Oh the overwhelming, never ending love of God!

Hello donors! Can you believe it’s already May? I sure can’t. I feel like the semester has flown by. The students are wrapping up their spring semesters with their finals. In this season of school ending, there have been many moments of rejoicing and reflecting on the ways that God has moved throughout the entire school year. 

Our student leader team! Each of these students led a core this year, I am so proud of them.

Core has started to wrap up. It has been pretty bittersweet to spend some of our final weeks together as a core. We had the opportunity to go to Six Flags to celebrate the year and to spend some time together. I am so proud of each of the ladies that have been a part of our core this year. I have seen each of them grow in boldness, vulnerability, and in trusting God through the uncertainty. It has been a joy to witness them become friends, and have been so encouraged at how they have initiated with each other outside of core. I know that they will continue to be friends for many years to come.

Core has been one of my favorite parts of this year!

For outreach this month, we were able to host several events this month which were all successes! I helped lead an event where we invited the Latino community, and it was a blast. We spent time singing karaoke, playing board games, and eating candy. We were able to meet several students, and even the custodial staff stopped by to play Loteria with us! We also hosted an event called “Rez Fair” where we celebrated the resurrection of Christ right before Easter Sunday. Several other campus ministries partnered with us in the event, and it was incredible seeing what a visual impact we had on campus that day. Students stopped by and engaged in conversations about Jesus, and we had the opportunity to share the gospel, what could be better than that?

Outreach is so fun!

I had the opportunity to give a sermon at one of our Friday Night Fellowship nights! I spoke on the topic of envy as a part of our Ten Commandments series, and it was incredible what God showed me through the process of preparing that message. You can listen to it by going to this link: https://anyfocus.org/media/envy/ 

We had a great number of baptisms this month, it was overwhelming how God kept reminding us that he is changing lives in our community. While listening to the testimonies of the students who got baptized, it became so abundantly clear that God really does have the perfect timing. Students shared about how God changed their lives through deep meaningful friendships who constantly pointed them back to Jesus. One particular student shared about how she had first been introduced to FOCUS 7 years ago, and was now ready to make the public declaration of her faith through baptism. Her example has been so helpful in reminding me that God is in control, and that it is not up to me to decide when someone commits their life to Christ, but that God’s timing is always better than mine. 

Near the end of the month, we had a sharing night at our Friday Night Fellowship where students were invited to share their responses to “How have you seen God moving in your life and in the lives of others this year in our community?” Many tears were shed to say the least. I am still a little speechless when I remember the neat stories that the students shared, from being met some random day on campus, to being embraced by the community, to having real friendships for the first time, to feeling known and cared for for the first time, to returning to Christ after straying away from him for a long time, to first learn about the gospel and its true meaning for their lives, to overcoming fear, anxiety, and depression, and so much more. I kept thinking to myself, “Wow, I have the best job ever”.

Thank you so much to each of you for being a part of my support team this year. In listening to the stories of students who God has impacted this year, I couldn’t help but to picture the faces of each of you as people who have invested in them. They will likely never get to know that you individually have invested in them and in their lives, but I know that God does see it all and that is so special.

Prayer requests:

• We leave for SICM this coming Thursday! A group of students will be going to Washington to learn more about how they can be a light on campus through campus ministry. Please pray for safe travels and that God would move in each of their hearts as they learn and experience this special occasion.

• Please pray for the students as they finish up their semesters with finals this week, as well as for their summers coming up.

• Please pray for the graduating seniors, that they would be able to navigate the tricky waters of transition into post-college life, and that they would find Christ-like communities to keep growing in their faith and spread that to others.

Some extra photos from this month!