Taylor's Ministry Updates! (2021-2025)

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,...

Hi friends! I hope you enjoyed Christmas, New Years, and any other Holidays you celebrated last month! Christmas Party! Speaking of the holidays, I'd like to share a few pictures from UTD Focus's Christmas Party! This is the sweet team of ministers I get to work with at UTD! They're such a blast. They all exemplify Jesus so well both to me and all the students we're blessed to shepherd. Here are a few of the faces you've seen in most of my previous blogs! Not everyone from Core (our small group) could make it that night, but these 4 did! From left to right: Nhala, myself, Jared, Sion, and Sylvia! And these are my roommates! I seriously love getting to live with them. They're all so goofy, fun, and full of Jesus's love. From left to right we have Ari, myself, Peter, Kyle, and Luke. I couldn't leave out our sixth roommate, David! He couldn't make it to the Christmas party that night. He's hidden in one of my previous blogs... bonus points if you ca...

Hello again, my friends! 15 Years Later... Well guys, the thing I was most worried about in doing the apprenticeship has finally come... Giving a sermon! (Or in this case, 1/3 of a sermon in partnership with the other 2 UTD apprentices.) I distinctly remember as a kid looking up at the pastor of my childhood church thinking I would NEVER do that. I would never want to stand up in front of so many people and give a sermon, and I would never be able  to do so! I wonder if God chuckled a bit when he heard me thinking that, knowing where my path would lead 15 years later. Luckily, the staff in FOCUS have been extremely gracious with tips and training in helping us conquer our fear and communicate authentically and thoughtfully through sermons. Even with all that training, I was nervous and even emotionally numb when the time came and I realized my only hope was to pray and ask God to speak through me in spite of my incapability. God answered that prayer! It went way better than I cou...

Hello again, my friends! Halloween 2021 is the books, and soon the semester will be too! Jamarkis I want to start by introducing you to my friend Jamarkis! He's a Junior who just transferred this semester, and has gotten plugged into Focus at UTD as well as a church that a lot of us are a part of, called Northeast Church Garland. I asked him if he'd be willing to share a bit of his story: Jamarkis (Paraphrased): I was pretty sheltered as a kid and never got the chance to learn much beyond the confines of my family and home. When I got older and moved to Galveston, I was quickly sucked into a culture full of partying and smoking weed, surprised by all the things I didn't know the world had to offer. After being stuck in what felt like limbo for years, I made a friend and mentor who invested in me 1-on-1, teaching me how to make something better of my life. I haven't gotten to see him as much since I moved to Dallas but I feel the impact of his friendship and guidance eve...

Hello again, my friends! Fall Camp! I bring more good news. The second month of ministry at UTD was just as successful as the first! Thank you so much for your prayers as we prepared for Fall Camp. In the end, we had 125 students make the drive out to Mount Lebanon on a Saturday, which they could have spent any number of different ways! Instead, they all decided to invest their time to deepen their faiths, play games, share meals, and listen to student-testimonies/stories from their brothers and sisters in Christ. We also had several students come who don't consider themselves Christians and they expressed having an awesome time making friends and breaking down some misconceptions they had about how much Christians can love them and one another. Here are 4 of the guys from my weekly small group who came to Fall Camp! From left to right, we have Jared, Nhala, Solomon, and Sion. This is Solomon's first year in college and while he was reluctant to come to Fall camp at first, he s...

Hello again, my friends! Weeks of Welcome UTD students began arriving to campus 2 weeks ago, which marked the beginning of UTD's annual "Weeks of Welcome." For the first couple weeks of the school year, UTD hosts tons of events to foster an environment in which students can build friendships and connections with one another. The pastors and student-leaders in FOCUS have been hitting the ground SPRINTING, hosting events once or even twice a day, trying to make the most of these two weeks.  Here you see one of the unofficial events I put together... Spikeball! Spikeball is one of my absolute favorite games and the only thing that can make it better is also doing ministry at the same time. :) Here, also, is a selfie 3 UTD freshmen and I took on our way back from Whataburger after one of our many packed board-game nights! From left to right we have Spencer, Hansen, Cade,  and myself. (With a beard! Unlike last week's blog...) They repeatedly expressed how meaningful it w...

Hello friends and partners in ministry, It's finally here! After a long summer of putting together our financial & prayer support team, I'm pleased to announce I've been fully support-raised and the apprenticeship is now in full swing! God is so good, and I've already gotten to taste hints of what he has prepared for this year. This past Sunday, we had our official Minister Licensing Ceremony! Take a look at the 2021-2022 FOCUS Apprenticeship Team. These are the men and women with whom I will deepen my understanding of God's word in weekly classes, and praise God together regularly by sharing good news about how we've experienced his hand on our college campuses. I have already gotten the chance to establish a relationship with nearly all of them. I'm so excited to work alongside these brothers and sisters of mine as we together love and glorify the good God we get to serve. Thank you again for all your support. It's because of your generous prayers ...