tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63220965163857026472024-03-13T00:37:10.748-07:00Mandy LancianiMandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-41807929990343873202015-01-11T17:50:00.001-08:002015-01-11T17:50:17.308-08:00<div class="MsoNormal">
I just want to take a moment to say Happy New Year! I am having such writers block and have no idea what I want or need to tell you. So I will apologize right now for that!</div>
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Taking
time to reflect on last year, I am so thankful that I have friends like you. I
really am so blessed. Last year was just such a great year at our campuses but
right now I am looking forward to the next semester and even into next year.</div>
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January is always such a busy month as we prepare for the
second semester of the school year. We
just got back from our annual winter staff retreat. 24 of us (Reese got sick so Brianna and Tyler
couldn't go) went down to the Texas Hill country for a time of worship, bonding
with each other, and some planning. For
some of our discussion time we read a book by Eugene Peterson called the
"Contemplative Pastor" which was personally challenging to me. For me, the book was such a good reminder for
me to slow down, pray for people, and really show them God rather than just
giving advice or fixing problems. As I
look forward into this next semester, these are things that I really do want to
think about and grow in.</div>
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Looking forward to next year we have to figure out where our
staff will be. We have decided to start
the ministry at UT Arlington this fall and that means we have to shift people
at some of our other campuses. So
exciting!</div>
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We are headed into winter camp this next week. I am praying that this is a powerful weekend
for our students and really jump starts the second semester. Personally, I am
really excited to hear from our speaker this year Iain Provan. I will make sure
to tell you all about camp in my next post.</div>
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Please be in prayer as our students are coming back to
campus and the students are starting their ministry back. There is so much work to be done this
semester.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I love you all!</span></span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-49129402842692111182014-11-11T07:26:00.000-08:002014-11-11T07:26:03.384-08:00<br />
There are so many things that I could write about this month. There are just that many things happening right now. There are stories about studies that are happening, events that we are doing, interns to tell you about, our big fundraiser, and of coarse my trip to Europe. So many exciting things! I will start with my trip to Europe since I am on the plane headed back and it is so fresh in my mind. <br />
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Andrew and I went with Brandon and Casey to Paris, Venice, the Cinque Terre, Rome and a quick night through London. It was so great and I got to see so much. I wish I had time to tell you about everything that I got to see and experience. I got to see several of the world's most famous churches. St. Mark's, St. Peter's, Notre Dame are all great buildings. So beautiful on the inside and out. Each has unique architecture, art, statues, and history. So much for me to take in. I am so thankful for the experience to see these great places. Upon reflecting, on the churches specifically, it has made me so thankful for people like you who consistently give to this ministry. This ministry isn't great because of the impressive buildings, art, and statues. I am so thankful for people like you who share in the vision of investing money into people. <br />
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I was prepping a sermon a few minutes ago out of John 15 for next Friday night. We are doing a series on dicsipleship. I was struck in verse 17 when Jesus simply says "This is my command: Love each other." Of all of the things he could have told us to do, he commands us to love each other. Your generosity has made it possible for us to show these campuses what it really means to love and be loved. I think that is what will outlast the fancy buildings which take so much money to upkeep. Your generosity is changing lives everyday.<br />
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This leads me to a very specific prayer request. As you know, our vision is to be on the campuses in the DFW metroplex and we are considering when to go to UT Arlington. We are thinking that God is leading us there in the fall to start a ministry. This means that we have to figure out who to send and that God will lead some students to go there as well. Please be praying that God will open doors and make it clear who should be there. We will also be doing a fundraiser, in the next couple of weeks. I will post specifically about that in the next couple weeks but one of the things we really want to do with the money that we earn from this fundraiser is start the ministry at UT Arlington. Please be praying about this!<br />
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UTD is going well. I have really enjoyed the series we are doing on discipleship. The sermons have been so challenging and the students have been responsive. I can't wait to get back and hit the ground running. I have a busy weekend with Friday night Focus and Pizza Theology all this weekend! Good thing I had a vacation. My girls asked that I post on Facebook so you will see a bunch of pictures there from our trip.<br />
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Please email, call or text me anytime and I would love to tell you more! Thank you so much for your support and partnership.<br />
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<br />Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-76640021326031453152014-10-04T17:05:00.002-07:002014-10-04T17:05:36.193-07:00October<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif";">This year our theme
comes out of Isaiah 55. One of the
students that goes to Texas Women’s University that I get to meet with each
week wrote this wonderful story that I think goes so well with that
passage. Ann Haven has really begun to
let God’s word transform her and Jesus, The Word of Life, has begun to bring
her new life. Her story is the same as
our story when we accept the invitation of God and drink from His truth. I hope that this story is encouraging to you…..
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;">I'm so tired. My
body is bruised, beaten, and bloodied. I'm so disoriented that I can't tell if
the blood is mine or someone else's. I thought the battle would never end and
in many ways it hasn't. The smoke has cleared, the shots have stopped, but I
can still hear the shrieks of the people around me crying for their mother's,
brothers, and friends they have lost. But the real war lives on inside me.
