on speaking like new creations and that too was perfectly timed right before our fall retreat.

Speaking of fall retreat...

UNT Fall Retreat 2012

Thank you for all that you do to make things like this possible for our students!  We had over 100 students attend this year and almost half of them were coming for the very first time. Students shared powerful testimonies of how God has made them new.  We also heard from some FOCUS alumni, who shared advice for making the most of college as a disciple.  A special thanks to our campus pastor Matt Clark who spent a week reworking all of the retreat plans when he found out that many new students would be unable to come on the previously scheduled weekend.  What a blessing to our students and what a blessing to me that I can be a part of such an amazing community.

Keep those prayers coming!

September Update!

You have made so many remarkable things possible with your prayers and support!

Our student leader team of around 40 students had their student leader retreat on August 18th-19th. The students shared in worship, laughter and vision casting.  Each leader shared his or her personal vision for the ministry this school year.  They reminded me to dream big...God can do awesome things! We also set up a worship night where the students could go around and experience God in different ways.  Some stations focused on meditation, others on prayer, some on seeing God in the things around us.  It was a powerful evening of reflection and praise! When the weekend was over and retreat was packed up our entire group descended on Rosa's Cafe for one final hour of fellowship before parting ways. God really brought our group together during this retreat.

Welcome week got off to a great start with many of our students coming out to help new students move in on campus.  Our students had the opportunity to serve and connect with hundreds of students this week!  We sponsored 2 capture the flag/game nights this week as well as attending numerous on campus events such as the Mean Green Fling.  I had the pleasure of being introduced to so many new students courtesy of our student leaders who had been working hard to not only meet people, but build real friendships.

Our official Friday Night Fellowship Kick-off was last night.  As I stood at the front of room 311 in Mathews Hall I was awed by all the visitors.  Even though they were new they came in confidently because every one of them had a friend there to greet them.  Students that looked like they had known each other for years I discovered had met only days before. At the rate God is working we are going to need a bigger room!  Former campus pastor Brad Davis was there to introduce Matt, Melissa and I as this year's new staff.   Matt and I took a few minutes to share our stories and why we have a passion for campus ministry to help the community get to know us. Perhaps one of the most moving parts of the night was having  the students leaders pray for us and commission us to lead them. 

God is so good! Thank you for letting Him work through you to do great things!

Amy

Off to a great start!

Dear friends and family,

This summer has been such an amazing experience!  Transitioning from a peer team leader at the University of Texas at Dallas to a campus missionary at the University of North Texas has been a wild ride!  I have had the opportunity to get to know many members of our ministry over the summer at our Monday Night Fellowship meetings.  This is such a welcoming and loving group. From day one they reached out and pulled me in as a new member of the UNT FOCUS family.  I am ready to hit the ground running this school year!

We just got back from our staff retreat where all 14 staff members and interns spent the weekend getting to know each other and praising God!  There is nothing more inspiring than hearing each person share what they are passionate about for the kingdom.  I am truly blessed to be a part of such a dedicated group of disciples. I have to say that one of the things I am most excited about this year is the opportunity to work closely with my fellow UNT staff: Campus Pastor Matt Clark and Campus Intern Melissa Kenfield.  Matt and I have never worked together in ministry before, but his heart for God and love for people is both apparent and contagious!  Melissa and I go way back...to 2007 :)  She was a member of my small group at UTD that fall, and later in 2010 she was in my peer team as a small group leader!  What an honor it is to work beside her this year on staff.  God is so good!

Summer events are winding down and preparations for the school year are in full swing! We are clearing our schedules so that we can serve the students as they arrive at campus.  From helping new students move in, to picking up international students at the airport, our FOCUS students are eager to show them how Jesus loves!  Last night at our Monday Night Fellowship the students led a time of prayer asking that God would move powerfully on the campus and radically change hearts for Him. I believe He will.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Amy