Skip to main content

The Kingdom has Grown by 1!

Hi everyone! I hope you've been able to enjoy the warmer weather recently. Thank you for taking the time to read about what God has been doing on SMU's campus this month!

Toby

Speaking of warmer weather, ministry has also been heating up this month! I want to introduce you to my friend, Toby! He has a great story!

He and I have been studying the Bible since the fall. Last year, a FOCUS student invited him to check out an event, but since Toby had grown up around Christians and never had much interest in God or faith, he turned the student down.

After the summer, he decided to reach back out and ask about checking out a FOCUS event just to see what it's all about. He checked out my small group, and has since become a consistent part of the community! His interest in Jesus has absolutely blossomed and he has become the most enthusiastic member of the group!

(Ironically, I think he had just left for soccer practice right before we took this picture)

He's started hanging out with different FOCUS students outside of small group and has had meaningful conversations with most of them about God and what they believe about him.

(He's gonna kill me when he sees I used this picture)

This last week we met up to read scripture, and he said he's ready to consider himself a Christian after having become completely captivated by Jesus and the God's word. He said he's even starting to have a hunch that seminary and/or full-time ministry may be in his future.

I've loved coming home after my meetings with Toby to share stories of things he's said with Erin, and I'm excited and honored to share some of those stories with you. He recently told me, "I think I finally understand why so many of my family members choose to follow Jesus."

Praise God for his patience and desire to bring Toby into a relationship with him! He's answered my prayers and, I would bet, countless prayers from Toby's family members over the years.

Pizza Theology

Pizza Theology is an event the broader FOCUS community hosts where we invite students from every campus in DFW to come together for a deep dive into a particular theological topic. This spring, we talked about the Bible. Specifically, how it came to exist, who wrote it, how books were placed into the Biblical canon, translations, how to interpret passages faithfully, and more.

We mad more SMU students come to Pizza Theology this semester than ever before! You can barely see Toby's arm behind Jacob and David on the right lol
(He took over 5 pages of notes)

Here are some more pictures from the event!






KCC Small Group

I mentioned in some previous ministry updates that we're heating up ministry in the dorms, themselves. Later today (in 2.5 hours to be exact), we're going to start a Kathy Crow Commons small group! The husband of the dorm's director is a devoted follower of Jesus and is excited to partner with us so that we can work together to reach students. I'll let you know how it goes next month! We should have met 3 times by then.


George, the true star of the show

God is moving in a lot of ways on campus! You're reading one ministry update from one minister (of 4) in one ministry (of 10+) at SMU! I'm so grateful to have you as my partner in God's work here. Please continue praying for these students! Specifically, keep Toby, Jaden, and Andrew in your prayers. The latter 2 are right on the edge of deciding to follow Jesus as well. I'll probably share about them in future updates! May God bless you as we all work together to usher in the Kingdom of God into our lost world.

Your brother,
Taylor

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

She's here!

Hi everyone, As expected, May was a very eventful month. We wrapped our final programming at SMU for the semester, sent off 100+ students from Dallas/Fort-Worth to SICM, and most importantly, Audrey was born! (Not biased at all) Get ready for the biggest photo dump of my career. Baby Last pic before becoming parents! Fresh out the oven Meeting dad Meeting grandparents Meeting grandparents Ready for the world Leaving the hospital Leaving the hospital (fit check) Dog approved Happy mode Angry mode Silly goofy mode Comfy cozy Camera shy First photo shoot First photo shoot First photo shoot Being a baby is exhausting My favorite SICM You've seen me write about SICM the last few months, and it's finally come! Tons of students from our ministries in Dallas / Fort Worth flew up to Washington for a campus ministry leadership conference. Here are a few pics of the whole group! SMU's team of students being prayed over Back to Dallas Thank you all very much for your support. If you w...

Summer FOCUS

It's been a slower month on the ministry front. We've got a few new students transferring into SMU this fall who have already gotten connected. Besides that, most of my time has been spent raising support, meeting our local SMU students, and getting acclimated to being a father. Summer FOCUS We've still been having a weekly fellowship night, and it's been great! This is the ad we put up around SMU for Summer term students to see We've had a great turnout from our campuses around DFW! Probably around 200 students who drive out to Richardson on a weekly basis Students I've talked to have been feeling impacted by the messages, and touched by the worship. Baby Audrey's now been here for a month! Here are some recent highlights. First big smile! Honk shoo 🤨 Loves affection 🍵 Not too much to report this month, but once August and especially September rolls in, things will get crazy and I'll have lots of stories to share! I hope you enjoyed some pics of baby ...

Over 600 students!!

Wow, the first month of 2025 has already wrapped up! I hope the new year has been going well for each of you so far. It's yet to be seen how this year with treat our ministry at SMU, but so far it's been very encouraging! Winter Retreat We just finished up our biggest event of the year! At Winter Retreat, over 600 students (possibly even 700) from across Dallas / Fort Worth drove out to spend the weekend in Glen Rose to praise God and grow in their faith. This was the most lively group we've ever brought. There were several occasions where we finished our worship session, but the students just kept singing and forced the band to pick the song back up! lol unfortunate for them, but what an incredible problem to have. We also had our largest group from SMU attend!  A total of 22 came out. That's about half our ministry! Now that more SMU students are experiencing winter retreat, they will get to share how great of an experience it was to their peers when it rolls back aro...