Images are burned into my mind of people dying slowly. I can feel a sticky
darkness - like tar - coating my mind and the inside of my heart. I'm unclean,
impure, and internally broken beyond repair. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;">
Eventually, I muster up enough strength to stand. Aimlessly, I walk from the
carnage toward what looks like a forest.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;"> I've
been walking for what seems like years, and with every step I feel the despair
and fear growing inside me. This journey I'm on has not only been taking a toll
on my body, but my mind as well. I'm suffering from exhaustion yet all I can think
about is how thirsty I am. My lips are cracked and bleeding, my throat so dry
that not even the slightest cry could be heard. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;"> The sun
has been down for some time now so I hear it first. Water. A bubbling stream
nearby! I try to pick up my pace but I loose my footing and collapse to the
ground. I lay there stunned, dizzy from the fall. I realize my hand has fallen
into the stream! I cup my hand and sip the water. I feel it run over my
deadened lips, against my swollen tongue, and down my larches throat. "There's
something special about this water" flickers through my mind, but only
briefly because my eyes slam shut and I'm asleep. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;">Sometime later, I
feel something pulling on my feet, a tingling in my toes. Startled, I blearily
glance down at my feet. My toes have started to take root in the earth!
Frightened, I try to pull away but I can feel the nutrients from the water
being pulled up through my roots - swimming through my body. At first I'm
scared and slightly panicked but the relief is so palpable I let myself sink
back down to the ground. As the throbbing in my head dissipates and the aching
fades I allow myself to drift off to sleep again. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;">Again, something
wakes me. I feel soft caresses against my skin. I peal back the kids of my eyes
and examine myself. Like a ballerina dressed in gold and white I see the suns
rays dancing gracefully over my skin. Where the sun touches my bruises,
porcelain buds burst from my skin and bloom into delicate crystal flowers. With
every new bloom some of the tar is evicted, expelling toxins from my
body. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;"> I'm fully
awake now. I desperately want to be closer to the light and the healing it's
bringing. I realize somehow I've managed to stand. Like a child reaching
longingly for a parent, I extend my hands up towards the light. All I can make
out is the sillowet of my hands and arms. Quickly my arms begin to change into
what looks like sturdy branches of a tree and I watch in amazement as my hands
explode into leaves and more crystal flowers. My branches are twisting and
bending up towards the sun and the life he brings. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;"> Warmth spreads
through my body and an inexpressibly joy is spilling from my eyes. Water, sweet
and pure spills out from my eyes and joins the stream below.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;">Once again, I look
down at myself. I'm not crystal, wood, glass, iron, or porcelain. I'm a
completely new substance so unrecognizable that my elements couldn't even be
found on the periodic table. I resemble a tree, but I'm not quite a tree. In
fact, I'm not sure what I am. All I know is that I'm new and I'm beautiful, I'm
stronger than I ever once was, and I stand among other creatures similar to me,
yet completely unique. Created and joined together by same healing water.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #222222;"> Soon after the
sun begins to sink low over the horizon leaving splashes of pink, orange, red,
purple and blue across the sky. In the distance, I see another lost soul making
it's way toward me. Running from the same war I was fighting in. I try to call
out to the but what escapes my lips is a song that tells my story. The notes
are clean and pure - Beckoning the weary soul towards the water. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">I watch as the
soldier makes his way toward me and frantically gulps the water, then collapses
to the ground. Dead. Worried, I try to speak but again, I sing. Black tar
starts to run from his eyes and his toes slowly stretch towards the water. I
keep singing my song over the man and gaze at the moon as it reflects the suns
light - reminding me that soon it will rise again and make this solider, this
soul, completely new.</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif";"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I get to work on a team of some of the best people I
know. This year, I get to work with Ana,
Rachel, and Autumn at UTD. They have
been such an encouragement to me and have really invested in the women at UTD
this year. I really need to take a
picture of all of the women leaders and post it here so you can see their
beautiful faces. For now, here is a
picture of Ana and me and then Rachel, Autumn and me. Please be praying for them. Rachel is co-leading a core with a student,
Ashley. They have such a large core with
around 20 women they are investing in.
Autumn and Ana are currently each meeting with 11 women small group
leaders each week. They help the student
leaders plan their group each week and help them in their own walk with
God. Please pray that they can be a
blessing to our student leaders!</div>
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In other news, we just got back from Fall camp last
weekend. It has been so encouraging
hearing the stories of people who were impacted by it. One girl, who is seeking God, came back from
camp already ready to start making some life changes. She and her boyfriend are sharing an
apartment on campus and she is considering finding new living arrangements because
she feels like their relationship won’t allow her to really figure out what she
believes about God. She knows that this
moment will define the rest of her life.
One of our student leaders and Ana are about to study the Bible with
her. Please be praying that she will come
to know Jesus. </div>
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Looking around our ministry this year, I can already see
that God is calling people. He is moving
and working all around us. Please be
praying for these young people. So much
is being thrown at them to distract them and tempt them. Many of them have believed lies for so long
that it is hard to know that they are lies.
He is changing these lives one by one.
Thank you for your prayers and believing in this ministry!</div>
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Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-51918382008439265032014-09-02T19:42:00.000-07:002014-09-02T19:42:05.802-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, it has been well over a year since I wrote my last
blog. So much has happened and I have so
much I would love to tell you about but I will keep it short. This past year, I have been absolutely blown
away by how many amazing women God has brought to our ministry. One of them is our student testimony on the
Staff page of our website. I could post
story after story like that. God is
doing such amazing things in the lives of the women in our ministry. My spring and summer were spent getting to
know the women I didn’t know as well and putting together our women’s leader
team for the 2014-2015 school year. It blows
me away but we have 26 women core facilitators this year at UTD. I wish I could personally introduce you to
each of them. I will take pictures and
post them soon.:)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These women have done such a great job of meeting other
students and inviting them to different events on campus and to events we
(FOCUS) have had. Last week we had our
first large group meeting of the year and there were so many new faces. Sloan, a corefa from last year who is leading
again this year, really was touched by the service when she saw girls from her
core last year reaching out and befriending new people. Sloan told me she teared up when she saw a
girl she met in the café a couple years ago who was not a Christian at the time
reaching out and inviting people to her own core. Katy, a past intern was sitting during the
service reflecting back on when she lead core the first time. She remembers sitting in the very room we were
meeting in writing a vision for what UTD FOCUS could look like. She said she was so touched when she got to
see the vision being realized Friday night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This past weekend we had a FOCUS leader retreat with leaders
from all of the campuses we are at. We
have almost 150 LEADERS in FOCUS this year.
