Laying Groundwork for Next Year

I'm in the middle of some of the busiest months of my year. We're wrapping up annual reviews with my amazing staff, finishing up interviews for the 2015-16 internship, putting our group together for the annual SICM trip, and preparing to host 2 teams of students from Washington at the end of the month for outreach on our campuses--all on top of my regular schedule of appointments and teaching. I'm looking forward to the students leaving for Spring Break so I can catch my breath!

We have an outstanding group of potential interns this year, and I can't wait to share with you about them next month. As for SICM, we invited and are taking our biggest group ever! I think we'll take 77 students and 13 staff from our various campuses to be trained in campus ministry. Please pray for good airline prices as we will be buying lots of tickets in the next couple of days. (The group rates were ridiculous this year, so we are buying them piecemeal and averaging the cost for the students in hopes of saving money.)

And UTD has a bumper crop for SICM--55 of the 105 total students we invited are from UTD. So I'm really excited about our leader team for next year!

This was the first group that went to SICM back in 2002 (Leah Farmer Lorenz, me, Debra Boswell Bottoms, and Brad Davis), paid for in full by Glynn Lively. It's overwhelming to think how that investment has paid off, in so so many ways. I can't wait to share with you the picture of the 90ish people that will go this May to be equipped for ministry. God is good!

For those of you in the area, we have a special fundraiser coming up this month to help raise money for SICM, the Spring Showcase.  This will be a concert and art show held on March 28 at 8pm at Legacy Church in Plano. It will feature some great musical talent from students and also have student art available for purchase. We have some amazingly talented people across our community--I'm really looking forward to this event!

If you are interested in going, all of the students going to SICM this year are selling tickets or you can buy them at anyfocus.org/showcase.

Here's a taste of last year's concert--one of my favorite performances.  And Ana is singing again this year!

Post by Charles Guo.

February was a tough month in some ways--students struggling with oppressive thoughts, finding out about significant illnesses, and some tough staff transitions. As always, I covet your prayers for this community. Pray for us to put on the full armor of God and stand firm (Ephesians 6). Please pray for Jacob who will have surgery to remove a brain tumor in the next week or so. I'm praying God will move and the doctors will not find what they are expecting. Thank you for praying! And thank you to those of you who partner with us financially to make it possible for me to invest in the lives of young people.