Summer Work

I've been reflecting on the main two things I do in the summer--fundraising and putting together a leader team for the next year.

Forming a Leader Team
One of the most important things we do as campus pastors each year is select, equip, and launch the student leader team for the next school year. I ask myself, how was Jesus able to accomplish so much in only 3 years? And the answer always comes back to His ability to develop leaders who would carry on and expand His ministry. It's out of that conviction that we are always working to develop leaders. We realize that problems and conflicts are actually opportunities to teach students how to minister. We understand that our example is always being watched and followed by the students. They will examine not only how we act, but how we think through things. With a constant stream of students enrolling and graduating on only a few years, it is doubly important that we equip our student leaders to train up their own replacements so that the mission can keep going.

This summer the FOCUS staff has been meeting up with all the students we've identified as prospective leaders. And it's an outstanding group! I wish you could be a fly on the wall in some of these discussions and get to hear these students' passion for the Lord and desire to bless their peers. Holding a "core facilitator" role in FOCUS isn't the right fit for everyone, but every one of them can minister this year in meaningful and fruitful ways. Please pray that all of our leaders will remain in Jesus and bear much fruit (John 15:5).

Just a few of the great UTD students we've been talking to about leadership this summer. We expect to have more than 40 student leaders at UTD alone!

I wanted to share a couple reflections on what makes a great leader--the kinds of things we are looking for as we put together our 2014-2015 leadership team:

1. Character matters. I believe the axiom "Character is more caught than taught." A question we ask ourselves as leaders is this--if everyone in the ministry actually followed my example, what would the ministry look like? How often would we be together? How many visitors would be welcomed? How many people would be prayed for? How many lonely people would find new friends? How many students would be invited to real community? How many students would we share the scriptures about Jesus with this year? How unselfish would we be with our money, our time, our friendships, our dating? How many people would be encouraged? How many problems would be addressed? How many damaged relationships would be reconciled?

And on a more personal level, if everyone followed my example, how devoted to Jesus would we be? How much would we know His Word? How serious would we be about repenting of our sin? How kind, gentle, compassionate, thoughtful would we be?

We know none of us look like Jesus in all of these areas. The question is more about direction than perfection--where are we heading. I encourage you to consider these questions about your own ministry in your family, social group, church, etc. Our hope and prayer is for a leader team who will set the pace for the whole community this year.

2. Commitment matters. It's so easy for us to live with double standards. So many students would never think of missing work or class, but it's easy to justify skipping the opportunity we have to minister when the body of Christ comes together. At UTD, a student in Student Government automatically loses their seat if they miss more than three meetings, and Greek organizations charge large monthly membership fees.  These things are expected, but we don't expect the same things of ourselves when it comes to serving Jesus. (Of course, being in Student Government or a Greek organization can be a great opportunity to serve Jesus in and of themselves--that's not my point.) My point is that for so many, consistency is only present in our lives when it comes from one of two sources: threat of external consequences (failing my class, losing my job, getting kicked out of my club) and what sounds fun (I don't have much trouble getting students to consistently play video games or watch movies!).

But there's a more important source of consistency when it comes to Christian leadership--conviction. We are looking for students who make decisions to serve because they are convinced it's what God wants for them, because they are convinced that to have a deep, lasting, positive impact on another life, you have to show up. We are looking for young adults with the ability and willingness to make and keep promises, because it is our conviction that God is rarely spontaneous in His love for us, but is a planned and purposeful God whose love is expressed in making and keeping promises (2 Peter 1:4).

Lewis Smedes wrote a great meditation on this called "Controlling the Unpredictable--The Power of Promising" that I highly recommend. It would make a great personal devotional time! He writes, "When a man makes a promise, he creates an island of certainty in a heaving ocean of uncertainty. Can any human act, other than the act of forgiving, be more divine?"

Raising Support

The second thing I've been reflecting on is fundraising. I've been reading a booklet called The Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen. He has some powerful insights that have been banging around in my head. It's been great to consider both as someone who gives money to other organizations and as one who asks people to invest in the vision I have been given for campus missions.

"Fund-raising is also always a call to conversion. And this call comes to both those who seek funds and
those who have funds. Whether we are asking for money or giving money we are drawn together by God, who is about to do a new thing through our collaboration (see Isa. 43:19). To be converted means to experience a deep shift in how we see and think and act. To be converted is to be clothed in our right mind."

"If we raise funds for the creation of a community of love, we are helping God build the Kingdom. We are doing exactly what we are supposed to do as Christians."

"As long as our real trust is in money, we cannot be true members of the Kingdom."

I love the idea that God is calling me to be converted in my relationship to money.  I know that will be a lifelong process, and I'm praying for continual growth and renewal in that area.  I want to say "Thank you" to those of you who have contributed funds to create "a community of love" on campus.  It's so needed, and it's making a huge difference.  

Another baptism video

Just wanted to add this in.  Charles is one of the international students at UTD who has been investigating Jesus for the past couple years.  It's exciting to see the changes in his life as a result!

I Will Always Be the Prodigal Son

So the quick update is that SICM was outstanding, as always.  It somehow gets better each year.  The group we took was really special, and the teaching staff up there said the same.  All of that bodes well for our next school year!  I've had a number of young men ask to be student leaders in the fall at UTD, and I know the other staff are getting the same.

Another quick story is that one of our alumni just graduated from medical school and Mandy (my counterpart for the women) got to go to her graduation party.  When Mandy met this young lady's father, his response was "Oh, you're from FOCUS?  I'm so thankful for FOCUS.  It was one of the biggest blessings in my daughter's entire life."  Wow!  I wish you (and I) could have been there.  What an honor to be a part of someone's story in that way.  Thanks for all the ways you support me and this mission to the campus--it keeps making a difference.

I wanted to highlight this month the two guys on my staff that I work most closely with.  They are both outstanding examples of what a young man of God should be--humble, teachable, and growing.  They are both very gifted in different ways and they have chosen to use those gifts to serve and bless UTD students.

Laurence, Sirak, and me.  I'm the really handsome one on the right.

Sirak is gifted musically and intellectually.  On the side, he teaches Sociology at Richland College, and his students love him because they know he loves them. (see his reviews on Rate My Professor) He oversees the worship teams for both universities, but he is especially gifted as a mentor for young men.  He's evangelistic, insightful, and encouraging.  He's entering his second year as a full staff member, and I'm so blessed to work alongside him another year.

Laurence just finished his internship with us last week.  At the end of the internship, each intern preaches a sermon to our entire staff about what God has taught them over the course of the year.  You would have been so encouraged to hear the kind of transformative work the Lord has done in those 9 lives through the FOCUS internship. Those sermons might be my favorite part of the whole year.  Laurence started by having us look up a painting on our smart phones and spend a few moments contemplating it.  It's called The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt.

He went on to share 3 personal axioms that sum up what God has been teaching him this year:

1. If I want to change, I have to choose to.
2. I've got to let myself be put on display. [think Jesus hanging on the cross, not a celebrity on stage]
3. I will always be the prodigal son.

That last point really ministered to me.  He shared about learning at a deeper level that he will always need God's grace, that he won't graduate from the cross.  He said, "The cross is it--you either kneel or hit the road."  The sermon was a powerful reminder to me that God wants to use us in our weakness, not once we get strong.  I encourage you to take it to heart--you will always be the prodigal son or daughter, but He will always be the ridiculously extravagant Father, hitching up his robes to run and meet you!  He doesn't start that way and then become like the older brother.  (Hopefully us older brothers become like Him.)  You won't graduate from the cross--God wants to use you as you are, where you are.  Obey Him today, and you'll end up where you need to be tomorrow.  That's the very nature of the faith relationship.

I'm so excited about Laurence bringing that spirit to our men's ministry.  He's an excellent teacher, but I'm always mindful of another leadership axiom: Character is caught, not taught.  Laurence is coming on as a full staff member to work with the men at UTD, and I'm really excited about what he brings to the table.

It's guys like these that have me more excited than ever about campus ministry.  It's on campus that we can find the best and brightest and give them a vision to spend their lives on things of eternal value, things of Kingdom-importance.  I could tell stories like these about everyone on the FOCUS staff, and so many more besides.  I appreciate your prayers--God is moving!

UTD Testimonies

We had an open mic night at UTD for our last Friday Night Fellowship of the school year.  So many really meaningful stories were shared of people coming to know Jesus and having their lives changed by Him.  The prompt was "What have you seen God do in your life or in the lives of people around you this year?"

A lot of students shared, so the audio is almost 90 minutes, but if you'd like to listen to some or all of it, I know you'll be encouraged.  It's at:

anyfocus.org/utd/resources/utdmedia/viewmediaevent/1386

The End of Another School Year

We've been in the process these last few weeks of wrapping up the school year--debriefing the year, cementing lessons learned, prepping students for summer and beyond, and saying goodbye. It's always a tough time of year for our staff.  Since it's our conviction that Jesus ministered in the context of friendships and that we should minister like He did, we get close to these great young disciples just in time to send them off. I know Jesus had to do the same thing and experienced some of the same emotions. I ask you to pray for our hearts this time of year, because they tend to take a beating!

But even as things die down, others are ramping up. We are about to head to SICM with 80 people--70 potential student leaders and 10 pastors and interns from our 6 different campuses.  That's up from 65 attending last year.  SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry) is one of the most important things we do every year to prepare our upcoming leaders for ministry and help them catch the vision of reaching these campuses with the good news about Jesus.  Please pray for safe travels, for lots of deep friendships to form, and for the things they learn to plant deep in their hearts and bear fruit in the right time.

Also in May, our incoming intern class will start assembling their support teams for the coming school year.  It's an outstanding group!  Will you say a prayer, right now, that God will provide plenty of financial and prayer partners to commission these young campus missionaries for the 2014-2015 school year?

I also wanted to share this testimony from Ana, who will be an intern for us at UTD next year. She's awesome!


Breaking Chains - Ana from Matthew Wills on Vimeo.

Thanks for your prayers and thank you to those of you who partner with us financially. Together, we are helping raise up a generation of passionate and mature leaders for the kingdom, workers sent out into the harvest field.

The Past Two Days

The last week of March, we hosted 20 students and interns from Washington State for SSI (I'm not actually sure what that stands for--some mix of student, spring, strategic, impact, initiative, etc :).  It was an amazing week but was covered well in other staff updates. To get an idea of what you would have seen our students doing every day on campus, you can read Laurence's blog about it.

Last night we had a great event called Banquet on the Bayou, which is a fundraiser for our annual SICM leadership training.  SICM costs each student who goes around $800, and this fundraiser is for those who can't afford that.  We also use this as an opportunity for our interns to learn how to plan large events.  It was so great!  For those who couldn't be a part of it, you would have loved hearing students from our various ministries performing, many of the songs written by the students!  We raised over $6000 to help about 16 of the 68 students going to SICM.  If you'd like to help scholarship a student for SICM, let me know!

The interns made everything look amazing.  So elegant!

One of the many unique bands that played.  This one is made up of Collin students.

After the event, one of our UTD girls was baptized.  It was such a sweet moment. Nikki didn't know Christ coming into the year as a Muslim, but He has made such an impact on her.  I wish you could have seen her tears up close when she shared about the spiritual family He has given her.  Hopefully some of that comes through on the video!

And at our UTD Friday night meeting this week, Sarah Hubbard, one of the students, got up and read a poem she wrote about discipleship that really ministered to me:

OUR CROSS
It seems so impossible to carry- weighing me down, having become so unbearably heavy
Just keep moving-please just a few more steps
But it's too hard-there's too much sacrifice and pain
That right nows becomes more important than all there is to gain
I can't breathe- it's choking me
I can't think-it's consuming me,
Why was I unable to conceive
How incredibly difficult this decision would be?
I should've realize when I first began considering the continual command
For us to pick up His cross
And give up everything else as loss
but instead I reduced this ,
Devaluing our part in the relationship
To some symbol on the wall
Until I thought only he had to be humbled and fall
For our soul to be saved
Completely missing the gift of his grace
See he didn't die to just cover our sins
But to start us on a journey of redemption
With a promise of us ending in completion
So I'll keep on walking- ignoring the worlds stares
As I continue struggling in my effort to bare
This wooden plank digging into my back
As the enemy watches closing in for the attack
 I've finally begun to count the incredible cost
To be among the found instead of the lost

This is all from two days of campus ministry--I could tell so many more stories from the past month.  It's all so encouraging, exciting, and inspiring.  I'm amazed that this is what I get to do with my life.  Thank YOU for making it possible, with your prayers and your financial investments and all the other ways you support me and God's mission to these campuses.  Our partnership is helping make the Kingdom vision a reality!

More Interns!

Back in October, our leaders heard a talk from Oscar Muriu that was given at the 2013 Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit.  Muriu leads a church planting church in Nairobi, Kenya, with a vision to plant churches on every inhabited continent.

He shared 5 key convictions:

Conviction #1 -- The size of the harvest depends on how many leaders you have. (Matt 9:37-38)
He said, "The impact of my life will depend, not on how hard I worked, but on how many leaders I raised up."
Conviction #2 -- Live for the next generation. (Psalm 71:18)
Conviction #3 -- Identify the budding leaders around you and take them to God in prayer. (Numbers 11:10-17)
Conviction #4 -- Instill the 5 loves into your budding leaders. (Mark 12:30-33--Loving God with heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loving your neighbor)
Conviction #5 -- Never do ministry alone. Always have budding leaders around you. (Acts 4:13)

I can't think of a better way to capture the drive behind the FOCUS Internship.  If we are going to plant vibrant Christian communities on every campus in the DFW area (not to mention that UTD alone could easily use 50 more full-time Christian missionaries), and also send out well-equipped, pastorally-minded men and women leaders into the church-at-large, it's imperative that we continually invest in young leaders, giving them extra time to study, think, experience, and minister.  Sometimes I'll have students ask if there is a cap on how many student leaders we need.  The answer is a loud "NO!"  There are over a hundred thousand students just on our few campuses, and we need as many qualified leaders as we can get.

It's out of that conviction that we have recently accepted 9 young disciples into our internship for the 2014-2015 school year.  They are an outstanding bunch, and I'll be introducing them further in the coming months.  We also have three of this year's interns returning for a second, more focused year of internship exploring campus ministry as a career, and two of this year's interns joining our longterm staff.

I know that sounds like a lot of people!  But we are confident that we can give each and every one a great experience, and that they will produce lasting fruit in the lives of college students on these campuses.  They have already proven themselves to be discerning, fruitful leaders.  I'd ask you to start asking God to provide the money to make it happen.  He always has, and I'm confident He will again!

I also wanted to share with you an anonymous letter that came in the UTD student offering last week.

My thanks to you, for helping make this possible for students like that one, through your friendship and prayers and financial support.  This is truly a team effort!

P.S.  I was invited to two UTD student baptisms this month.  I've included videos below if you'd like to watch them!