SCHOOL IS BACK IN SESSION!

HI FRIENDS! 

I am so excited and grateful for you guys! This past month was so eventful and God was really moving at the UTA campus. I can't wait to see what happens with it. The students are finally back in school, and we got to do welcome week this past week. It was so fun and the university put on some amazing events for us to be apart of.  Our staff and students had also recently just come back from a college ministry leadership trip where we all were refreshed and learned more about how to reach out to people and engage with others on a college campus! 

These are some of the girls on the UTA campus that 
I get to do ministry with this year. Some of them are on
our leader team, and others are returning to the ministry!

Some of the girls and I doing a hike
at the ministry retreat. 

WELCOME WEEK!

Throughout this past week we were so lucky to have met so many new students! We put on some super cool welcome week events as well as attended many the University put on! UTA FOCUS was able with a generous donation to put on a petting zoo and popsicle event, as well as a casino night! These large events attracted many students and caused us to have lots of conversation time! 

Here we are handing out info and popsicles!
This is Sophie and my friend Hailey! 

We did lawn games out on campus multiple
nights and it was so fun and we loved it! 

NEW VOCAB! 

In these blogs this year you may hear some new words or phrases, let me break some of them down! 

Core: These are the core of our ministry, it is a gender specific group that meets weekly in someone's home where people can pursue meaningful friendships with one another. Throughout those friendships each person is challenged to look and act more like Jesus each week. These are great places for people to elevate their relationship with Jesus and also develop some lifelong friendships! 

Corefa: Along with core, we have corefas. These are core facilitators, they are there to just help facilitate the discussion. They are the leaders of the core, and the co-fa is their partner! 

FOJ: This stands for Focus on Jesus, it is our one on one bible study. It is something our corefas and other students in our ministry use to help understand the entire narrative of scripture. It starts in Genesis and through the course of 10 lessons you get to understand the fall and other pivotal points in scripture and how it connects to the New Testament. Then also while studying it in a one on one setting you get to understand further how to bring Jesus into your life past a bible study. 

T.N.F: This is Thursday Night Fellowship! It is our large group meetings that happen on Thursday night! It is worship, a sermon, and everyone in our U.T.A community coming together to celebrate how Jesus has worked in their life over the past week! 

 SCRIPTURE

God really laid 2 Timothy 1: 7 on my heart this week, and just that His spirit is really one of empowerment. That He has given us power and love, and that we should not be afraid to share His Gospel.  

Prayer Requests: 

• For our Corefas as they are starting school and starting to lead cores, that they do not get burned out and stay focused on school as well
• We have a lot of international students at our school, I would love some prayers that they get connected whether in our ministry or any organization so they can get some cool friends! 
• As a ministry we stay focus on mission and continue to be invitational and outward focused! 

Student Spotlight:

The Start of the Year

 Hi friends, thank you so much for joining in with me this year! 

    It is so crazy to think that the school year is almost about to begin! I am so grateful for everyone's generosity and how much you guys believe in me and also what God is doing on the University of Texas at Arlington Campus! I think it is going to be such a fun year. We just got back from staff retreat and are getting ready to head out to go to a student leadership conference. I think it is going to be such a fun exciting time for our students! I can't wait to see how God gets to use that time to shape them and also grow us into being better friends. 

Back Row: Jalen, Graham, Austin, Me 
Front Row: Emily T, Sophie, Taylor, Emily M, Sarah 

  This is the Arlington Staff, I am super excited to get to work alongside them this year! They are so funny, compassionate, and really just have a heart for God's people. We got to share our different stories at staff retreat, play games, hang out, and I just am so excited to be joining their team!

The Arlington Apprentices 
Left to Right 
Sophie, Emily, Graham, Me 

I get to also have a sweet relationship with my new roommates, two of which also get to do the apprenticeship alongside of me, and then one is a student who attends UTA. Here we are going to get cookies and do a cookie taste test and review, something that has become a weekly tradition.

 

One of the sweetest moments is our friend Juli who goes to UTA, she came over and our whole house cooked a meal together. It was so sweet and fun! We made breakfast for dinner, and then we sat down with Juli and we all ate together! It was just a sweet time to be together and also to get to know Juli more. 

Prayer Requests 

1. Praying for us to meet students and for our own personal anxieties regarding outreach to not be a hinderance 

2. UTA is also starting to branch out onto the TCC campus, so if you could be praying for our small groups that are starting over there. 

3. If you could also be praying for the other apprentices and myself as we are taking on our classes. The work load is heavy, but so exciting! So just keep us in your thoughts! 

I hope you guys can find some of this encouraging! I am getting super excited and encouraged as I get ready to start the school year! I think we are going to see God do some big things coming out of Covid! I can't wait to keep you guys updated! Stay tuned for more monthly ministry updates! Love you guys