Navigating Change!

Hello ministry partners, happy spring season! I hope each of you is doing well and that your allergies aren’t too bad. I know the last update I sent out was pretty serious, and I appreciated everyone who reached out to me to let me know that you were praying for me and my family. It means a lot to me to know that each of you deeply cares about us. Thank you!

This month has been a bit of a whirlwind. My mom has started chemo and radiation as she is still recovering from her arm and spinal surgery. One of the pretty large growths on her head has significantly shrunken, which is such a miracle from God. She will likely be doing this orally-taken chemo medication for a few years, we are still unsure about how many years they expect my mom to be able to live with the cancer. Still, we remain hopeful that God will heal her and that this will just be another testimony of his power.

Since my mom’s appointments slowed down a little bit and have become a lot more consistent in their timing, I decided to take a week to be back in Richardson recharging emotionally and spiritually. It was so sweet getting to see my friends and the students again, there were lots of hugs and tears of joy. I was able to see my core, do my FOJ Bible studies in person, go to church, hangout with my roommates, go to an intramural game with a FOCUS team, did some outreach on campus, attend our staff meeting, among other things!   During my time there, Brandon and Mandy, two of our UTD FOCUS directors, had a conversation with me where they asked me what I was thinking in terms of the future (if I wanted to take a leave of absence, continue to work remotely, or come back and work in person). It was a pretty tough decision, but through prayer and lots of thinking, we all decided on trying out a hybrid system where I would spend a few days of the week in San Antonio and a few days in Richardson so I could get the best of both worlds. This way, I can take care of my mom a few days a week and also get to recharge and work. We will be trying out this system to see how effective it is, but obviously it is going to be trial and error with lots of communication involved. I am excited and so grateful to work with such an incredibly compassionate team that is flexible with me and willing to work with my situation.

In terms of campus ministry, one of the things that has gotten me so excited recently is that one of my students, Miriam, has stepped up in leading core with Rebecca in my place. Miriam is a student that got involved as a freshman in college and who I have had the honor to study the Bible with all these years. This year, she has really leaned in to serve God and has befriended each student in core so well, so when the time came that I needed to be away, she quickly accepted meeting that need! She recently told me that she would like to be baptized so we are going to be planning that soon, praise God!   It has been a huge blessing getting to be in person with each of my FOJ girls, although recently they have all been facing some pretty challenging situations! One of my girls just went through a hard breakup, another is considering transferring schools, a couple of them are facing some opposition to being in Christian community, and one has some pretty big questions about who God is. A lot of these things I am facing for the first time, so it has been so neat going to God to ask for guidance as to how to navigate these situations and giving wise advice to each of the girls. I am so thankful that my girls trust me and talk to me about what is happening in their lives, and I praise God that he has put each of them in my life.

Please continue to pray as we start nearing the end of the semester that students would continue to draw closer to God and to one another in fellowship. Lately, one of my big prayers for this community has been based out of 1 John 4:19-21, which says, “We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” I pray that as we begin to close out the semester, we would be able to look back and see the ways that we have learned to love God and more tangibly love one another, and that we would continue to grow in that in the future!   Thank you again for all of your support for me during this time and throughout this year. God continues to blow me away through all of your generosity and care. I love each of you!

Yours, Andrea