Ready to Be Back in Town!

May is always a crazy month with our SICM trip--10 days in the Pacific Northwest, spending time investing in students and equipping them for leadership in the coming school year. Sarah and I were back for a couple weeks to wrap up the school year and the apprenticeship, and then we left for Colorado! We got to spend a few days with Geoff and Jessica Mumley from Bellingham, WA. For those who don't know, Geoff is the director of the ministry that hosts SICM. He and Jessica first became key partners in ministry, and that grew into a very meaningful friendship. We got to spend time in the mountains with them, encouraging one another and talking about ministry for the coming years.

Then Sarah and the Mumley's flew out and a group of younger men pastors and alumni joined me for a few more days in the mountains. I use this time each year to build deeper relationships with key men who I see as especially worth investing in. One of the exciting parts of this year was inviting Mick, Kevin, and Stian who will be on our pastoral staff at Collin College next year. Collin will be a new area of focus for both Sarah and me in the coming year as that team transitions away from Garrett Davis's long-term leadership (since he's at SMU now) and gets ready for exciting new things!

All that to say, I'm ready to be home! I will spend the summer connecting with God, with potential new student leaders, with various alumni and ministry partners, as well as plenty of our pastoral staff and current student leaders. It's a lot of people, but a slower pace. We will also start planning for the fall, but most of that work will come in August. I gathered a bunch of pics to show you what's been going on!

Not mentioned above, I got to spend a night in Austin hanging out with three alumni who I got to coach when they were student leaders. It's awesome to see how their faith and service continues to grow!

At SICM, Stian and Lindsey and I got to lead a hike for around 40 of our students.

Sarah and I live a rough and sacrificial life, having to go to places like this. :-P

Hanging out with Geoff and Jessica Mumley. And the Breckenridge Troll.

Jonathan is a recent grad who I spent time with all through his college career. He's back in Colorado Springs, where he grew up, and I got to spend a day with him! I was so encouraged to hear how he is thinking through where to go to church and how to meet the needs he sees around him.

More of the crew who came up. Not pictured are our admin Paul and Mick, who will be an apprentice at Collin.

Many have asked about my nephew Brooks who spent many months in the hospital after being born prematurely.

He's home and doing well! He's doing multiple hours a day off the ventilator as his lungs grow stronger. The hope is that he will be completely off it by early fall and they can remove his trach completely once the next cold and flu season is over.

I've also got another new buddy in Peter's son William.

We watched some apprentice sermons together. I wasn't distracted at all.

Thank you for investing in this mission work and praying for God's work on campus. FOCUS is in a great place, and I'm excited to see the impact we can have together the next school year. 2024-25 here we come!

Student Testimony!