Skip to main content

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

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone, and happy new year! At least that's how it feels in FOCUS when August 1st hits. Welcome Week is around the corner, brand new pastoral apprentices are joining our team, and a whole new wave of students are coming to DFW to begin or continue their college careers, and will hopefully encounter Jesus while they're here. Last Summer FOCUS of 2024 Tonight is our last Summer FOCUS, where all the local students join together for a weekly worship service.  We took a group picture last Thursday, and you can see just how many students make the drive each week, some from all the way across the metroplex. One of the most special moments this summer was when a group of Hispanic students & ministers led worship together in both English and Spanish throughout the night.  It was a really cool way of experiencing the first fruits of the Biblical promise that we will witness a "great multitude from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the...

Baby Bass!

Hi everyone, I hope you and your families had a fun Halloween and are looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas! As you could see in the title, Erin and I have huge news!! We're expecting our first baby this May, 2025! We will hopefully find out the gender later this month, so there's a good chance I'll get to share that by the next ministry update. We've been thinking and praying about having a child since getting married in 2022, and are overjoyed to have one on the way. Please pray for Erin's safety as pregnancy progresses, and that our baby grows strong and finds a life waiting for them filled abundantly with love, and a passion for the Lord. Shoutout to our old friends from UTA FOCUS, Nathan and Parker, who did a FREE photo shoot for us! Check out some of our favorite reactions from family and friends Update with Jaden! Our baby isn't the only encouraging thing to share this month! October has also been really exciting with regard to SMU and ministry! Y...

California, Dallas, & San Antonio

Hi everyone, I hope you've been staying cool in the heat, and staying safe if you live along the coast. If anyone suffered any damage and there's anything I can do or people I can connect you with, please don't hesitate to reach out! Praying for y'all. Summer Growth Just because students are taking a break doesn't mean that God has been! He's still been moving and maturing them as disciples, getting them ready for this coming school year! Two students in particular come to mind. I've gotten to keep up with Jaden and Luke over the summer. Luke is in town taking summer classes, and Jaden and I have been Facetiming from California to Texas, continuing to study the Bible together where we left off in May. You may remember Jaden - I shared a bit of his story and his coming to know Jesus this semester in a ministry update a few months ago! A wise man once said, "If you make your life about climbing the ladder, you'll pass Jesus on his way down." Jad...