That blows my mind and is so encouraging to me. My heart breaks when I think of our city and
see how many people don’t know God. All
of the sacrifices that have been made for us to have the Bible, in our own
language, so accessible to us and there are so many people who don’t know the
good news. 150 leaders excites me
because of what they can do to change that.
They start on a college campus but will change the world. God is so good and loves us so much! The kingdom of God is near!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Please continue in your prayers for us! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
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Peer Team Girls this weekend at the retreat</div>
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Our First Large Group Meeting at UTD</div>
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Leader Retreat this weekend</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidGMnc5eZoULEhyphenhyphen03GJbmT3i1Bj9qnMdogRw5aiHCrWMy-UVTUOZQ4tKks6k6sm7rEKuXqOOLJx-pZ16Fv1scjycMw-IVo_CQAywtYQOq2TI5tx2b3SAlSgglBAPARuL1FwSMEdjDIxxc-/s1600/FOCUS+Pic4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidGMnc5eZoULEhyphenhyphen03GJbmT3i1Bj9qnMdogRw5aiHCrWMy-UVTUOZQ4tKks6k6sm7rEKuXqOOLJx-pZ16Fv1scjycMw-IVo_CQAywtYQOq2TI5tx2b3SAlSgglBAPARuL1FwSMEdjDIxxc-/s1600/FOCUS+Pic4.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Chefs this weekend at the retreat </div>
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(Yes, we were crazy and made 3 meals for 150 people!)</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-52878031914981709302013-05-01T17:34:00.000-07:002013-05-01T17:34:37.744-07:00April Update<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I know that I say this every school year, but I cannot believe
that this school year is wrapping up already.
We have already wrapped up our leader meetings, our students are having
their last core meetings and we are getting ready for our end of year
banquet. Summer is almost here and we
have some great things planned for the students that stay here. I will wait until next month to tell you
about that! With the year wrapping up, I have been thinking back on the school
year and all of the things that God has done in and through our ministry. It is so exciting to think about. You need to know, that we could not have done
it without your financial support and more importantly, your prayers. God is answering our prayers to change lives
at UTD.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With that said, I have a huge prayer request I want to put
before you. I think that I have already
mentioned this but, we have selected 9 interns for next year who all have to
raise their own support. Each of them
has started fundraising now so please be in prayer that they can raise the
budget they need to do the internship. Some
of them have a smaller number of people to ask for support and really do need
your prayers. The FOCUS internship has
become such an important part of what we do.
The internship teaches them leadership skills, biblical knowledge, and
other ministry skills that will help them the rest of their lives. We have more and more students who want to do
this when they graduate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have been so proud of our interns this year. Courtney preached her first sermon a couple
of weeks ago on Friday night. She did
such a great job! She posted a link to
her sermon on her blog. If you have a
chance to listen to it, you should. At
the beginning of the year she was terrified to speak in front of FOCUS and now
just 9 months later, she is preaching. Katy
Jordan also preached her first Friday night sermon the week after
Courtney. She did great too! She challenged the community on unity and
made some great points.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our last Friday night FOCUS is this week. We are going to have the students get up and
share what God has done in their life this year. I will try to take some videos of that and
share them with you. I can’t wait to
hear what they will say.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thank you again for everything</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">!</span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-49746043560966141052013-04-02T18:18:00.001-07:002013-04-02T18:18:34.474-07:00March<br />
I can not even begin to tell you what a busy, yet fruitful month this has been. At the beginning of the month, we chose our intern team for next year. I am so excited about the people who have decided to serve on our campuses next year! We have at UTD Autumn Priestley, Emily Slatkovsky, and Laurence Glenesk at UNT Matt Wills, Grant Trotter, Sarah King, and Danielle Rodriguez at Richland Tabby Kamtala, and at Collin Melissa Collini. This is such a great group of people who I know will do great things next year. Please be in prayer for them as they begin fundraising for the internship. The internship will be full time next year so they have a larger budget to raise.<br />
<br />
Spring Break came and was gone so quickly! I really got some well needed rest that will get me through until the end of the school year.<br />
<br />
Last week we had a group of students come down from Western Washington University to spend their spring break ministering to our campus. We got to host them all week and let them minster on all 4 of our campuses. At UTD we had huge posters set up in the middle of campus each with a differnt misconception about Jesus and then an explanation of who Jesus really is. Our students and the students from Washington had conversations with people who read the posters and also went around on campus and talked to people about their thoughts about Jesus. The students had some amazing conversations and several students want to check out CORE and FOCUS based on conversations they had. The week really was such a blessing and we now have new friends from another state.<br />
<br />
Thank you for all your prayers! We are getting close to the end of the year.<br />
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-75364705980399242832013-02-28T15:46:00.000-08:002013-02-28T18:16:29.853-08:00February 2013<br />
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I am so excited to tell you all of the great things that
have happened this past month. The momentum
we have had from winter camp has been so amazing. God is working and he is changing people’s
lives.<br />
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If you haven’t already done so, please read the student
testimony on the main page. What an
amazing story, but there is more I would like to add. A few days after Skyla wrote that, Sarah who is
studying the Bible with her, went through the Rebirth study in Focus on
Jesus. The study went great and Skyla
was contemplating making a commitment to make Jesus Lord and to be
baptized. She just had some more
questions. She and Sloan had a
conversation about it and Sloan sent her a couple of short videos to watch
about baptism. The next morning Sloan
asked her if the video answered her questions.
