September News from UTD

I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am about FOCUS at UTD this year!  On Friday nights in our large group we have had such a diverse group of people still coming.  The week before last, I looked around the room and over 30% of the people there were international students.  Many of them have no experiences of Christianity until recently.  We have had American students from various places on their spiritual journey.  Some are atheist or agnostic exploring Christianity and some with a strong faith just looking to be part of a Christian community.

This diversity is also flowing into our cores.  One core had 4 Americans and 15 women from China who all want to study the Bible! Another one of our women’s cores has only a couple of Christians and about 8 who are not yet Christian.  I could go on with so many stories from cores.  I could not be any more proud of this group of leaders and really ask you to continue to pray for them.  The needs they are filling are great and I know they feel such a burden because they love the women in their cores.

We had 153 people sign up to come to Fall Camp which we just got back from today.  I CAN NOT wait to hear the stories from the corefas about how people were impacted there.  I will share those with you when I write again.  It was a great weekend though!

I want to leave you with a scripture and some thoughts on it that we read in time of worship, prayer, and communion last night at camp. Revelation 4:9-5:14.  Renee Doty read part of this aloud to us last night and it brought such powerful thoughts to my mind and heart.  I wish I could share them all with you but I will keep it really short.  John weeps because no one is worthy to open the scroll when the elder tells him not to weep because the Lion of Judah has triumphed.  How powerful to think of Jesus as the Lion of Judah.  He is so great, powerful, strong, and fierce.  All sorts of thoughts like that come to my mind when I think of the Lion. BUT, when John turns to look at him he sees a Lamb looking as if it had been slain. This has to be one of the most powerful images to me in the Bible.  The elders sing a new song to him because he is worthy and with his blood he purchased for God all people.  Our God, the Lion of Judah, is a slain Lamb.  We serve a God like no other.  We serve a crucified God and we lay our crown before him.  “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!”

I am literally so humbled by how great, awesome, marvelous and merciful that God is.  There are no words that can be used to describe Him.  The fact that He chooses to use me, sinful, imperfect, me to do great things, literally blows my mind.  I am so unworthy of the Love and Salvation he gives to me.  Ronnie was discussing Ephesians 3:20-21 yesterday and this really resonated with me.  The passage says:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen   Ephesians 3:20-21

The thing that is so unbelievable and so immeasurable and that God can Love and Save us and still use us.  That is truly unbelievable that he is so good.

I say all of that to say that He is doing so many good things through the prayers and financial support of so many of you.  I really do not know where to start, so many good things have happened this month.

A couple of weeks ago, Melissa, a senior in our ministry was baptized by one of her good friends and an alum of our ministry, Brittney.  Through the friendship of Brittney and others, it has been so neat to see God completely change Melissa’s life.  I literally cannot imagine our ministry without her.  She brings joy where ever she goes!

We have gotten through welcome week and all the events that go with it.  Our corefas have met so many people!  Their hard work really showed when we had around 150 people show up our first Friday night.  It was such a diverse group.  God is so Good!  Our small group leaders have been so busy calling people and inviting them to core.  I cannot wait to see the fruit of that.

These past few weeks have been busy but now the exciting part starts.  We get to start investing in the people we meet.  Please pray for us as we do that.  And pray that God will give me what I need to be great leader because I am so unworthy to do this.