Some Major Comings and Goings

Thank you for another great year! Your support has made a huge difference this year, and will continue to bear fruit into the coming years. I have a few exciting things to share and a brief reflection on Christmas below.

Fall Pizza Theology

This Pizza Theology had nearly 100 more students than we've ever had before!

One of our most exciting events of November was the semesterly event we call Pizza Theology (a nod to CCF for the name and idea!). We had 400 people show up to hear 4 hours of teaching on "How to Think Like a Christian." Oh, and one hour of pizza and fellowship in the middle! I got consistent feedback that the 4 hours flew by and they couldn't believe it was over.

Garrett started us off teaching about paradigms and objectivity, among other things. He's such a great teacher, and he had us all laughing--often at ourselves! I taught about how we need to integrate scripture, tradition, the arts, the sciences, and our experiences in order to think through topics that the Bible doesn't directly address. I also talked about the need to proportion our agreement to things, understanding that there is always more information out there, much of which I don't have access to at any given moment. And then we had a panel of very smart, thoughtful Christians discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. They had this discussion in front of us to demonstrate to the students how to have thoughtful conversations that drive learning and growth. We got incredible feedback on that portion.

The audio quality isn't the greatest, but if you're interested in listening, I highly recommend it. You can find the recording here.

Saying Goodbye to Travis

Garrett and I laid hands on Travis and prayed for him at Pizza Theology. Many of the students gave him a standing ovation for his years of service to them.

Travis Jones, who has been on our staff for nearly 5 years, served at 5 of our campuses, and helped us plant new ministries at Richland and UTA, is transitioning off at the end of this semester. We have loved working with him. He is so sweet and kind. He's up for anything, and is always serving however he can. He's done a lot of our graphic design work over the past few years (which we frequently get compliments on from other groups on campus).

Our staff has been in conversations about this for awhile, and while sad, we feel great about this transition.

Saying Hello to Casey!

I'm excited to share that Casey Worsham (my little bro!) is coming back to work with FOCUS half-time as our Administrative Director.  Our admin team is currently a patchwork of volunteers, part-time staff, and campus ministers who take on some specific role on the side, and we've been in great need of someone to come in and manage all that. Casey is a great fit because he has experience managing people in the marketplace and also, as one of our past campus ministers, really understands what we do and how we do it. Mandy and I are excited to be able to devote more of our time back with students as Casey takes this role off our shoulders.

Look how business-like he is!

Celebrating Christmas

God calls us into His family, and one of the things that really defines family in my mind is celebrating holidays together. And Christmas is such a great holiday to celebrate together as Christians! This year, we had a candlelight devotional to really think through the real meaning of Christmas (a special thanks to the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Richardson for hosting us!). We also had a fun party with the theme "High School Christmas." Our small groups came dressed as their favorite high school cliques, but the staff came as the lunch ladies and served a meal that would have made my high school alma mater proud, complete with segmented lunch trays! 14 of the small groups performed various high school themed Christmas songs/skits in front of the community. If you want a little taste, you can see one here.

UTD and Richland staff "lunch ladies." Note the hairnets.

This season of advent is our opportunity to celebrate Jesus' first coming and to wait longingly for His return. Light has dawned (Is. 9:2), but we eagerly anticipate the full light of midday.  Each of us gets to hold and share a part of that light, no matter how dark the world around us may seem. Henri Nouwen offers these questions to ask ourselves. I encourage you to reflect on them and be purposeful in reflecting the Light of the world: (Thanks to Shirley Bobbink for reminding me of them!)

“Did I offer peace today?

Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? 

Did I say words of healing? 

Did I let go of my anger and resentment? 

Did I forgive? 

Did I love?

These are the real questions.”

UTA and NCTC!

UT Arlington
I got to visit our new ministry at UTA last night, and you would have been so encouraged to be there with me! You would have seen 62 people (not counting me and my mom) worshipping God and living out Christian community on that campus. One of my favorite moments was seeing one guy who I'd never seen before go and introduce himself to a new girl and welcome her into the room. The DNA of our community is being passed on! I can't wait to see these students at Winter Camp.

