What does a week of campus ministry look like?





 This past month has been stretching, encouraging, productive and fun! I work with a great team and I am not thankful enough for what I'm getting to do. The team I work with wants to see me grow as a disciple and child of God; what a great team to work for! I've learned so much and have seen God working in big ways. In this post I want to share about this team I work with, what I've been learning, some of the students I meet with and what an average week looks like for me!

Study Time!
New Testament Class.
As you may know, as an intern I am taking a few classes each week through our church during this 10 month program. This is our group getting ready for our New Testament class. In addition to this class we are currently taking an Old Testament and an Evangelism class. Something I have learned in our Old Testament class is how faithful our God is and how he fights for us and wants to redeem us. In the New Testament class I've learned so much on how to experience God in my own life. God longs to be with us, the ones he created, and what joy and peace come from sitting in the shade of his Holy Spirit. 
Denton Staff Meeting!
Hopefully you recognize this crew from one of my previous posts. This is the Denton team, the 6 (I'm taking the picture) of us lead our 3 FOCUS campus ministries in the Denton area. The 6 of us get together once a week to sit down and plan, debrief, and pray! In these meetings we discuss what to do and coordinate for our all campus weekly fellowship night, which we call Friday Night Fellowship. We discuss any upcoming events that need to be planned and any other needs that need to be met in our community.
From the left:Cody, Matt, Kelly, Miriam, and Sarah
Supervisor Meeting
Once a week Matt Clark (my supervisor) and I meet. This meeting is always helpful and encouraging for me. Matt and I have known each other for several years now, and I'm very thankful for his example and care for our students. Matt is who I report to and seek any tips or advice and often technology advice (hey it's helpful in today's world to have a friend who can help you with computer and phone questions). Beyond that Matt is a great source of accountability, encouragement, motivation, challenge and just a good friend.  In these meetings we'll talk about how I'm doing with classes, my meetings with students and anything else.
Peer Team Meetings
Throughout the week I meet with our student leaders, whom we call Core Facilitators (Corefa for short). These students lead our small community groups, which we call Core groups and they study the Bible one-on-one with other students on campus. I meet with 9 of our Corefa's in sets of 2 (and one set of three) to discuss how their Core groups and Bible studies are going.  This allows for a time when they can get advice, feedback and we can discuss a topic of some sort to help them grow as well. Meeting with these students is a big part and a favorite part of my week. These student leaders are learning some great discipleship skills during college that they can take and apply through the rest of their lives. I'm often blown away at how driven these student leaders are to spread the word of God to their classmates. These two guys in particular have served in our community for a few years now while in school. Nathan was in a Core group I lead as a student a couple years ago and now is a Core Facilitator himself for his second year. And Troy has also been leading as a Corefa for two years now. I am incredibly proud of these guys and their heart for God and people
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From the left: Nathan, Myself and Troy
Denton North Church.
DNC is the church we partner with. These Sunday services are a great way for our students to build connections with older adults and it allows for a community that our students can transition into after college.
Picnic After Church.
After DNC we often split up and get lunch together, on this particular Sunday we all had a picnic at the downtown square! It was a great time for fellowship and some fun yard games. 
North Central Texas College Update!
This is some of our NCTC leaders and students that we've met there. We all got together and had dinner and at a local restaurant, it was a great time for us to get to know each other more and work towards building a community. Things have been great at NCTC this past month. We have been continuing to meet students on that campus each week. At this point we have some students who are coming to Core groups and who are studying the Bible one on one with our student leaders, praise God!

A personal note
This month was my Grandma Mary's 80th birthday! It was a great celebration of a great woman. My Grandma is a great example of a hard worker,Godly woman and she's got a great sense of humor. Being in the Metroplex I don't often get to visit my extended family, but I have a great one! When you have a family that will get together to celebrate and throw a party for someone they love that says something about them. I'm very thankful for them and my Grandma. 


Things to be Praying for in October

Fall Camp: In a couple of weeks we have our yearly Fall Camp. This is an opportunity for the students at UNT, TWU, and NCTC to get together, worship God, listen to some great speakers and grow closer as a community over a weekend. Be praying for that weekend and that this will be a time when students can feel very loved and welcomed, and that they can experience God in big ways. 

NCTC Fellowship: Now that we've met some students at NCTC, we are wanting to have a Fellowship time this month. This is something we will do on campus. We will do some worship, sharing, and community building games. Be praying that students come with open hearts and feel welcomed. Pray that this can be a great time for us to grow in unity and cast a vision for God working on this campus. 

Student Testimony and Ministry Wide Prayer Requests: Each week we have a student or alumni share their testimony on our website and we also have prayer requests for our ministry in general. Click this link and check it out!



Comments

  1. What a story those pictures tell! Thanks for sharing your perspective on everything that is going on in Denton FOCUS. I really appreciate you as a part of our team, and I especially appreciate what you are doing at NCTC! Thanks Aaron!

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