2018
Happy New Year! Winter Camp is around the corner and is our first big event of the new year. We will be leaving this Friday. We have a speaker coming from a ministry we partner with in Washington state. He will be talking about Being Sent into the world.
Our Keep FOCUS Growing fundraiser was a big success. We reach more than our goal. We are blessed with such generous and supportive people. Thank you for giving and praying. We have already began work on renovating one of our classrooms and FOCUS is now able to offer us health insurance, that's a huge gift!
"FOCUS showed me what a real relationship with God is. Coming from a Christian private school, I thought I understood God pretty well but I didn't have a relationship with him at all. Through the example of my Corefas, staff members, and just so many other students, I saw what it means to earnestly seek God. One of my favorite moments from freshman year was a talk with my friend, Pedro. We were good friends at this point in the year, and I had become pretty vulnerable with him. We got into a serious conversation about our current walks with God, what that looks like, and why. After poorly answering how my relationship with God was "pretty good", Pedro really pushed my ideas of why I was Christian. I ended up realizing most of my faith was blindly following the laws God had given us, and not really seeking him out. Pedro then opened up to me that he had struggled with the same problem early on in his faith. I'm beyond thankful for Pedro and so many other friends like him who have spurred me on in love. Before FOCUS, this community, I was living half the life I am now. Now, I am living life with God, not just for him."
Awesome Student Leaders!
The last month of a school semester is always a little bitter sweet to me. Its sad to leave everyone for a little while, yet we all could use a break. It's also a time to celebrate and a time for our students to be diligently studying for finals. As the semester ended I was reminded of how cool it is that we have 40 college students who have shared their semester to help lead in our ministry. These student leaders attend weekly large and small group meetings where they are equipped with the appropriate tools to lead on campus. They lead a small group of guys or girls in their home and meet with them one-on-one. The hard work they put in is vary valuable and appreciated. They are being equipped now to learn how to befriend people at work and in class, how to have challenging conversation with people, how to be a steady and consistent friend, how to be organized and strategic and how to develop a foundation in Jesus. I really am so thankful for our student leaders at UNT, TWU and NCTC.
NCTC Family
I wanted to share this because it meant so much to me. One our NCTC students, Grace, who comes to our NCTC FOCUS every week made this drawing. Grace loves to draw and write. She made this drawing of each of the FOCUS NCTC students and gave it to us at our last meeting of the semester. The time and work she put into this says something about how much she appreciates our NCTC community. I have loved our weekly NCTC meetings. The students are so appreciative, encouraging and excited for what God is doing on that campus. I am continually encouraged by them. Praise God for bringing us such a diverse and kind group.
Student Testimony
"FOCUS showed me what a real relationship with God is. Coming from a Christian private school, I thought I understood God pretty well but I didn't have a relationship with him at all. Through the example of my Corefas, staff members, and just so many other students, I saw what it means to earnestly seek God. One of my favorite moments from freshman year was a talk with my friend, Pedro. We were good friends at this point in the year, and I had become pretty vulnerable with him. We got into a serious conversation about our current walks with God, what that looks like, and why. After poorly answering how my relationship with God was "pretty good", Pedro really pushed my ideas of why I was Christian. I ended up realizing most of my faith was blindly following the laws God had given us, and not really seeking him out. Pedro then opened up to me that he had struggled with the same problem early on in his faith. I'm beyond thankful for Pedro and so many other friends like him who have spurred me on in love. Before FOCUS, this community, I was living half the life I am now. Now, I am living life with God, not just for him."
Graham Spencer
Collin College, Spring Creek
Illustration
Sophomore
Prayer Requests
Pray for our upcoming Winter Camp, that the hundreds of students who attend would radically encounter God. Pray that our students would build deep friendships during this time.
Please pray that students would be reaching out in their new classes this semester, and purposeful in their friendships.
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