September!

 Hey y'all!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post! September has gone by so fast, but God has filled it with so many new people that seem hungry for Jesus and a community centered on Him. I am meeting new people daily that remind me how to love and serve others from a place of expectant hope that transformation will occur, because God is in the business of transformation. 

This is my small group, known in our ministry as "Core". We call this a 'core' because it is the 'core' of our ministry. These are the guys I meet with weekly as we do life together. The goal for core is that it is a vibrant, intellectual, and outreaching where disciples can be made and matured. We welcome Christians and non - Christians alike and foster real friendships between these guys. We are currently talking about the fruit of the spirit by going through different ones to consider how we can best live them out among community. Last week we talked about joy, and this week we will talk about patience. We meet Wednesdays at 6PM in an apartment on campus of one of my good friends. I am glad we can stay on campus for it, because so many of these guys are freshman. In fact, when counting, I have around 14 guys who are freshman! Some weeks we have had over 20 guys show up. Not all are pictured here, but that is super exciting for me because they are choosing to come to a Jesus - loving community early on in college to make friends. I have seen them already go to the dining hall together, ask to get to know one another better over coffee, play volleyball, and even go to Six Flags together! Whether I am included or not, the goal is that they learn to love and prioritize friendships in their life. I love getting to be a part of those growing relationships. 

We have also fully started our weekly, Friday night meeting called 'The Grove'. There are different small groups that meet throughout the week from a team of around 60 leaders. The Grove is a time where our whole community comes together to worship, learn, and spend time with one another. Our goal in students coming to The Grove is that they learn to root deep in scripture, branch out to people outside of their core, and use those relationships to show the fruit of a life transformed by Christ. We are currently in a series going through the book of James. When reading James 2, one of our campus pastors challenged us to consider what maturing in our faith looks like. If you go to scripture, but are not willing to be transformed, then what is the point of going to scripture in the first place? You cannot separate belief from action, and a real faith is lived out in surrendering to Jesus and sacrificing for others. It was such a good message that many students were challenged to consider. 

I have also started a handful of one on one Bible studies with different guys in my small group. We give everyone the option to learn about God while also growing in a relationship with the other people in the study. One guy I am studying with does not have a lot of knowledge about the Bible, but feels that he has experienced God recently. He is so motivated to learning more to help head knowledge line up with heart knowledge of what he feels. I also have started studying with a Hindu student before church on Sunday. We meet up at the church an hour before the service starts to study, and then sit together during the service. How cool is that? Would you please pray for Jeremiah, Omar, Aaron, Pranav, Luke, and Justin as we learn about the heart of God through this study?

The largest event from this month was our fall retreat, known as 'The Getaway'. This is a short, 22 hour retreat, that everyone is invited to. Our goal this year was to really get students to branch out to meet people across the FOCUS community at UTD. We had almost 200 students go! The day is divided into three different sessions of teaching and worships, surrounded by free time in between. For those reading from Camp Olympia, I got to facilitate over an hour of 'Jim Cain' games for everyone here. No prop games, just a bunch of strangers getting to know each other and be comfortable to open up and be silly. Saturday night concluded with a Neon Night dance party. I got to be on the team that helped plan this weekend. It felt like a sprint, but I am still in awe of what God is doing. There seems to be a culture growing at UTD where people are so open for friendship and excited to get to know each other. I love being a part of it. Would you please pray that the friendships formed from this weekend continue to grow and keep Jesus at the center?

We have recently started my Evangelism class this past week, and I have discovered that I actually really like it! We were challenged last class to come up with a one page speech with the prompt simply, 'What is the Good News?'. We shared our speeches in class, but our teacher then started to ask us questions about what we wrote. We were challenged to consider how to share this news in a way that people who had no experience whatsoever with our faith would still be able to comprehend and apply. There are so many words that Christians are used to, words like salvation, justification, and sin as an example. Since Dallas is so diverse in culture, it is worth considering how would you easily share this news if someone had no knowledge or experience of what those words meant? I enjoy activities like these that stretch my brain.

Before I say goodbye, I wanted to shout out my friend Josh. He shared his testimony this weekend at the Getaway, and he is just such a good example of how he has let God fully transform his life. I am so thankful to know him, and now getting to lead with him is such an answered prayer. Love ya man. 

I am so grateful for the support you all have shown me. It is such a blessing to know there are so many people who are passionate about how God can move on college campuses, and getting to see that fruit now lived out makes me so thankful for the season that I am in. I would love to hear from you all, so do not hesitate to reach out, especially if you ever find yourself in the Dallas area!

With love,

Paul