Schools are getting ready to start back up and we must be ready to meet the students wherever they are - online or on their campuses!
Personal Updates:
As some of you may already know after tuning in to watch the licensing ceremony, I'm officially a licensed minister for FOCUS now! I was surprised (the day of) to be included in the ceremony, as I'm primarily doing administrative tasks, but I was honored to be there beside all of the faithful servants who are (re)committing the next year, or years, of their lives to changing our campuses. It was during that ceremony that my spirit was struck by excitement for the year to come and thankfulness that y'all have partnered with me in ministry this year. If you're interested in what this ceremony looks like, you can find it here.
A minor note, I have an expander in my mouth now! For those of you who aren't familiar, it's an 'appliance' that rests in the top of your mouth which expands your palate. This is in preparation for braces that I will get at the end of the year. (Why do people call them adult braces if an adult gets them but not child braces if a child gets them?) It makes it a little difficult to talk properly (I had a major lisp the first day it was in) and more difficult to chew, as it can't be taken out and has little wires running around the roof of the mouth. But I'm slowly learning to talk and eat normally more and more each day. I have a gnarly picture of the expander in my mouth, but it's a little gross and graphic, so I didn't include it in this blog. But if you want to see it, just text me and let me know. :-)
Speaking of going back to the basics and re-learning things: I am currently taking a class that our all of our new apprentices take on the Old Testament. For the first 2 weeks of class, it's about 40 hours a week of reading the Old Testament, listening to seminary audio-lectures, reading an Old Testament commentary, and some class time. It has been eye-opening to read the Old Testament in such quick fashion and seeing God's patience and mercy throughout Israel's disobedience, where I used to believe that God was quick to judge and condemn them.
Ministry Updates:
We had our last summer FOCUS meeting in-person on the lawn of Northeast Church in Garland! It was a huge blessing to our students who have been craving community. It was encouraging to me to see our students worshipping and praising God amidst all of the fear and lies that the world tries to place on them. Sarah Worsham spoke about God's goodness and trusting that He has good things planned for you and that this trust should overcome any obstacle, especially in regards to this upcoming school year. Will you let your fear overshadow God's goodness? Be appropriately safe, but be willing to join up where God is working, wherever He is working. If you have time, you can watch Sarah's sermon here.
(Click here for a clip of Sarah's sermon that was profound.)
Our campus ministers have been meeting and fervently planning to meet the students on their campuses in any way they can. UTD will have students begin moving back on campus starting this week (8/10) and we're ready! Our other campuses will soon follow suit and then we'll be off to the races. We're trying many new and different (and exciting) things this year, virtual and online events like gaming tournaments or live art tutorials that students can follow along with (think Bob Ross, but live) among them.
If you would, please pray about the following:
- That staff and students will be safe when their campuses reopen. There have been reports of high schools that are already spreading COVID quickly in their first week of opening due to lax rules and packed hallways.
- That we can engage the students coming to our campuses. We have many virtual events planned that we have never tried before - pray that God will use them to bring the students closer to Him.
- If I can selfishly ask that you pray for me as I continue learning more about the Old Testament. Pray for deeper understanding of His word and wisdom that lasts.
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