Skyla replied, ”yes, but I do have one more question…When can I be
baptized?!” </div>
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Skyla made Jesus Lord and Sarah baptized her. The amazing thing about this story is Sarah
just made a commitment to God last spring.
She did not grow up in a Christian home and came to college here at UTD. Sarah found FOCUS and Kendall studied the
Bible with her and baptized her. God is
so good!</div>
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Here are the videos of Sarah’s baptism. <br />
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Last week we had our open house/parent night. We wanted parents to have the opportunity to
come and see the ministry. The room was
packed full of students and their parents!
We sang some worship songs, Brandon shared about our ministry, and then
we got to hear from a few parents that wanted to share. It was such an encouraging night.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXcZ9IChr1DCVYWoB0ZU6G8GvPAs_xHIti2We3F7-XsjM0f_y7mn7JW7NioOb_mvC9Wod8e2EPC19uLamQqinYwj1FvT6evBw1poFsPAXwDXuPnvSB0mZlRhRERH4M6_QLPmh1YO28tDy/s1600/parent_night.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXcZ9IChr1DCVYWoB0ZU6G8GvPAs_xHIti2We3F7-XsjM0f_y7mn7JW7NioOb_mvC9Wod8e2EPC19uLamQqinYwj1FvT6evBw1poFsPAXwDXuPnvSB0mZlRhRERH4M6_QLPmh1YO28tDy/s400/parent_night.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I really do have so much more to share! There are so many great things happening in
all of our women’s CORE groups (small groups).
Please continue to pray for all of the students who lead those. The real work of the ministry is done by
them. I am so proud of them and the way
they are ministering to their peers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">March is going to be such a busy month as
well. We are about to interview and
select our interns for next year. Please
be praying for us and these students as we select them and they start </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">fundraising</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">. I will have a list of next year’s interns on
my next blog. Also in March, we have a
group of students coming down from Bellingham Washington to spend their spring
break ministering on our campuses.
Please pray for safe travel and that they have a great impact on us and
our campus!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-77494175119863487992013-02-01T14:11:00.000-08:002013-02-01T14:11:23.300-08:00January-Winter Camp<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The biggest thing that I want to tell you about is Winter
Camp! It was so amazing! I wish you could have been there!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year we chose a new camp for us, Sky Ranch in Van, TX. This camp was hands down the most well run
camp I have ever been to. The food was
great, the staff was great, the facilities and cabins were very well kept, and
there were so many activities for everyone to do during free time. On Monday morning the even had a huge
breakfast buffet for us. I felt so
spoiled!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As great as that was, God was really moving there. We had about 370 people come to camp this year
from all 4 of our campuses!! Geoff
Mumley from Campus Christian Fellowship in Bellingham, Washington was our
speaker this year. God really spoke through
him at camp. He spoke about a New
Kingdom. That was such a great topic
since one of Jesus’ main messages was about the Kingdom of God and it
encompasses everything in our faith. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our
praise teams from all of our campuses did such a great job. We had Violas and
Violins and great singers who really lead us in worship to God. God has been so good to us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God really changed people at camp. There are several students who are trying to
decide if they are ready to make a commitment to make Jesus Lord and camp
really helped with that. Please, please
be praying for them. Other students just
got a bigger vision for God’s kingdom and our place in that. There have been several students invite their
roommate or classmates to core in the past couple weeks. Our cores have really started growing and new
one on one studies have begun! The thing
that I am most encouraged about is that it is the newer people who got studied
with last semester who are studying with the new people. God’s Kingdom is growing and it is so
exciting to see it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Thank you so much for your partnership in this
ministry. Without you, we </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">couldn't</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> do
this kind of ministry. Thank you so much
for investing in the vision. I know that
God wants to do great things on the campuses here in the metroplex. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-48819457171974826732013-01-09T09:06:00.000-08:002013-01-09T09:06:36.215-08:00Happy New Year!<br />
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Happy New Year! I
pray that 2013 is a great year for you.
I know that 2012 was another good year for Andrew and me. God has just given us so many blessings and
is continuing to work in our lives.</div>
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December was a great month for our campus ministry. We had a Christmas party for our ministry at
the Northeast Church. Our theme was
“Comet Christmas” since we are the UTD comets.
Our decorations were space themed as was our photo booth. We had some appetizers for them to eat while
they spent some time socializing and then the entertainment was provided by our
cores. Our cores performed a Christmas
song and had some specific rules to go along with our Comet Christmas
theme. Here is the link to the video one
of our students took if you would like to see it.</div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pi1IA_N8nU&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pi1IA_N8nU&feature=youtu.be</a></span></div>
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One of the most exciting things for me of the semester is to
see the impact FOCUS is having on our students and ex-students parents. Jamiann’s dad was baptized last week and is
fired up about Jesus. Jamiann was a
student at Collin and led core there for 2 years before transferring to UNT to
start a campus ministry with a few other students there. Last year she did our FOCUS internship and
had an amazing experience doing that.
Jamiann is now a youth minister a Northeast. Jamiann’s dad has been coming to Northeast
and Ronnie studied the Bible with him for the past few months. FOCUS was able to reach Jamiann and then the
church, her dad. I am so thankful for
the partnership of Northeast and FOCUS!</div>
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Also this past week, Griffin, a student at Richland was able
to baptize his mom!! Travis Jones met Griffin at Richland, studied the Bible with him and baptized him over a year
ago. Griffin’s mom came to his baptism
where Brandon invited her to Northeast.
