February 2020

600+ students worshiping the Lord at Winter Camp! 

Shout for Joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Our Winter Camp, started Jan 17- Jan 20, theme revolved around the book of Psalms. We led one of our worship nights with Psalm 100 which has set the tone for my ministry in this new semester at Collin Spring Creek. Less than a week after winter camp and this Psalm has ministered to me countless times. I mean it makes sense, we are so easily consumed by mundane things and at times we fail to invite God into what we are doing/going through. Fortunately I have been able to be encouraged and rather enter into a posture of thankfulness. I've been able to see the fruit of this Psalm all the way from Winter Camp to my one on ones with students.

My core and I, after zip-lining expressing our weirdness!

I think is easy for a retreat like Winter Camp to loose meaning/significance for some of you that are not there experiencing it. Let me remind you guys that what Winter Camp consisted of is not what our world is encouraging College students to do today. I wish I could share each individuals experience in order to express the radical and crazy work God does during weekends like Winter camp. You would be blown away but know that my core had a blast! 5 of 6 girls from our core attended winter camp and that is worth praising! We bonded over walk and talks, sharing bunk beds, worshiping, praying for each other, eating meals, zip-lining, dancing, playing board games, all in one weekend! 

My buddy Josh (apprentice at Richland campus) captured this moment as we looked for the cheapest Mexican candy to fill a piñata for Winter Camp

What is this piñata for? you may ask.  Back story. Something that I found challenging when joining this ministry was being one of the few students that "looked differently" due to culture, background, skin color etc. when the majority looked the same. Unfortunately the lack of diversity can at times limit our ministry from reaching minorities but we are constantly growing and looking at new ways of making all students despite their background be welcomed. 3 years ago, Josh and Sandra (staff members with Mexican background) decided to make this unofficial yet inclusive "Mexi Fiesta" that gave our students insight into their Mexican traditions, from music, games and snacks to breaking a piñata filled with Mexican candy. Once again this Winter Camp Sandra, Josh and I took advantage of our free time to host our Mexi Fiesta and it was a success according to the turnout and feedback from students.

Here is Mandy one of our Directors at our UTD campus joining in the fun by attempting to break this piñata!

L to R: Me, Ashley (apprentice at UTD) and one of our biggest fans when it came to this event broke the Piñata, Josh (apprentice at Richland College), Sandra (staff at Richland College).

My core and I at our first core of second semester, lets go 2020!

Every Friday Emily and I have core (our small group), this semester we decided to make our core earlier than usual to give our girls time to bond afterwards. This whole semester we've had 6 consistent girls show up Friday nights but God did something crazy and added 5 more! This semester I sense and have seen the girls in our core hangout, be inclusive and thoughtful with each other. Please continue to pray for these girls as they grow their relationship deeper with the Lord and gain sweet and genuine friendships with each other!

Alright I am excited to share this with you all! Every year we send a group of students to SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry) a leadership conference in Bellingham Washington for a week. This trip equips our students with longterm tools that will be used during and post college, like reading and teaching the Bible, evangelism, leading others to Christ and the list goes on. The student that get to go are those that have demonstrated to be faithful, available, initiative, teachable and have shown a heart for people. The trip is definitely not free rather it is expensive and sometimes discouraging for some of our students BUT listen up, this is where you come in. Our ministry developed a benefit concert called Showcase where we have talented artist; singers, painters, wood workers, comedians, jewelry makers (me) come together and donate their talent to support these students. Please consider joining us on February 29th, or donating to help send one of our students to an amazing experience.
https://anyfocus.org/showcase/

• After our dating and sexual immorality talk at Winter Camp, many of our students at Collin have been reflecting, confessing and working on living in the light. This is a slow and at times hard process for these students but I ask that you pray that these students are reminded of the freedom found in living in the light.
• Pray for our students being sent off to SICM. Pray that people will catch a vision for the radical things God is doing in the lives of students through this leadership conference and grow giving hearts.
• Many of the current apprentices are making decisions and discerning where God wants them to focus their career in, whether its ministry long term or a secular job. Pray that wherever they are called they can be Jesus to their co-workers and lean in God's word.
• My sweet parents are having their citizenship interview February 21st. Pray that despite the outcome they are able to lean on God and trust that He will remain faithful.

Thank you guys for faithfully reading and encouraging me through this apprenticeship. It has been such a sweet and growing experience. I love my job! Please as always let me know if there is anything I could be praying for.

Best,