The spring semester is now over at UTD and summer has officially begun! I feel like I have so much to say! May was a very busy month for us. We had a great end of year banquet where we were able to celebrate the year as a community. We were able to thank all of our students who lead in so many different ways this year and those who are graduating which is bitter sweet for me.
The most exciting thing this month for me was we got to take over 50 students to SICM up in Bellingham, Washington. We left on a Thursday afternoon and let them spend a couple days seeing the sites and then on Saturday SICM started. These students got to spend a week learning how to do campus ministry. It is such an intense week of learning about many different aspects of ministry. They begin every morning with Praise and Worship and then spend the day in classes. They learn about leading small groups, asking good questions, evangelism, Bible study and so much more. I cannot wait to see how God uses what they have learned to really bless the campuses they are part of.
We officially started summer FOCUS when we got back from SICM. We are doing one large FOCUS meeting for the students who are staying in the Richardson are. Richardson East has been gracious enough to let us use their church building for FREE this summer. Our theme for the summer is “Fired up.” The idea behind it being to “never be lacking in zeal.” So our sermons are going to be Fired up about…worship, serving, the mission and so on. We are so excited about the momentum that this will bring into the Fall.
We also have officially started our summer School of Ministry which we do every year. It is offered so that students can think more academically about their faith by reading a book and discussing it. This year we are doing something a little different. Regent College in Vancouver Canada has audio recordings of different classes that you can purchase online. So our students can choose between Old Testament Foundations and New Testament Foundations to listen to and discuss in groups. Both of these classes are so good!! I have learned so much through them!
Please pray for us as we start fundraising this summer. Our ministry has grown so much this year and we are trying to add staff to be able to give students the support they need.
