And this is how it starts!

Hi friends, welcome to my first ever ministry blog! I am so excited that you would take some time to read through and experience this chaotic of an update (as you shall soon see), so let’s get started! 

        If someone would have told me five years ago that right after I graduated college I would choose to spend a year being a campus missionary, I would have NEVER believed them. Even throughout this first week of the apprenticeship, there have been several moments where I have sat in disbelief at how good God has been to me, and how all of my life has led to this very moment.

These are some of the apprentices for this school year! I am overjoyed
that I get to spend the next year learning alongside them.

        As of August first, the apprenticeship has officially begun, and what a start we have had! The past 9 days have gone by rapidly and so much has happened, so I will do my best to summarize. We have begun our first apprentice class over the Old Testament! So far, we have read from Genesis to Joshua and have had discussions every day about what we are learning about God, human beings, and the relationship between them. It has been so impactful and extremely humbling to realize that there is much to learn about God through the Bible. Our teacher, Brandon, explained this very well when he said (I’m paraphrasing here), “When you realize how much there is to learn about God and the Bible, a lifetime is not enough.” 

We have fun studying the Bible! :)

        These past couple of days, we held a training for the core leaders, where we talked about what ministry will look like during this interesting and different year amongst the pandemic. One of our pastors, Sarah Glenesk, explained the analogy of us being like the child who is “mowing” the lawn with a toy bubble mower, and God being the one actually mowing the lawn with the real one. It was immensely encouraging to find that even though there is a lot of uncertainty and nervousness about how well we will be able to carry out our vision of making and maturing disciples, that God WILL work for us, and that we just have to be obedient.

        As we have all noticed, existing amongst this pandemic can be isolating and lonely with human connection being limited. I remember being a lonely freshman: homesick, and depressed, shutting myself in my dorm at UTD. I cannot even imagine how much more amplified these emotions will be among the freshmen, with nearly all classes being online. That being said, this year we will have to be creative in finding ways to continue to outreach to students, which we believe will be a great success if we work hard and persevere. We might be one of the few organizations that will invite them into a community of loving, God-centered believers, and I cannot wait to get started!

Right after our corefa training, we had a socially distanced
worship night at a Walmart parking lot, where we got to 
pray over our insecurities and be encouraged.

        During our ordination ceremony this past week, we made commitments to serve the community. One of our questions we were to answer was “Do you commit to be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be?” to which we answered, “We do, and we ask God to help us”.

These sweet apprentice ladies have showed me so much love,
and it's only been a week! I cannot wait to grow closer to them.

        I pray that this year, God draws us even closer to him, and that we do not grow weary of doing what is good. I ask that each of you pray for wisdom as we begin the school year, and that we are able to reach the lonely, the depressed, the international, and the broken. I would love to hear your prayer requests as well and encourage you—message me/call me and I will keep you in my prayers!

Every month, I will be posting updates on how the apprenticeship is going, so this is the first of many! Please be on the lookout for more updates, and if you would like to join my e-mail list, let me know by e-mailing me at andrea@anyfocus.org. Until next time!