May 2023

Hello all!

As we finally put a close to the last school year with the end of May, I want to thank you all again for taking the time to read my updates, praying over our ministry, and for partnering with me financially! God has been faithful this past year and I'm excited for the next one!

This month, we took around 100 students up to Bellingham, Washington to attend SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry)! Thank you for praying for our students that attended! If you're new or missed my previous updates, SICM is a week-long conference for students to learn more about spiritual friendship, how to lead a bible study, and sooo much more. It's often described as drinking from a fire hydrant; there's just so much to learn and you can only absorb so much in the moment. But that's what note taking is for! The students on the trip go from being names on a spreadsheet, into a person with a name and a face, and then they turn into real people when I finally get to meet them. It was an awesome time getting to talk to them about what they're learning and how they're on-fire to go back to their campuses and put it all into practice. SICM is just one of the big reminders to me of the work God is doing through FOCUS in our community.

A lot of the photos I took at SICM were taken during their lunch break. You can often find groups of students doing the most random things...

Some sweet girls from UTD!

Some students found some sticks and thought it would be cool to walk around with them.

Collin represent!

Some gals chillin' on the front steps to the church.

Arlington peeps.

This photo was taken from inside the sanctuary where most of the lectures took place! These are some Denton girls ready to learn! Peep Ky in the back.

A better look at the entire sanctuary! Some SMU gals throwing up gang signs.

At the end of their week of learning, the students are presented with certificates of completion!

We have also started our Summer FOCUS meetings! Because most of our students scatter to the four winds, FOCUS holds a single large group meeting for all of the students that remain in the DFW metroplex in the summer. It is held at CARE Church in Richardson from 7:30-9:00 pm on Thursdays. It started on May 25 and will last through July 27. I encourage you to visit at least once to remind yourself (see, hear, and experience) what you are supporting! I know you'll leave encouraged after seeing the students worshipping and intentionally growing closer to God, despite being on 'break.'

At the end of May we also say goodbye to some of our pastors that have decided to transition off of our team and enter the corporate world. If you know them, I encourage you to keep up with them and encourage them in their time of transition! These pastors are: Jalen Q, Emily T, Casey W, Michelle D, Orion C, Hannah S, Coral J, and Katherine D. Casey was a part of my admin team and had been working for FOCUS part time for close to a decade, so it was a big concern to know that we would be losing him! But God is good and he has given me a team of reliable admins that can make sure nothing (big) gets dropped even after losing a great asset. And Casey is going to pastor the East Plano Fellowship church plant fulltime, so we can't be mad at him. (At what point does a church plant just become a church? Does COVID time count?)

Casey W.

These official face shots for the website make it seem like an obituary. THEY'RE NOT DEAD. Just leaving. :'(

Emily T

Jalen Q

Katherine D

Orion C

Coral J

Hannah S

Michelle D

Along a personal note, me and Steph bought a house last week! Thank you for your prayers of wisdom and peace while we made this decision. The house is located in Garland just 4 minutes from our church (which is also where I work). Our lease for our apartment ends in the beginning of July, so we still have a full month to move in; we're taking our time. If you're ever in the market to buy a house, I would highly recommend Cody McCarty! And if you're looking for a lender, look no further than Jesse Benavides. These two helped take a big decision (you're basically signing the next 30 years of your life over!) and made it plain to see if it was a good decision or not. I never had any doubts that they had my best interests at heart - both taking time to pray for us along the way. I'm not sure my eye is getting better, it might be as good as it gets - but I'm thankful for my sight, I can still see very clearly in most directions. And for those of you waiting to hear about my sleep study... I do have sleep apnea. (GASP). Soo, now I gotta get a CPAP machine or something. 😓

DON'T TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS PICTURE. Lol. So embarrassing but I thought it was hilarious. Basically I had to tape these tubes into my nose and it also had a part sticking out over my mouth to measure the amount of air I'm breathing through both in my sleep. The tape is to make sure it doesn't slip off. It also measured how loud I snored, etc. And yeah, it came back positive for sleep apnea. RIP.

Me, Steph, Cody, and Jesse on closing day!

Anyways, in lieu of making this update EVEN longer, I'll table some of the things I want to talk about until next month! :-) Look forward to that!

Love,

Paul