July Ministry Update!

Hello friends, family, and prayer warriors!

Thank you so much for reading my blog and partnering with me in campus ministry. I want to give a special welcome to those of you who have newly joined my team. I am honored that you would partner with me and so excited for all the Lord will do in the lives of students this year!

Fun Moments from July

I wanted to briefly share some sweet moments from the month:

Rough Riders game with my coworker and friend Jessica (pictured above) along with some mutual friends and partners on our ministry teams :)

Students and roommates had fun at our church’s pool party!

Worship at Summer FOCUS

2024-2025, Here We Come!

The first day of classes at UNT is August 19. You may be wondering, what do we do until then? In order to be set up for a great year, the month of August is a pivotal time of building a foundation. In early August, all of the FOCUS staff will attend a retreat to prepare spiritually and mentally for the year ahead. When we get back, we start to prepare our students!

As students are moving back on to campus, we have what is called “Welcome Weeks”. These are the weeks when organizations like ours get to meet students and give them a warm welcome back onto campus. This is the prime time we get to train and go out with our student leaders to outreach on campus and invite others into friendship and community! Stay tuned to hear all the ways God moves through them, and pray!!

To give you an idea of what our student leadership role can look like: 

We have small groups led by student volunteers. These groups are called “Cores” because they are the core of our ministry! We call our student volunteers “corefas” (core facilitators). Two corefas pair up to lead a core. They sacrifice about 10-15 hours per week to this role, all for the purpose of leading their peers to Jesus. This year, UNT and TWU will have about 56 students who commit to this role. How amazing is that!? I am so excited that I will be leading a core with a student named Sarah! She is so sweet and inviting, I can’t wait!

I am also happy to announce that I will be leading a peer team this year! Peer team is a small group of several pairs of corefas who meet with a staff member on a weekly basis for guidance and support. I will be meeting with 5 girls! Their names are Sarah, Jenna, Madeline, Ava, and Alexis.  I couldn’t be more blessed to get to know these neat individuals who want to glorify God and let His love be known. 

Final Fundraising Update

I am so thankful that I am 80% fundraised! Thank you so much to everyone who has prayed, given, and spread the word. I am looking for some more people to help me close the gap. If you are interested in giving or know anyone who might be, please let me know. 

Student Testimony

From our very own TWU student, Mary! 

Prayer Requests

- Pray for the students as they head back to campus this fall, that they would find friends and ultimately encounter the love of Jesus through our community. Also that our student leaders would be confident in Christ as He works through them to outreach and love others well. 

- Pray for the staff members who are continuing to fundraise, that the Lord may provide for us just what we need, no more and no less. That He may continue to do amazing things through the connections we get to make with people. Pray that our hearts and minds would be open to the Spirit and ready for the year ahead, rooted in Christ alone. 

- Pray that students would know and look like Jesus more as a result of being in our ministry, and able to teach others to do the same. 

Special Invitation

I would like to invite each of you to attend or live stream our FOCUS Licensing Ceremony! This is where our staff members commit to staying on staff for a certain number of years. More than that, we commit to humbly serving and shepherding the students God has entrusted to us, living a godly life, and preaching Jesus rather than ourselves. 

I will be committing to one more year on staff with Denton. I am deeply honored to be able to do this, and would be honored if you would like to witness that commitment. 

Thank you for your generous support and making it possible to raise up this new generation of disciples. Your imitation of God’s faithfulness is bearing fruit! As always, please reach out if you have any prayer requests, questions or comments. 

With love,

Cathryn