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Fall then Bald

H

ey everyone! I hope you enjoyed Halloween if you had any festivities this year. And I hope you've been enjoying the cooler weather. It's given me the chance to finally try out my SMU hoodie!

Fall Retreat!

Once a year in the Fall, we'll invite our students to a retreat center outside the city for a weekend! It went extremely well! We worshiped together, heard several students share their stories, and spent a ton of time building relationships through games, crafts, and 1-on-1 "walk & talks" through nature!

Here's the whole crew! (Besides 3 friends who had to leave early!)

Rock painting

(Arm...?) painting

On our way to play football & volleyball (Jerry with the goggles was WAY too serious) lol

Volleyball!

Miles, Jerry, and Jacob

Can you tell it was way too early?

Firepit & S'mores! (I also thought this was a great pic of my friend Will!)

And there's Fall Retreat! It was a blast and I can't wait for Winter Retreat in January, where all the FOCUS campuses throughout DFW come together for a full 3-day weekend! That's one of my favorite events for the year and our students are pumped for it. :)


From Nigeria to America

Meet my new friend Benji! He was actually first a part of our FOCUS ministry at Richland College until he transferred to SMU. Very interesting guy! He grew up in Nigeria, moved to America a few years ago, and is now finishing his undergrad degree while working with our football team!

Halloween!

We just had our Halloween Party last night! A student shot photos with his nice camera so they won't be developed in time, but I did want to share one from my phone...

Feast your eyes. 
And yes, I (actually Erin) did, in fact, shave my head.

It was based on this Scottish character from a Medievil show Erin and I have been watching. I've got to be honest, I think we were pretty spot on!

Erin quite enjoyed the task

Keep Focus Growing!

Finally, save the date for November 29th! Coordinated with Giving Tuesday, FOCUS will be holding our big annual fundraiser called Keep Focus Growing! Some of our generous donors have banded together and agree to match up to $57,000 in total donations during this campaign. So, if we receive $57,000 in total contributions, they will kick in a SECOND $57,000! If you feel comfortable, I'd like to invite you to consider giving! I'll likely share about it once or twice on Facebook when the time gets closer!


Regardless, I'm so grateful for each of you on my ministry support team. Those who partner with me financially and those who have been praying for me or for our students make all this possible. Thank you!!




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