Kristen Chapman and I met Leanne at Northeast and started studying the
Bible with her. She was baptized as an
infant which wasn't her choice so she decided to be baptized and confess Jesus
as her Lord! Leanne already has a vision
for studying with other people. Again, I
love the support Northeast provides.
Leanne has a great church to serve in and grow in.</div>
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Lives are changing everyday and entire families are being
impacted for eternity because you have chosen you give and support us. Thank you seems completely inadequate for how
I feel. May God bless you richly!</div>
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Love,</div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mandy</span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-5566483932695690882012-12-01T18:38:00.003-08:002012-12-01T18:42:04.252-08:00November at UTD<br />
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was such a great month for me personally and for our ministry at UTD. At the beginning of the month, Kelly, who was
a FOCUS intern up at UNT last year and alum of UTD, baptized one of the
international students in the core she participates in. Enjoy the video! </span><br />
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Bringing people to know Jesus is what it is all about! There are so many studies still going so I
can’t wait to see what God is going to continue to do. Please continue to pray for all of these
studies. I know with all my heart that
God answers our prayers that we lift up on behalf of people. Jesus is changing lives.</div>
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Each week on Friday night at FOCUS we have had students
share their testimony of how God has made them new. This month I think that I literally wanted to
cry (happy tears) after each one of them.
All of the students who have shared so far are student leaders this
year. What blows me away is how God
continues to work in so many people lives, changing them to be more like Him,
year after year. Some learn to overcome
the fear of shyness and selfishness and others get a heart for evangelism, but in
all of them the Spirit is working. </div>
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A couple weeks ago we got students from all 4 of our
campuses together to do a lecture on sex and marriage. We called it Pizza
Theology because we served pizza for dinner. Ronnie and Brandon delivered that and did such
an awesome job. The week before and
after that Casey and I did sermons on dating.
I think that over the years, FOCUS has done some really challenging
sermons on dating. The fruit of the
challenging sermons and dating culture has been some really awesome marriages. I pray that with pizza theology and these
dating sermons, our current students will catch a vision of dating in such a
way to have an amazing marriage. Please
lift up our students as they date, our current culture makes dating so difficult.</div>
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Thanksgiving was such a great break for me. I feel well rested and able to tackle the
busy month of December. </div>
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With December here and the Christmas break ahead of us, I
would ask that you especially pray for students as they go home. For many of them, going home is great. I have already heard of a handful of students
though who are really worried about going home for a month. Home is not a good place for them and they
don’t have the Christian community there that they do here. Please pray that these students will continue
to seek God and can grow closer to Him over the break.</div>
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I have so many other things that I could tell you about but
this is getting long. God is so good!</div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-25696510362907921342012-10-30T09:04:00.001-07:002012-10-30T09:09:25.277-07:00October Update (Because I am telling you about October.)<br />
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As each month goes by, there are so many things that I could
share with you. When I sit down and
reflect on the month I can see all of the things that God is doing around
me. If I shared all of them, this would
be a very, very long blog!</div>
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At the beginning of the month, Brandon and the campus pastor
from Baptist Student Ministries at UTD, Beth, planned a meeting to get all of
the campus ministers at UTD together.
That meeting was so encouraging to me because there isn’t a spirit of competitiveness
for anyone’s ministry but a spirit of unity.
On a secular campus, unity is so important if we are going to reach this
campus and show them Jesus. There are so
many students who haven’t been reached yet at UTD so I know God is going to do
great things here.</div>
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In the middle of October, we got all the women leaders
together for a meeting at La Madeline.
There are almost 30 of us when you get us all together! We had desserts and then we went around and
shared good news of what was going on in our personal life and ministry. Every one of the women shared good news and that
would be too long to write here. But God
is working in so many ways big and small.
We have international students who are asking to study the Bible during
their first meeting with a corefa, non-Christian students getting to experience
Christian community and friendship, women in cores opening up and sharing their
lives with each other, new people wanting to be involved in studying the Bible
with others in their core, and one of my favorites, 2 sophomores who are
planning a mission trip for our ministry this summer because they had it on
their heart to do so. I really could go
on and on!!</div>
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Please, Please keep praying for FOCUS. When you think of the almost 20,000 students
at UTD we are only scratching the surface of what is possible. God has answered our prayers this year but I know
he wants to do even greater things. As
the year goes on students get distracted, busy, and stressed. Please pray for protection of those who are
seeking God and wisdom and protection for the corefas. Your prayers are so critical to the work we
do! God is so good and answers our
prayers!</div>
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-22142785607159610452012-09-30T15:51:00.004-07:002012-09-30T15:51:48.183-07:00September News from UTD<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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!”<br />
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Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-54257923462652670332012-09-10T14:52:00.003-07:002012-09-10T14:52:46.218-07:00<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">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:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">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!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></span><br />
Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-29610985371945520832012-08-10T16:52:00.001-07:002012-08-10T16:52:19.315-07:00August...Almost time for school to start!!!<br />
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A brand new school year starts in a couple of weeks which is
so exciting. We have really spent the
summer planning for it. We just had a
staff retreat this past weekend with our brand new staff for the year! It was so great. We were able to spend time singing, getting to
know each other, and thinking about our ministry. My favorite thought from the weekend was our
new theme from Revelation, Everything New.
