Hallelujah, the new has come!

 

Happy Fall everyone! I hope you are each doing well and enjoying the cooler weather (I am currently typing this outside the Student Union on campus, I can’t wait to be able to have more meetings outside). This month has been so full, God has been abundant in his provision this month and it has been so humbling to get to be a part of it. I want to thank each of you for being a part of all of the stories God is writing here at UTD. This month it truly has felt like we hit the ground RUNNING! God certainly was preparing the way for us because we are seeing a huge influx of students ready and excited for community and hungry for Jesus. We have been hitting capacity for our large group meetings on Friday, The Grove, with over 300 students attending every week. Our small groups are saturated and have anywhere from 5-30 members in each. One of the guy cores had 45 students show up the first week haha, I’m having to work on some room reservations for these larger groups. Our Mi Gente meetings have had a consistent 30 or so coming every week and we have outgrown meeting in a living room that we have now been meeting on campus in a classroom. Our FOCUS First Year Leaders program that we started to make a space for first year students to learn some leadership skills has over 25 students. It truly is an exciting time, the harvest sure is plentiful. My core has been such a sweet group of girls. There are only a few of them who are returning students, a majority of them are freshmen which has been really life giving to me to see so many new students be excited about community. A few weeks ago, two of the students told me that core was their favorite time of the week and that they woke up on Mondays longing for Thursday to come so that they could come to core. Isn’t that so sweet??? A couple of weeks ago the long hours and lack of rest really hit me and I found myself growing weary. Against my innate desire to seem perfect especially to a group of freshmen students, I confessed at core that I was struggling and that I was in some dire need for rest. After core a few of the girls came up to me and hugged me. One of the freshmen held me by the hands and told me, “Andrea, I want to do your nails sometime soon as a gift from me to you and as a way for you to rest and relax”. I was so encouraged by each of their gentleness and compassion towards me, I truly thank God for teaching me over and over again that I have so much to learn about his character through those that are just taking their initial steps in faith. Please pray for me as I continue to steward this sweet group of girls! I have also started a few FOJ studies with several girls in my group. One of them is with a freshman named Ava, who also grew up in San Antonio and has quickly become a sweet friend to me. Last week when we started the study, I asked her if she had ever been taught how to read the Bible and she said she hadn’t, so I walked her through the different parts of the Bible, explaining the different genres and different books. I also showed her how to find a passage and how the numbering system worked. It brought me so much joy and life to see her find a passage on her own and seeing her smile when she figured it out. It is such a joy to be a part of someone’s beginning journey with God, I truly am so thankful and honored that God would take someone like me to be a part of this miraculous story. Here's a video of Ava finding a Scripture! This weekend we have our annual fall retreat called The Getaway! Would you keep us in our prayers as we head out to Cedar Hill together to spend time with God and with one another? I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us there, but please pray that everything goes smoothly and that students would be able to see God more clearly after our time there! I love you each so much and am so thankful for each of you. I will leave you with this quote from Jesus that has been encouraging to me lately. Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”