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From Panama to Dallas

Hi everyone, and happy March! I hope you're well. Ministry at SMU has been more encouraging than ever. Last semester felt like a grind trying to help students catch a vision of developing deep, vibrant community with one another. This semester, they've started catching it and have been taking it into their own hands!

Juan-Pablo

One such student is Juan Pablo! He's a freshman from Panama. He might not look like it but he has a DEEP Panamanian accent which is always fun to hear. What's even more fun is watching new people's reactions when they hear him speak for the first time.

He and I have been studying the bible since October. He grew up around Christianity, and both of his parents are committed disciples. However since coming to college, he's been owning his faith for the first time. He has been growing exponentially each month and we recently invited him to a leadership conference which is coming up in May! He told me he feels honored to receive an invitation and has been feeling a renewed eagerness to grow as a leader.

It's clear to me that God has brought him to America, Dallas, and SMU in specific for a reason.

Pizza Theology

You've probably seen me share about this event in past semesters. FOCUS hosts a multi-campus event twice a year where we invite any student to come explore a deep-dive into a particular theological (often controversial) topic. This semester we discussed money and how God teaches us to use and relate to it all throughout the scriptures.

We had a couple dozen students from SMU give up 5 hours on a Sunday to learn. In total we had 400 students from across Dallas/Fort Worth!

Community Group growing

God has been continuing to bring new people to our Bible study on campus! We moved into this room after outgrowing Luke's dorm, and now we're having to consider whether we need to move to an even bigger room!

This was our group a couple weeks ago, and that's with several key members missing! We're considering inviting several of these guys to lead next year, and it's been so exciting watching them mature in their faiths!

Please be praying for these students as we send out invitations to our annual leadership conference near Seattle, WA. Pray that God will inspire a passion in their hearts to build his kingdom on campus, and lead many of their peers into a deeper relationship with Jesus. 

Thank you so much for your support. Generation after generation of college students are graduating and bringing what they found in Jesus in college back to the rest of the world.

Your brother,
Taylor

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