God has a bigger plan for redemption than I can even comprehend. It is really encouraging and got me really
excited. We were also asked to journal
the question “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” which also got me
thinking. We have nothing to fear and
fear often paralyzes us. We can’t do God’s
work like that. </div>
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God has blessed us with such great people who really do want
to pour into students to see more people reached. Our new staff at UTD will be Casey, Sirak,
Courtney, and me. All four of us are alumni
from UTD, know the campus and have a heart for it. I am so excited about this year because we
have 16 women who will be Core facilitators (group leaders). Most
of them are brand new Corefas who will be back again next year. The thing I am most excited about are our 6
women Peer Team leaders who will mentor the Corefas! Our small group leaders are going to be
supported very well!</div>
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Right now I feel like I have so many things to ask you to
pray about. Please pray for Sirak and
Courtney as they start their new internship at UTD. They are going to be spending time learning
God’s word more deeply, learning to preach, will lead peer team and all the
little nuances of campus ministry. Pray
for Casey as he starts working at UTD again after being at Collin for several
years. Pray for our new student leaders
as they begin to meet new people. Pray
for all of the new people on campus that they can know the Lord God through His
Son Jesus!</div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-59126390057955755822012-07-04T19:10:00.002-07:002012-07-04T19:10:37.452-07:00It's summer time....<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I came into summer expecting to slow down a little bit and
relax some before August comes. I did
get to relax at the beginning of June on vacation with my family. That was so fun and rejuvenating for me. When I got back I had to hit the ground
running. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have spent the remainder of the month trying to figure out
our small group leaders (Corefa’s) for this coming school year. I have been having conversations with the
women who went to SICM and the leaders from last year to try to determine who
our leaders will be. Please be in prayer
for these people already. These are the
people who in so many ways are the ones who will be doing campus ministry. They meet people, invite them to CORE and FOCUS,
and then they are the ones who will sit down and study the Bible with people in
their group. Please pray that God does
great things in them and through them this year!</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This summer is also a time of transition. July will be the last month of this year’s
interns. I cannot tell you how much I am
going to miss Jamiann and Andrew. Please
pray that they have a great last month with FOCUS and pray God continues to do
great things through them! Also, we have
started to fundraise for next year.
Please pray for the staff and new interns as we work on that. </span></span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-58626791773879793212012-06-04T10:27:00.000-07:002012-06-04T10:27:35.141-07:00The 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
<br />
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.Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-75618889692178470512012-04-03T10:13:00.000-07:002012-04-03T10:13:41.824-07:00Spring is Here!<div class="MsoNormal">March was such a great month. Spring is here! There is something so revitalizing and new about spring. God takes the dead looking grass and trees and brings new life to them. The flowers are blooming everywhere, the grass is green and the weather is warm. I thank God for all of his amazing work in nature but I especially am thankful for the work he is doing in people’s lives. I think that his work in us, bringing the dead to life, is even greater. There is just so much for me to share.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This past Sunday, Stephanie Greene decided to be baptized. She and I have been studying the Bible together for several weeks now and through her study she decided to be baptized. She is one of the sweetest women I know and just has such a heart for Jesus and for his people. While we have been studying the Bible together, she has also been studying the Bible with two international students sharing about Jesus. I cannot wait to see what God is going to do in her life! Her baptism was so special to me because we had it at my house and invited about 40 people to come and have lunch with us before it. It was fitting since she was “getting married to Jesus.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MGm1Zs4GH2k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">This past week we did a huge event on campus that focused on human trafficking. It was our “not for sale” campaign. We had booth’s on campus on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday that had information about this modern day injustice. The booths had stories of different people who have been sex slaves here in the United States. The students all wore “not for sale” shirts and engaged people in conversations about the stories they were reading. Students were given information on what they could do and that God cares deeply about these issues. On Wednesday night we met on the Union steps outside in the middle of campus and showed a video about all kinds of trafficking. It covered modern slavery in other countries to sex trafficking here in the United States. It literally broke my heart. Then on Thursday night we had a speaker in the same place who talked about this issue. The whole week was a huge success!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Several weeks ago one of the women from Collin, Cierra, told me that she wanted to put together something for all of the women from all of our campuses to talk about insecurity in women. She felt like this was something the women from FOCUS really struggle with just like the women of the world. So this past Saturday we had three different women from Northeast come and share with us about how sinful insecurity is, how to fight insecurity, and who God says we are. It was such a great event with about 50 women from FOCUS. We had lunch, heard the speakers, and shared in small groups. Cierra did such a great job! I cannot tell you how proud of her I am. She saw a need and took initiative to do something about it!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So all of that was this past week!!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Spring Break was earlier this month which I think was much needed for the students and for me! I think the time of rest really gave them a renewed energy to finish this year off strong. Our women’s cores are still going well and there are still so many studies happening. The fruit of the year is really starting to show. </div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span><br />
It has really been another great month. Please pray for the studies going on and that people make serious commitments to Jesus. Pray that the students can end the year strong!</span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-3959295107521032122012-02-29T09:41:00.001-08:002012-02-29T09:42:32.674-08:00A Lot's Happening at UTD<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This has been a really neat month for our ministry. Jamiann volunteered (or actually was assigned) to head up Valentathalon this year. This is an event we do every year right around Valentine’s Day. It is an event for our entire UTD ministry where we do all kinds of zany games. Jamiann recruited several people from our ministry to plan the event this year and they did an outstanding job pulling it off. They planned a choreographed dance medley for a warm up which was led by 10 team leaders, several stations with crazy games for the teams to compete in, and finally each team had to pick a song and act out a marriage proposal while singing. The entire event was so fun and really, really funny. We put fliers at the campus apartments for the event and had several visitors come. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This month our staff at UTD was able to meet with the Intervarsity (another Christian ministry at UTD) Director, Lisa, to begin make some plans to do some joint events with all the Christian groups on campus. We were able to plan a joint worship night which we did last weekend on campus. It was so exciting to see all of the different Christian groups come together to praise God together. The thing that I am most excited about though is Lisa has a vision for doing a Not for Sale campaign on campus toward the end of March. The different Christian groups on campus are going to get together and raise awareness for human trafficking around the world and really focus on the fact that there are things we can do about it. We can be a voice for those that don’t have a voice. We have the opportunity to show our campus that God does care and that Jesus is the solution to injustice in the world. Please be praying as we prepare for this campaign on campus and we will tell you all about it next month.