God's got i!

Hello supporters! I hope that all of you are having a lovely February and that each day you have found yourself full of God’s joy and peace.

This month I have had the sweet opportunity to continue studying the Bible with several students in our ministry. One of the students that I meet with has been meeting with me for over a year now. Sometimes whenever you see someone every week, it can be hard to step back and see change in their heart, so I went ahead and asked this student if and how she has noticed God transforming her heart. She told me that she felt that she felt closer to God over the past year and that she felt more confident in talking to him. She said she noticed herself praying more during random parts of the day instead of her usual morning and evening prayers. I am so proud of this student!!   I have also had the pleasure of starting FOJ with a student from my core named Katie! Katie is so eager to learn and always comes to our times together ready to take notes. She had said no to studying last semester because she wasn’t sure how she was going to like it, but this semester she said she wanted to take her faith more seriously and chose to say yes to FOJ! I am excited to see what God does in Katie’s heart as we dive into Scripture together.

This month, I’ve noticed girls in my core becoming friends with one another more and more! Several times this month, I’ve noticed pairs of them hanging out on campus or I’ll notice them post on their social medias that they’re spending time together. In our core meetings, we’ve had to cut our icebreaker question at the beginning because they’ll just naturally talk to one another, and we’ve even had to start encouraging them to come early because we’ll just talk so much at the beginning that we’ve been prone to end later than usual haha. I am thankful the girls are becoming like sisters in Christ to one another. Please continue to pray for us, that we would be friends who also speak the truth to one another in love (Ephesians 4:15), encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18), and carry each another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).

In core, we have been going through the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5. This past week we talked about peace and the opposite of it being anxiety and fear. It felt so relevant as the last couple of weeks I have heard messages at The Grove and at church speak on anxiety and how a lot of it is rooted in a mistrust of God. I have noticed students being anxious in daily situations and even more when thinking about their futures. I find the anxiety rubbing off on me too!! In all of this, God has been reminding me of Proverbs 3:5-6, which says, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” It is so easy to forget that God is the one in control and that by worrying, we cannot add a single hour to our lives (Mathew 6:27). But God has promised to always be with us, to go before us, and to prepare a way for us. It will take a while for the lies of fear to be dismantled in our hearts, but we must hold fast to God’s promise. He will make our paths straight if we trust in him and acknowledge him in all of our ways.

Thank you to each of you for being such a faithful answer to my prayers for support. I pray that these updates encourage you and that you are able to see how your generosity is helping change the lives of students. Hearts are being changed and turned to God! Best, Andrea Sierra Announcements: FOCUS’ 30-Year Celebration is just around the corner and you're invited! Please help us spread the word by inviting any of your friends who are alumni or with anyone who might like to join. If you’re an alum, please take a moment to complete our contact update form to ensure you don’t miss any updates. We can’t wait to celebrate with everyone in October. Our big celebration will take place at CityBridge Community Church in Plano.