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