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finally, one of the things I am most excited about is we have started inviting students to SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry) for an intense week of ministry training in Bellingham, WA. We send students who we think will be leaders in campus ministry to spend a week learning how to lead small groups, study the Bible, reach out to other students, and so much more. It is an expensive trip but these students will learn things that will allow them to truly be missionaries at UTD for as long as they are there and they will learn ministry skills that will help them the rest of their lives. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The small groups are still going well. One of the girl cores has had 8 international students start coming to it this semester. There have also been several girls step up to study the Bible with these students and they are really excited to do it. Please be praying for all of the studies that are happening in FOCUS and that we will continually be making disciples. </span></div><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span><br />
I got to see yesterday what an impact we are having. I am studying Focus on Jesus with Jessica right now and we were and Starbucks yesterday doing our study. When we were leaving, a guy who worked there asked us if we were studying Focus on Jesus. We told him yes and asked him if he was part of FOCUS. He said he was a student at Collin College a few years ago and Focus on Jesus literally saved his life even though he was only at Collin for one semester. It was just a neat reminder to me of what a small world it is and that Jesus really does change lives. God is so good and I am so thankful that we all get to partner together to share the Good News! </span></span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-17894689054684726772012-01-30T13:53:00.000-08:002012-01-30T13:53:17.639-08:00Winter Camp!!!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I feel like often God teaches me so much more through my time with people than I actually teach them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The past couple of weeks have been no different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really do get to spend time with some great women who are so serious about their walk with God. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am studying Focus on Jesus with 2 different women who ask some really great questions and who really want to do what God wants them to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are so open, consistent and prepared each week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The women in my peer team are constantly asking for advice and spend so much time really loving the women that God has given them this semester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just really inspires me to continually be a student of God’s word, to be open with the people in my life, and to constantly be a person who asks advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is so encouraging to see the heart that they really have for the people they are reaching out to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We just got back from Winter Camp a couple weeks ago. We had over 250 students from our 4 campuses there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eddie Howard came from Colorado to spend the weekend with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He preached 5 sermons out of Joshua and did such a great job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have heard nothing but positive feedback from students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is so neat to see what just having a few short days around God focused people can do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was just such an encouraging weekend for the students who came.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For me, the week going in to camp was really difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandmother died the week before camp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I literally walked in the door from staff retreat and my dad came to the door and told me she had died so we got in the car and headed to Tyler to be with my mom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, a couple days later we went to Vernon for her funeral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a couple days after that I ordered all the snacks and headed to camp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So going into camp I was really worn out and emotionally exhausted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is so good though, he takes away special people but then he turns around and blesses us in special ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got to be around so many people who loved on me, encouraged me, and praised God with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really, really love Him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Camp was also a really neat time to catch up and have conversations with people that I don’t get to on a weekly basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was really encouraging to hear what is happening in their cores and in their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has really blessed me with some really neat friendships through doing campus ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so challenged by them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is changing lives on our campuses and it is great to be a part of that.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, in short, God is so Good!</span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-33016282702368321322012-01-09T14:22:00.000-08:002012-01-09T14:22:54.199-08:00Happy New Year!!<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">December was another great month for our ministry at UTD. We had our Christmas party in December at the Northeast Church. Our theme this year was Christmas morning. We were expecting around 100 students and we had over 130 students come! We served breakfast and had some great entertainment. Each of the cores could participate in a competition to perform a Christmas carol. It was absolutely hysterical…We have some creative students!!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Friday night after our party we had a FOCUS Christmas service focused much more on the true meaning of Christmas. We sang Christmas carols, read parts of the Christmas story, and shared thoughts. It was such a neat time for our ministry. Then it was off on break.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The break was a much needed time of rest but now I am ready to hit the ground running. We just had a staff retreat this past weekend which I think got us all excited to go back and do ministry. My favorite part of the weekend was on Friday night. We used that session to simply pray for one another. It was some much needed strength for me. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This weekend is our annual winter camp. We are taking all the students from all 4 campuses out to Bridgeport until Monday. This is such a spring board for so many of our students. Please pray that the students who really need to be there come and that that the weekend will really impact them. <span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>I just cannot wait to see what God is going to do!!!</span></span><br />
