David's May Update

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Isaiah 58:6-7

Hello, friends!

    It's time for my recap blog for May! It's summertime, which means ministry shifts gears a little. Thank you so much for partnering with the ministry of college students, in season and out of season. 

Family of churches:

My small group has an end-of-year potluck picnic at the park after church.

    I've talked a bit about the Wylie Northeast Church in my blogs. I'd like to talk a bit more about them now that it's summer! FOCUS could not exist without the support of this congregation and the others related to it. Wylie Northeast exists in a "family" of churches: Garland Northeast Church, Wylie Northeast Church, East Plano Fellowship, Arlington Central Church, and Denton North Church. Each of the churches was planted out of one of the others, with the exception of Garland which was the first, starting sometime in the mid 90's. One of the main visions of the family of churches was to strategically plant near college campuses and support campus missions. Out of this vision, Focus was begun by Garland Northeast in the late 90's at Richland college, and soon spread to UTD where it flourished and spread elsewhere, like Collin! As time went on, it became apparent that the relationship between these local church and college ministries was vital to the success of both. College students were able to be trained into leaders and given a vision for ministry through multiple seasons of life (not just as 18-22 year olds) with the assistance of church members, and the churches became filled college students and grads: people who are high-initiative, bright, energetic, and passionate about evangelism to young people. What a kingdom relationship!

Summer Opportunities:

    

I visit "the Porch" with some core guys who only get to attend during the summer.

It's a bad picture because I took it just to send to some friends we were meeting to let them know where we were sitting.

    In the summer, I get to spend time with students in ways that aren't available in the school year. For instance, I'm taking a "Bible Project Classroom" class, on Jonah, with Cedric (who I led small group with during the year). I'm also in a "2:42" group with a student named Tyler. 2:42 groups are summer groups with 2-4 people, doing the 4 things recorded in Acts 2:42, which are devotion to apostle's teaching (we're reading Mark), fellowship (confessing sin and encouraging one another), breaking bread (sharing meals and having fun), and prayer (prayer). I also get to visit events like the Porch, now that my Tuesday nights are free, with students in my ministry who already go.

Shayna Update:

This is me holding a plastic model baby that is ~20 weeks. My wife, Alex, is off-picture getting sonogram pictures of our real baby for the anatomy scan.

    Alex and Shayna are doing great! Not much to report this month, aside from praise. God has answered our consistent prayers for health for baby Shayna. We trust that he will also answer our prayers to watch over her life and fill her with his Spirit, and for her to be a blessing to her neighbors.

Student Testimony: