The Earth Endures - February Ministry Update


"As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night,

will never cease."

-God, after the flood, Genesis 8:22


Hello, friends!

    I'm so excited to share with you about all that God had in store for the month of February. Thank you so much for your financial support and for praying for this ministry. Let's get to it!

Core:





    Lots of fun pictures of core this month! All of these were screenshots taken from videos, so forgive the blurriness. This semester, Orion (another FOCUS apprentice, her and I lead core together) and I started delegating roles to our core members to increase commitment levels, participation, develop leadership, and enjoy fun ideas! It's been a huge success! Especially the highly sought-after "after-event coordinator" role. Above are pictures of two of our member-led after-events: a Just Dance party, and a Piñata/Volleyball night. They were both a blast!
    Core has been a great blessing for me and for the students, too. The friendships we are developing aren't always easy, but we are helping one another draw nearer to Christ. Thank you for being a part of bringing these very valuable people together!

Showcase:


    This year's Showcase fundraiser event was amazing! If you don't already know, Showcase is put on to raise money for students to be sent in the summer to the Student Institute of Campus Ministry (SICM) up in Washington state to be trained to minister on the campuses in DFW. I went to SICM in 2018 and it gave me the tools to do campus ministry for almost 4 years now!
    If you didn't get to go, but would like to watch (or donate!), go here: https://anyfocus.org/showcase/ at the very bottom of the page.

TNF:

    Not once, but TWICE this month were the Collin schools closed on a Thursday due to weather. Hence, we only had TNF (Thursday Night Fellowship) 2 of the 4 weeks in February! This is a "screen shot" of one of the canceled weeks, where we played virtual Codenames later at night than TNF would usually run. I'm really thankful for students who are passionate about community and spend hours organizing a virtual space to meet. Jason, if you're reading this, know that you are highly appreciated.

Apprentice Classes:



    The legendary Rikk Watts (a New Testament professor from Regent College and our guest speaker for Winter Camp earlier this year) generously offered to meet and answer questions with our class of apprentices for several weeks! I've never had an opportunity like this to learn directly from such a scholar before. Getting to ask him questions about the New Testament has been thrilling! 
    One of the books we're reading, Vulnerable Pastor by Mandy Smith, has been shaping my heart and the way I think about ministry so much that it's almost uncomfortable. Smith encourages ministers to be honest with their human limitations, to draw on their weaknesses as an endless power source through God. She's also an engaging writer, and frequently makes me chuckle over things like the phrase "prayer pickle". I hope you enjoy Prayer Pickle as much as me. 

Prayer and Student Testimony:




Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

Whose hands have gathered up the wind?

Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name, and what is the name of his son?

Surely you know!

-Proverbs 30:2-4


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