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Big Month!

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Hi everyone! I hope you had a restful July and stayed cool. 🌤 As you may have seen on social media, Erin and I got Married! Here are a few sneak peeks we got last week. Cute Wholesome All of the men in this picture (besides my brother), I met in FOCUS as a student at UTA. I seriously love each of them so dearly. Thank God for community! More SMU Hangouts! You may recognize the middle 2 from last week! A group of SMU students went bowling after work a few days ago. I was winning until Charles snuck up on me - then I got wrecked. From left to right we have me, Jacquelyn, Jacob, Brenden, Charles, and Abigail! Meet Jonathan! He just finished his first year of college. He's loved the time he's gotten to spend with his new friends in FOCUS, and is going to be a student-leader with us this year! He's a pretty serious student and has been feeling stressed with all his commitments so please be praying for him and for the students God will place in his path this year! I should have
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Lots of pics of lots of people!

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Hello friends! Thanks for checking out my monthly ministry update. For those who are new here, welcome !! Thank you so very much for your support. I pray that these monthly updates encourage you as you catch a glimpse into the many wonderful things God is doing on the college campus. Staff Trip! I've got lots of pictures  to share from this month! As of June, I've officially transitioned from the UTD FOCUS Minister Staff to SMU's! We took a hiking trip at the Palo Duro Canyon last weekend to get to know one another better before the year starts, and to meet each's significant others! From left to right we have me, Laurence, Sarah, Siena, Jacob, and Erin! I'll briefly introduce each of them to you! If you're more here for the pics, you're welcome to scroll past the intros. ;) Laurence directs SMU Focus and will be mentoring me throughout the year! We've been meeting up on a weekly basis and that's already been a sweet and enriching time. I've bee
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The Transition Begins

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As of 12:00am this morning, the FOCUS Apprenticeship has officially concluded! Thank you all for your support throughout the year and for believing in me and in God's mission on the college campus.  If you're new here, welcome ! And thank you for deciding to support me this upcoming year -- whether financially or in prayer. I pray that through these monthly ministry updates, God will bless and encourage you. He has many great things in store for college students this year and we all get to be a part of it! Celebrations The FOCUS Staff gifted us personalized metallic prints in celebration of officially completing the apprenticeship! I'll have to find a place to hang it in the new apartment when Erin and I get married next month. Here's to hoping she likes it as much as I do 🤞🏼 Graham, one of our apprentices (until 12am this morning, that is) at UTA designed this shirt for the apprentices! Each of us is represented by one of the little monsters. Bonus points if you c
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The Year's Winding Down

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Hi everyone, happy May! I hope this ministry update blesses you; it's the very last one of my apprenticeship! You can still expect one next month, but that will be after my apprenticeship officially concludes and I continue on as a part of the overall Focus team. Brandon! Each campus minister in Focus is assigned a "Pastoral Supervisor" who coaches/mentors them throughout the year. This is Brandon, who I got paired with! He's one of the wisest people I know and has been such a role model to me all year long. He'll be real with me, sharing the sensitive details going on in his life, while constantly teaching me how to minister to students, and manage an entire non-profit organization at the same time. I'm sad that I won't be working with him as closely next year, but am so grateful to be able to keep up our friendship as a part of the same church, as well as at all-campus meetings.  P.S. It's his birthday tomorrow! Pictures galore! Here are all of our U
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2 BIG Changes!

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Hi everyone!   I hope you've been enjoying the great (and the rough) weather spring has brought! I'm gonna be a Mustang! Or... a Pony..? If you didn't catch my last blog post, I accepted a position to stay with FOCUS as a full-time campus minister for the next 4 years! I'll be transitioning to Southern Methodist University which will be a BIG change, coming from UT Dallas! UTD FOCUS has 15 ministers and around 200 students, while SMU will have 3 ministers and roughly 40 students. It will be a challenge to adapt to but I'm honestly really excited for it! Also is SMU the Mustangs or the Ponies? Google says yes. I may never figure that one out. And in other news... I'm getting married! For those who haven't met her, this is Erin! We met in FOCUS as students at UT Arlington and I've had the pleasure of dating her for the last year and a half. She's insanely generous, kind, and empathetic. I constantly see or hear about her showing Jesus to her roommates,
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Big Night and Big News!

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Hi everyone! Showcase Showcase 2022 was incredibly successful! We had around 800 people make it out between both shows and raised $27,000! That will be used exclusively to help our students pay for SICM (The Student Institute of Campus Ministry). That's the annual ministry training conference in Bellingham, WA which we send our students to every May! (This will be the first time back to normal in 3 years! I went in 2018 and it was mind-blowing.) Southern Methodist University I've got exciting news! The FOCUS leadership asked me if I'd be willing to join SMU's team of pastors this coming Fall, and said they'd love to have me on for at least four years! I took some time to pray about it and I'm excited to announce that I accepted the position and will be transitioning after this school year! I'm especially excited to spend more time with students as I'll have wrapped up all my apprentice classes by that time. I'm also eager to experience being on a sma
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Ministry and Mustaches

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Hi everyone! Great job making it through the first month of 2022! My apologies for being a week later than normal; I had a minor surgery that knocked me out for a bit. However, I'm recovering rapidly and am now feeling great. Praise the Lord! Winter Camp Thank you all for your prayers leading up to FOCUS Winter Camp 2022! I'm grateful to share that it was very successful. We had around 400 students make the drive out to Sky Ranch in Van, Texas to spend the weekend with one another praising God, deepening their friendships, and learning about scripture and church history at a collegiate level. We had a well-respected seminary professor named Rikk Watts fly down to be our speaker for the weekend. Coincidentally, I and the other FOCUS apprentices are all presently taking a New Testament class with him! It's seriously been so insightful already. I've learned a TON. 4 of the students in our core (small group) came to Winter Camp! Left to right: Myself, Nhala, Solomon, Jared,
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