Good news!

Praying this blog finds you well and with great joy. I have some good news to share with ya. Where. to. even. start! Let's see, we are on the second half of the school year and ministry has already been SO encouraging and meaningful here at Collin.

We started off the semester with our annual 4 day spiritual retreat with over 500 students. I can't think of a larger, most diverse and Spirit-filled retreat experience in the five years I've been. There was a moment during worship where we encouraged students who spoke different languages to share in their native tongue. and. that. moved. me. to. tears. The more I follow God, the more he makes evident how intentional he was in creating each one of us. That weekend reminded me so much of, you know it, 

 I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing: Salvation to our God on his Throne! Salvation to the Lamb!

MSG Revelations 9-12

Our team has been working from the message we see in Colossians 3:16, to lead from God's word. So often we see students depend on ideas, opinions, people etc. things that are broken and often not sustainable. We want our students to learn to depend and see the richness and wisdom there is in God's word. With that said, our pastoral team has been leading our ministry at our Thursday Night Fellowship services from the book of Mark. Pray our students continue to seek God's word beyond our TNF services, core and FOJ's. Pray that our pastoral team continues to reference God's word as we disciple our students.

Outreach is something our pastoral team has been trying to redefine and help our students feel empowered in. Recently David and our apprentice Arianna planned and led an outreach skills class for our corefas and we even opened it up to students outside of our corefa team. Our pastoral team was encouraged by students attendance and even more the increase in students presence at outreach. Please continue to pray for boldness in our students, for them to see value in the opportunity they get to invite others into community.

Last Thursday we had our Family Night, one of my favorite nights of the year where we got to meet student's loved ones. I got to converse with a couple of parents whose daughters I get time with and it reminded me of how crucial it is for colleges to have ministries like FOCUS. I was super blessed to have the opportunity to have my mom tag along. The Lord used that night to work in the hearts of parents and loved ones, I know he for sure used it to move in the heart of my mother who are skeptical and unsure about God. 

At Frisco more girls are getting connected and forming friendships at our 1pm day core. New FOJ studies are getting started -please pray for these girls, pray they form deep and genuine friendships with each other, pray they each let Jesus be their Lord.

This Sunday we had our second pizza theology of the school year and the topic was "What is the Bible?". Here we dived into the importance of language, the complexities of the canon, the value of different translations. This week at core we had girls share how foundational pizza theology was for them. Pray our students continue to grow a desire to be a student of God's word.

Lastly. Unsure if you should drumroll, jump, backflip or dance. My commitment was coming to an end and after much prayer, tears, surrender, counseling God's people, my team and friends, I've decided to re-commit to Collin for 5 more years! For a while now the Lord had made it evident its campus ministry what I should be pursuing but the question I asked was where? Through campus ministry at Collin I've seen God, shape, refine and develop me as a campus pastor and I look forward to the next 5 years. Thankful for FOCUS who has been a blessing to my walk with God and thankful for you who has seen the importance in campus ministry and therefore supported me through the years!

Now onto some pictures!

Take a good look at the best Collin team! Girls are ruling!

Family Night

Family Night Pedro realized we didn't have any normal/formal pictures of our staff together -so here ya go! Top: Angel, Mackenzie, David, Pedro, Kevin. Bottom: Tania, Arianna, Jacy, Carolina, me, Eileen!

Galantines Girl Hangout

Winter Retreat

Mackenzie (one of our apprentices) has partnered with Exodus, a ministry in Dallas, who supports women who recently got out of jail and help them rebuild their life and reconnect with their kids. Here is a group of us who went to hangout with moms and their kiddos.

Meet the sweetest core: Chloe, Arianna, Megan, Mabry, Keiry, Jolie, Marli, Bella and Kally

I would love to be praying for you in any way possible please don't hesitate to reach out. I am sure we can make our schedules work and grab some coffee, dinner or jump on a call.

Ways to be praying for our Collin ministry:

• Please pray for our ministry at Frisco. Pray for wisdom. I’ve been thinking and praying of ways that our pastoral team can help our students cultivate friendships outside of planned gatherings like core and our weekly service. Pray that our students catch a vision for community, for deep and genuine friendships.

• Every year we have a group of students that have stepped up and led in leadership within our ministry. And every year we take that group of students to SICM with our friends in CCF. I am excited for this group of students to experience a week of discipleship, a week with believers, a week surrendered and ready to be stretched by God. Please join me in praying for these group of students. Pray for any obstacles getting in there way of going, whether that be money, school etc.

Thank you for your faithfulness and obedience to the Lord! Love the opportunity to serve college students because of generous people like you!

For the Kingdom,

A