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</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The students all will start back to school the Tuesday after Winter Camp. Please pray that we have another great semester and just pray for all of our student leaders. </span></span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-48603697644125704412011-12-04T14:19:00.001-08:002011-12-04T14:19:36.239-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In FOCUS, we try to have every student in our ministry go through a foundational Bible study one-on-one called Focus on Jesus (many of you already know that but just in case you don’t…). God has given me the opportunity this year to study the Bible with two different students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every time I get to study the Bible with someone I am amazed at how much he teaches me through that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have gone through the lesson called The Character of Christ 2 times in the last month so I have really spent a lot of time thinking about Jesus’ character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I compare Jesus to me, I just realize how short I fall but then reading about his mercy, grace, and forgiveness I am so encouraged. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He continues to work on me and I pray that my character can be more and more like his. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both women I am studying with want to be their best for God and that really challenges me to be my best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been so blessed to get to study one-on-one with them, to mentor the corefa’s, and to work with the women interns we have this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is so good and he is so faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I continue to be amazed at all he is doing all around me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this time in the semester, the small groups are established and one on one’s are really going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through the one on one’s especially, God really starts to change people’s hearts. This year has been no exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have women who are really struggling with who they are going to live for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The word of God really is living and active, sharper than a double edged sword.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so thankful that we have so many disciples in our ministry who are studying the Word with people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am so proud of the women small group leaders (Corefas) for putting in the time to really invest in people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this time in the semester, the corefas are so busy with school and with all their other commitments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is also when they want to spend more and more time with people in their core, pouring into them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please pray that the women corefas <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are able to learn to balance their lives between ministry, school, work, friends, family and purposeful rest time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, pray for the people that are in our cores that they will really continue to grow in their relationship with God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pray that people will turn their lives completely over to God and make Him Lord.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We continue to have very large women’s cores at UTD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far God has given us what we need to minister to each woman one on one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so thankful for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please be praying for our students as they are ending the semester and about to be away from the community for a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can be a very difficult time for people.</span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-47174032754378960472011-10-31T17:04:00.000-07:002011-10-31T17:04:25.544-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">I honestly feel like this year is flying by.<span> </span>I cannot believe it is already November and we have about a month and a half left until winter break.<span> </span>So many amazing things are happening at UTD this year.<span> </span>I feel like God blows me away week by week with all that he is doing in and through people.<span> </span>There really are so many different things that I could share about on the women’s side of FOCUS.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I am currently leading a small group for small group leaders that we call peer team.<span> </span>My peer team consists of four women who are students at UTD.<span> </span>In peer team we started reading a book called Fuel and the Flame which really has reminded me why I love doing college ministry so much.<span> </span>My peer team and I are really catching a vision of the foundation that we get to help lay in the lives of young women.<span> </span>The corefa’s (small group leaders) in my peer team are really challenging the women that they meet with to have a deep relationship with God and to really be radical disciples of His!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I went and visited both of the cores that the women in my peer team lead this past month. I was BLOWN away by both groups.<span> </span>The core I visited on Wednesday night has about 24 women in it.<span> </span>The group has so many new people that the corefas can’t possibly study with them all.<span> </span>The returning members of the group have really stepped up and are studying the Bible with some of the new people.<span> </span>The corefas are meeting with all of these returning members, giving them weekly support.<span> </span>They are basically leading a small group for the leaders in their group.<span> </span>I am so proud of the hard work these corefas are putting into making sure that everyone in their group has the opportunity to study the Bible with someone and are raising up other leaders at the same time.<span> </span>During core it was clear that the women enjoyed being together, have a heart to praise God, and are pretty open. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>I also got to visit a core that is on Thursday nights this past week.<span> </span>It was so neat to meet so many new girls that were not in FOCUS last year.<span> </span>I am so amazed at how this core seems to be growing each week.<span> </span>The corefas are doing such a great job planning and really building community. God is doing some amazing things through these groups.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Today, Jamiann and I went up on campus and prayed for UTD and for FOCUS.<span> </span>As I was walking back to my car I saw one of the corefas doing a one on one study with a girl in her core.<span> </span>I think that God is working in so many ways and he does answer prayers.<span> </span>Please continue to pray that God continues to work through these students to bring people to know him.</span>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6322096516385702647.post-43999822424229612082011-09-02T20:03:00.000-07:002011-09-02T20:03:45.182-07:00A New Year<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">The new school year has officially begun, and it has been such a busy month getting prepared for it.<span> </span>Our new FOCUS interns officially started on August 1<sup>st</sup> .<span> </span>We have 5 interns working on three different campuses this year, which is so exciting!<span> </span>I am very excited because I get to work directly with Jamiann at UTD, and then also get to spend some time with Brianna and Kelly helping them some while they work at Collin College and the University of North Texas.<span> </span>I cannot wait to see what God is going to do through them this year.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This month has definitely been busy.<span> </span>We spent a couple of days doing a staff retreat with the interns just getting to know them and building our team.<span> </span>I feel like that was such a great weekend and I personally left encouraged and excited to work on this team this year.<span> </span>After the retreat, our UTD staff spent some time getting ready for the students to arrive and planned some activities for the Freshmen.<span> </span>The Freshmen moved in 5 days before the upperclassmen and there really was not a lot for them to do the first few days they were there.<span> </span>We put on several events that week and all were well attended so we were able to meet so many new students.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The fruit of all of that work has started to show since we had our first large group meeting last week. <span> </span>We had about 150 people at our first Friday night of the year!<span> </span>We also had about 80 women sign up to say they wanted to be contacted about being invited to a small group (Core).<span> </span>This year we currently plan to have 5 women’s Cores which will meet at different times throughout the week and are student led.<span> </span>So with all the students that signed up and with all the students the Core Facilitators met during Welcome week, our women’s Cores are going to all be big. This will present some challenges but is so exciting! <span> </span>This year, I get to work with some of the women Core facilitators to make sure they have all the resources they need to be successful.<span> </span>I am so thankful that my dear friends Christa Smith and Amy Knoles will also help with some of them as well.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Please be praying that we can have great cores and that the women are able to build relationships where they can grow in their relationship with God.<span> </span>Please continue to pray that we are able to make disciples on all of our campuses this year!<span> </span></div>Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13960335314764747963noreply@blogger.com0