August Update :)

Hello everyone, welcome to my ministry blog! 

This is where I will post monthly updates to share what I've been up to in my ministry with FOCUS. I am so excited for these next ten months as an apprentice to spend time with students at UNT developing deep friendships and ultimately showing people the love of Jesus. Thank you all so much for supporting me and praying for me, I couldn’t do this without y’all!

The Start of Something New

August is the first month of my official role as an apprentice! We kicked it off with the annual Licensing Ceremony for returning staff and the apprentices who are committing to spending the next several months or years as ministers to serve students on campus. It was sweet to be surrounded by such supportive friends and family as I embark on this new journey.

Taylor, Sarah (twin sister), me, and Megha at the Licensing Ceremony. I met these girls in FOCUS at UT Dallas and they've been some of my closest friends ever since!

The apprentices have also had the opportunity to take an Old Testament class taught by one of the UTD campus pastors, Brandon Worsham. We get to read books in the Old Testament, a supplementary textbook, and listen to lectures from Iain Provan, all of which I have loved and found so insightful. I have enjoyed learning how to approach reading the Old Testament and learning more about the heart and character of God. It is very exciting to learn alongside such devoted, joyful people who are passionate about loving the Lord and others.

Staff Retreat

Every summer, the FOCUS staff go away for several days to pray together for students and get a vision for our specific campuses and the ministry as a whole. I got to attend my first staff retreat at Riverbend Retreat Center and I feel beyond blessed to be surrounded by such wise, thoughtful, Jesus-loving and people-loving coworkers. We spent the week building closer relationships with one another, meeting with our campus-specific teams to discuss some goals for the year, and reflecting on passages of Scripture to apply. 

A few of the staff members gave meaningful talks filled with touching stories that gave me hope for all God is doing in the lives of students and the world. They spoke about Matthew 4:1-11 to discuss ways that we as ministers can model Jesus to the students on campus. Something I am reflecting on after retreat is how to use the Bible to point people to Jesus and ultimately find hope in Him. As Kylie Sanchez put it, “Don’t be impressive, be a vessel.” Instead of trying to minister out of my goodness, I can minister out of the goodness of God. And that is good news!

Denton Staff Team

Upcoming School Year

Before the school year officially starts, I thought I would explain some terminology we commonly use in FOCUS. It’s easy to get confused, so I hope this helps!

Core: these are our small groups that we call “cores” because they are the core of our ministry! Our groups are gender-specific and meet once per week to build deep friendships and grow together in faith. 

Corefa: this term is a shortened version of “core facilitator.” These are students who volunteer to lead core and facilitate the group conversation. Our cores are led by a pair of corefas who dedicate 8-10 hours per week to planning core and spending time with their core members. The Denton campuses have 39 corefas this year, which is amazing! 

TNF: this stands for “Thursday Night Fellowship.” Every Thursday evening of the school year, all students from our ministry meet together on campus for a service that includes worship, a sermon, announcements and ways to get involved, and a benediction to close. 

Peer Team: this is a group of corefas that can be described as a core for corefas. Every Monday, we alternate between meeting with all the corefas on campus or meeting with the girls or guys specific to your peer team group. This year, I am in Darby Cleveland’s peer team with 7 other girls, 4 corefa pairings total. This is a chance for the student leaders to be guided in their leadership and ministry and poured into by the staff. 

Peer Team Leader: the peer team leaders are experienced staff members who mentor and minister to their assigned corefas in peer team meetings and weekly meetings with corefa pairs. They invest in the corefas by talking about core and how to minister to the individuals within them, go through devotionals and practicals of leadership, and provide a huge support system as corefas outreach to their peers on campus. 

Coming into the school year, some things I am looking forward to are our Welcome Weeks, where we welcome students as they move on campus and start up classes. These are the weeks we are forming our cores and inviting people into friendship and to explore and/or deepen their faith. Moving onto campus and coming back to school can be a scary and overwhelming experience for people, so I am praying that students will find a place to be known and loved and most importantly, find a real hope in Jesus. I am excited to learn more about campus ministry and dive in head-first for the next ten months! 

Prayer Requests

- Pray for the students and staff as we enter the new school year. That students would be bold in reaching out to their peers and that student leaders and staff would be energized for the next few weeks of actively welcoming new students to campus.

- Pray for the students coming to campus at UNT, that they might find hope in Jesus this year and that God would open their hearts to Him as we seek to love and include people and show them that God loves them.

Thank you for reading my blog, praying, and supporting me in my ministry! I am deeply encouraged by you all and I wouldn't get to do this without your generosity and love. Your investment is making a big impact!

Love you all,

Cathryn