Getting The Ball Rollin' - September Ministry Update

 

Unless the Lord builds the house,

the builders labor in vain

Psalm 127:1a

Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness 

that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess,

for you are a stiff-necked people.

Deuteronomy 9:6

"It's not because we are good, it's because God is good"

-Ronnie Worsham

Hello, my friends and team!

    September has finished and October is here! So much has happened this past month, so let's dive right in and see what cool things God has started! Wait, I almost forgot! Before we get too far in, thank you so much for cheering me on and for supporting me and this ministry. I'm so blessed to get a front-row seat to the action. I wouldn't be able to without you. OK, now we can move on:

    If the quote at the top of this ministry update made you wonder who Ronnie Worsham is, this is a picture of our class with him! Ronnie is the man who started FOCUS around 20 years ago, the lead pastor of the Northeast Church, personal mentor to hundreds (over his lifetime), and builder of leaders. These are just his "impressive" achievements, and I'm skimming over a lot of them. Every week, he spends two hours answering the apprentices' various ministry questions, teaching us lessons the Spirit has taught him, and encouraging us to sing the song God has given us. Hands down, class with Ronnie has been my favorite class.

    Thursday Night Fellowship has moved inside! Here's a picture of our very first indoors TNF. Praise God for a location on campus with A/C! Praise God for projected sound and image technology! Praise God for a welcoming space to invite and introduce students in to a loving community. We are now 3 weeks into a series on this year's theme: Life to the Full (based on John 10:10). I'm super excited to see God develop the Collin culture, not just Focus, into a place where people can have just that: full, abundant life that flows from Jesus.

    Here's an update on how core is going! Orion (center, glasses) and I decided that it would be more conducive for deeper discussion to have core in the evenings. In addition, a local family whose daughter is involved in Focus reached out to us and have been opening their conveniently located home for us every Tuesday this month! How generous! As a result, we've been able to have deep and engaging conversations about God, scripture, and birds. Orion likes birds. We hang out afterwards, enjoying each other's company and developing trust and friendship. Life to the Full, you say? We're well on our way.

    Here's a picture of some of the Collin students that came with us on a trip to the state fair! One of our students came in a giraffe onesie (can you guess which one from the picture?), another faced his fear of heights on the Ferris wheel, and a third asked if he could join us for church the next morning. Aww!

    This is one of the students that I've been meeting and reading the Bible with, Matthew. Actually, it was Matthew that first proposed we take a trip to the fair. He's been very consistent with our friendship, and I love him a ton. I unfortunately can't share many of the tricky details, but I've seen God at work in growing Matthew and in bringing him through deserts. I've been so proud to see Matthew choose to trust God over and over, especially when it was tough for him. He has a long way to go, but who doesn't? God has certainly used Matthew to speak to me and teach me about his own character. I thank God for our friendship.

    Thank you so much for your continued prayers! In addition to the ones below, I want to ask you to pray for Collin Focus' upcoming Fall Camp, happening this weekend. Because we'll be spending 24 hours together, it is an opportunity for many students to jump in to the community and into Jesus at a deeper level.