Skip to main content

July Update (Happenings from June)

Hello Ministry Partners!

Just wanted to say hello and update you on a few of the happenings from this past month. Summer is an interesting time in campus ministry. During the semesters a lot of what we do revolves around the structure of our cores and core leaders, our 1-on-1 bible studies and friendships with new students, and mentoring our student leaders. During the summer, since the semester break is happening, a lot of that specific structure gives way to a lot more opportunities to spend time in different areas. That means there's a lot I could share for sure, but I wanted to share about a couple of things that have really stood out to me from this past month.

For one thing, summer is a great time to get to know students in the ministry I didn't get much time with this past year, and build relationships with students who are potential leaders for next year. I get to do that by meeting up with students throughout the week, but also something we're doing with some of our students this year is something called Summer one-on-one training. Every week, about 50 or so of our students who are interested in leading in our ministry in some capacity meet together in a home and learn about some practicals for befriending their peers and making real, deep friendships with college students that can point them towards Jesus. I've loved these times this month, and I'm looking forward to the two meetings we have left in the upcoming weeks.

Another meaningful part of my summer has been our weekly Summer Focus meeting. I LOVE these summer meetings, mostly because our summer focus is not a campus specific meeting, but all the students at the different campuses come together to worship and learn and spend time together. It's such a neat way to keep our different ministries connected and aware of each other, and getting to see God working at all the different campuses is so encouraging. The sermons this year are focusing on the different ways people relate to and spend time with God, and it's been really helpful for myself and the students too.

Perhaps the biggest chunk of my time right now is spent fundraising! Which most of you have heard from me about this in some capacity. I just want to take another opportunity to thank you guys for all the generosity and love you have shown not only this past year, but now continuing. I am still about 50% to my fundraising goal, so please please be in prayer for this that I would find people who are excited about what God is doing at our college campuses and would want to be a part of that, and again if you have any people you know of personally, let me know! One of the neatest ways I get to experience God's love is through you guys, my ministry partners who invest so much in these college students, and that is such a big blessing.

-Ryan






Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An Amazing Start

 Hey all, Here to update you on the first few weeks of Denton FOCUS. It's been a whirlwind, we had two weeks of doing events on campus, lunches with new students, tabling and giveaways, big night events outside on campus playing capture the flag or lawn games. The 6 foot beach ball made multiple appearances :). It's been a really awesome start to the year, and so far the students have been responding really positively. By and large it feels like the ones we are meeting are interested in engaging, many of them wanting to get involved and even the ones who aren't are less hostile than some of our previous years, so that's something we are praising God for!  Our second TNF, last night. We got a bigger room thank goodness, our first week in a slightly smaller room had people lined up along the walls! Our first two Thursday Night Fellowships have seen a bit under 300 students show up, which is awesome! (Fo context, last year our biggest Thursday night was in the low 200'...

April

 Baby #2 is here! Joni is now almost a month old, and she is getting used to life and everyone in her home. This is the first picture we've gotten of her smiling at me! Jude is a great big brother, always excited to give her kisses and hold her with us. It's very sweet. She is doing great! Eating and sleeping well.   Ministry is going well! I took a week off and enjoyed some family time and now I am back into the swing of things. The end of semester is fast approaching and we are finishing up our series on Philippians at Thursday Night Fellowships. Our small groups have had a GREAT year this year. I am so encouraged by the stories of people loving it so much that they invite their dorm mates and classmates.  We're going to have one more TNF this week and our community members are going to have a time to share the ways they have seen God move and work this year. I'm so excited to hear about what they're experienced and see our community encourage each other in this w...

March

 This month has been a very exciting month in ministry! We had our FOCUS open house, where parents and friends come out and go to a TNF to see what they're students. Another Pizza Theology is in the bag, this one covering the way that the Bible was canonized, and translated and passed down from century to century. It was an excellent time of teaching.  Denton FOCUS is in an exciting phase. We're experiencing a lot of fruit and positive momentum in ministry. This is always a blessing and a time to be grateful for what God is doing in our midst. We're in the midst of a series on Philippians and talking about unity in the Spirit the past couple of weeks. As we grow as a ministry, this is a topic that needs heat and attention.  On the personal side, Nicole and I are welcoming another baby, Joni Maeve into the world. We're so excited to introduce her to all of y'all.  There have been a few students in our ministry really struggling with grief and loss. Please be praying ...