Hallelujah, thank you Jesus!

Hello ministry partners!! I hope that this month has brought an abundance of God’s joy and peace to you. God has been good to me and to our UTD FOCUS ministry this month, I can’t wait to tell you about it.

One of our big prayers every year is that God would help us build a community of believers that not only knows one another, but that also loves each other deeply. With the big size of our ministry, that can prove to be a challenge, but God has helped create some neat opportunities for our students to meet with each other. One of the ways he has been doing this is by bringing together freshmen students to eat together at the dining hall. I have had the opportunity to meet with one of my students there for lunch every other week and it has been so sweet getting to see pairs or groups of FOCUS students eating together and getting to know one another. I remember my freshman year going to the dining hall and feeling the need to sit with someone so as to not feel lonely, and it is lovely to see our students gathering and breaking bread together. Please join me in prayer that these students can continue to include more and more of their peers and that they would have eyes to see the students around them eating alone that might be lonely.

This past month we’ve had three baptisms!! All of them have shared powerful testimonies of God’s neverending pursuit of people’s hearts. Jojo, a girl who grew up in foster care, expressed the realization that God had always been walking with her through her dysfunctional and at times abusive upbringing. Erfa, a Pakistani-born girl who grew up in a strict Muslim household, expressed having dreamt of a man dressed in all white leading her through the desert to enjoy a meal with her, which she’d later learn was Jesus inviting her to the Last Supper before his crucifixion. Rylee, a girl who has grown in her realization that something has been missing from her life, expressed that God has never stopped chasing her and that through all of her doubting, he has been patient with her. Through each of these baptisms, God has been reminding me of what the apostle Paul says in Romans 8:14-17, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Hallelujah! Would you join me in praying for each of these students as they continue their walk with Jesus? That they would be able to resist the temptations of the world and that God would guard them from the schemes of the enemy to thwart their decision to follow him. That from now on, these students would rest in the promises God has made to be with them for the rest of their lives, and that they would join him in his mission to reach the rest of the world. This month, we have been going through the book of James together at The Grove! We just wrapped up the series this past week, and it has been SUCH a blessing to both the students and to our staff. Each sermon given was challenging, poignant, and encouraging as we uncovered what it would look like to mature as Christ followers. I had the opportunity to give a couple of the sermons in the series, and in preparing the messages, I had my heart sliced open haha. I was reminded of the passage in Hebrews that says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:12-13). If you are interested in listening to the series, you can click here!

I thank God every day for giving me a generous group of ministry partners that would trust God to work through someone like me! I pray that this next month, God would bring you closer to him and that you would see yourself and others through his eyes. God is good. Blessings, Andrea More photos from this month: