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!  

Sorry I'm late...

So sorry I'm a week late getting this up.  These past two weeks have been pretty crazy dealing with unexpected issues.  Sadly, a freshman who was actively involved in our UNT community passed away in an auto accident on his way back from Thanksgiving break.  Another car caused the wreck trying to pass in a no-passing zone and sped away from the scene.  Ryan Schutze died at the scene.  I didn't have the privilege of knowing Ryan personally, but all those I have talked to say he was a very godly young man who had a positive impact on a lot of people.  That has been comforting to the students in our ministry who are confident in the relationship he had with the Lord.  1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 has been on my mind: "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him."  Paul doesn't say that as Christians we don't grieve.  But he does say that we don't grieve like others grieve, because we have great hope.

I don't believe God causes such accidents, but I do believe He is able to work these tragic events and choices to the ultimate good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).  Through these events, students are inspired to examine their own lives, are reminded that tomorrow isn't a guarantee, and examine what legacy they would leave behind if they were taken suddenly away.  Through the grace of God, Ryan leaves a powerful legacy with only 18 short years here.  He will continue to bear fruit in the kingdom.

In happier news, Mandy put up another international student baptism video at mandy.anyfocus.org!

And we had 250 students attend our Pizza Theology class this semester entitled "Rethinking Sex and Marriage."  At these events we have 2 hours of lecture, 1 hour of pizza, and 2 more hours of lecture.  It allows us to go much deeper into a topic than we could in a typical sermon.  You would have been so encouraged not only by the turnout, but by how serious they were about taking notes and asking questions.

Thanks for all you do for the kingdom and for me.

Penny's testimony

Way to go, Debbie!

International Student Conversions!

Thanks to years of saving up credit card points, my brother Casey and I had the chance to go to three countries in Europe during the first part of October, so I don't have as much to report on my personal ministry.  I basically spent my time prepping to be gone and then trying to get back into the swing of things.  But the ministry is in such a healthy place and our time away was just a blip on the radar for the students--though a much needed rest for us!  Going together we had a lot of fun and also had the opportunity for some great conversations about our Lord and ministering to students.

Us at Neuschwanstein Castle outside Munich on a very rainy day.

This is overlooking Florence on probably the most beautiful day of our trip.

In the past week we've also had two exciting conversions with International Students.  To give you an idea of the pace of this ministry, we've been reaching out to both of these students for over a year.  David started studying the Bible with Lingxiao last fall.  Debbie (our FOCUS admin) teaches an English conversation class.  Penny joined last fall and they became good friends.  Then, about a month ago Debbie got the opportunity to study the Bible with her.  Surely lots of other Christians (both inside and outside of FOCUS) have taken part in both of their lives--truly a kingdom effort.  And this is your fruit too!  Thank you for having the vision to invest your prayer, your time, your heart and your money into this mission field.

Penny gave an awesome testimony that you need to hear, but I'm still trying to get a copy of it.  I'll post it if I can get it fron the church she goes to.  So many cool things are happening.  Thanks for partnering with us!

Enjoying my new flexibility

We just finished up a weekend of fall retreats.  I wish you could have been there because you would have been so excited to see them.  We took record groups to both the UTD/Richland retreat and the UNT retreat.  Richland took about 3 students last year but around 15 this year.  The overall UTD/Richland count the day before the retreat was 145 (compared to 96 last year).  That included a LOT of international students.  They brought so much to the weekend, and we are delighted to have them as a part of our community.  It's so exciting to experience a small piece of the Bible's cosmic vision as people from multiple nations and languages come to learn about God.

Bill Bright (1921-2003)

I'm spending the bulk of my time supporting, equipping, and encouraging young campus ministers, but I've also carved out time to work on starting a faculty fellowship at UTD.  My heart is growing for this ministry as I begin to see how faculty can ultimately play a much larger, more long-term role in seeing kingdom transformation on these campuses.  Compared to student leaders, they have far more influence, a natural venue to influence students, and are often still on campus decades later.  Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade, said this toward the end of his life: "If I could start Campus Crusade for Christ over again, I would begin by working with professors."

Regardless of their role in the university and society, professors are humans who face the same challenges, opportunities, disappointments, and tragedies that all other people do.  For various reasons, they are often isolated and disconnected from spiritual community.  And on secular campuses, Christian professors may feel there is no appropriate forum for their faith.  I hope you'll join me in praying for leaders to step up to this ministry and for spiritual renewal and revival on campus.  And if you know any professors at one of our campuses, let me know!

I read this quote from Eugene Peterson (translator of The Message) the other day about another minister:

"Faced with the massive moral disintegration of our times, we are commonly intimidated into passivity. [He] is not intimidated. He doesn't take on the entire ruined culture--he simply stakes out a modest claim and begins. But it is exactly this kind of obedient beginning that so often turns out to have large Kingdom consequences."

I found that encouraging for my ministry, and it is my prayer for yours--that you will not be intimidated by the spiritual forces ravaging our culture, but that you will stake out your own modest claim and start something beautiful. I'm so thankful for the way each of you has blessed my life!

A silly group picture from UNT's fall retreat this morning.

A LOT happens in August!

On August 20, we had our first "Corefa Class" of the school year with about 94 people in attendance.  That's 94 people who are either leading small groups or mentoring small group leaders.  You would have been so encouraged to be there.

I couldn't quite get everyone in the frame, but this will give you an idea of what that leader training looked like.

We started teaching the leaders some basic axioms that we find useful in our ministry.  If you get to be around FOCUS you'll hear these pop up.  Here's a sampling of what you would have learned that night:

1. The dullest pencil is sharper than the sharpest mind when it comes to remembering things. (So write things down!)
2. Two-on-one is how it's done. (We usually say 1-on-1, but we are stressing bringing someone along with you this year.)
3. Think pastorally.  (What's really best for the people you minister to?)
4. A disciple too lazy to plant in the fall has nothing to harvest in the spring. (Ministry is a process and the sooner you plant, the sooner you harvest.)
5. People won't always live up to your expectations, but they will usually live down to them. (Jesus has high expectations of us and so should we, tempered by grace.)
6. If you love enough people, enough people will love you.
7. Use your problem solving skills. (One my dad had to say to me a "handful" of times growing up!)
8. Be a fool for God, not cool for God. (Very few of our heroes of the faith were "cool" by the world's standards.)

Thank you for believing in me and this community I get to serve,
Brandon

PS  You should virtually attend these 3 on-campus baptisms by student (or alumni) leaders!

It begins...time to PRAY!

In 3 weeks freshmen will be walking on to all four of our campuses ready to start a new phase of their life.  On one hand, they are adults--legally accountable for themselves and, for many, living on their own for the first time.  On the other hand (as I once heard Brady Bobbink say) freshmen are just high school seniors with a summer vacation.

It is our goal to be there to welcome them, invite them into meaningful community, and help them encounter the Living God.  

Please Pray for the class of 2016, that many will encounter the life-transforming grace of Jesus while at Richland, Collin, UTD, and UNT.  Pray that authentic disciples will form influential relationships with them.

Pray for FOCUS's student leaders, that they will be bold in their love and generous in their hospitality.  As they welcome new students on campus, pray that God will give them the courage and gifts to influence many!

Pray that the missionary staff and alumni volunteers of FOCUS will have big vision and supernatural creativity.  Pray that God will provide the resources, energy, and grace for us to bear much fruit.

Here are some key dates.  Could you mark them on your calendar or enter them in your phone so you'll be reminded to pray?

August 24 - Freshmen move in at UTD & UNT

August 27 - Fall Semester starts at UTD, Collin, & Richland (We'll be reaching out all week)

August 29 - Fall Semester starts at UNT

August 30 & 31 - Our kickoff nights for FOCUS

This is what our t-shirts for the year will look like.  I'm excited about our new theme--Everything New--celebrating God's promise to redeem all things, including us!