Almost Winter Camp!

Hey all, I have a few exciting things to tell you!

1.  We had THREE baptisms out of the Richland ministry last month, and they are three pretty different stories.  One of the guys was an international student from Rwanda really making a decision to follow Christ.  He made that decision only days before moving to Maryland to continue his education there, but one of the other campus ministries was able to connect him with a church in his new city led by a pastor from his home country!  Another guy has a Christian background but hadn't been living a life that brought glory to God.  He made a decision to live seriously for God instead of for himself.  And the third was a student's mom!  She came to her son's baptism last year and started coming to church.  Mandy (on staff) and Kristen Chapman (a long-time FOCUS supporter) had the opportunity to build a friendship with her and study the scriptures together--and she made the decision to make Jesus Lord of her life!  You would have been so encouraged to see each of these three make a solid decision to relinquish control and take a big step into the exciting plans God has for them.  

This is Landry sharing his testimony after his baptism.  The ICF staff was a huge part of God working in his life, and they got to be there too!

Travis baptizing Cameron.

Griffin's mom Leane talking before her baptism.  She is quite the preacher!  As she was going one of the Northeast elders walked in and asked who she was about to baptize. :-)

2.  Winter Camp is this weekend (Jan 18-21)!  Woo!  These are some of the most important days of the year for FOCUS, and I'd love for you to visit if you have the opportunity.  This year, we'll be at Sky Ranch in Van, TX.  We'll have morning and evening sessions both Saturday and Sunday.  If you are interested in coming out for a session and maybe a meal, please email me or call me.  We'd love to have you see with your own eyes how God is at work in these young men and women!  And if you'd like to help scholarship a student (or students) to come to camp, that would be a big help too.  As we've expanded to Richland and UNT, we've reached more and more students from lower income backgrounds.  We're committed to taking them with us, but camp costs $135/person.  Investing in the spiritual life of a young person is a great kingdom investment.

3.  My role is changing yet again.  We've rearranged some things on staff and I'll be leading the UTD ministry again as well as supporting the staff at the other campuses.  I'm so excited about it because I love UTD FOCUS!