Austin and April spoke, and the line that is still resonating in my mind is something that April said reflecting on the scene when Jesus was at Mary and Martha's house: "I have to become Mary to see Jesus again." Wow. It was so convicting to think about whether I was taking the time to just sit at Jesus' feet and look at Him. Honestly, the answer lately has been "no." So I'm taking the challenge to become Mary and see Jesus.

North Central Texas College (NCTC)
Yesterday our intern Aaron was telling me how much he loves working at NCTC, one of our newest plants. Here's something he shared with me:

Spending time at NCTC this semester has been really exciting. It's such a small campus that it's been easier to build some consistent relationships. People have been open to talking and sharing their ideas on God. We have a few guys and girls who are consistent in attending our core groups and have even taken part in helping us meet other students! Keep praying for NCTC and that we can grow in our vision for that campus.

Having spiritual discussions in the NCTC common areas. The question of the day was, "Is God relational?"

Hanging out with NCTC students.

My Washington Trip
I had the cool opportunity last weekend to speak at the Fall Camp for CCF, the ministry at Western Washington University that hosts the SICM conference every year. It was great getting to share God's beautiful invitation to repentance with a couple hundred students--the message that God's call to repentance means that no matter who we are or how much we've messed up, He isn't done with us yet! He has better things in store. 

I built my sermons around some points that Autumn Priestley shared at the end of her time in FOCUS: Get over yourself, Live in the light, and Go all in. You would have been so encouraged to watch these earnest students seeking God and living out His mission in a place where being a Christian isn't very popular.

Me with all the CCF students and staff last weekend!

Church and Campus Leadership Conference
I also had the privilege of leading our annual leadership conference for its 3rd year. The theme was around spiritual friendship. Our student leaders have been talking about things they learned ever since, and it has become one of our favorite days of the year. We asked the student leaders to invite students with leadership potential from their cores and we had well over 200 students show up!

Stay tuned this month for the roll out of our 2nd Annual Keep FOCUS Growing Initiative. We have some cool stories to tell, and I'm excited to see how God blesses that. Thanks for your gifts and your prayers and your friendship. God is moving, and you are a part of what He is doing on these campuses.

My Peer Team

UTD/Richland Fall Camp last weekend. What a great group!

One of my favorite things I get to do each year is mentor young men who have stepped up to serve/lead in the kingdom. This school year, I have 5 student leaders and 2 interns that I get time with regularly. They all have amazing hearts for the Lord and His people. Here they are in all their glory:

Jalen

I remember walking and talking with Jalen at Winter Camp a couple years ago when he was a freshman. He impressed me then and impresses me even more now. He is thoughtful and purposeful in his ministry. He's articulate in communicating important truths. He cares about others and is a lot of fun to be around! I love his zany sense of humor and the fact that he's a freak in almost every photo I could find of him. He's a second year corefa, and I'm excited to have him in my peer team this year! He also leads our sound team and is the VP of our club on campus. I have big plans for this one. :)

Quincy

I'm getting to know Quincy for the first time this semester. At first he seemed pretty quiet, but I've come to see how outgoing he really is. He has lots of friends and actively takes an interest in them. I was asking him about each of the guys coming to his core (there are a LOT) and he had things to share about each and every one of them. My favorite story from him so far is that one of the international students, who has zero background in Christianity, asked him what the word "baptist" meant. Quincy told him it was the name of a denomination. He thought for a moment and then asked, "What denomination are we?"

Rhett

Rhett is another second year leader. He is completely spastic, amazing at rapping and beatboxing and dancing (maybe he can teach me :), and incredibly grounded in his faith and knowledge of God and the scripture. He ministers from genuine friendship and interest in others, and he makes everything more fun. I'm loving the time I get with him. He sets a great example for others in the ministry.

Drew

Drew is Rhett's partner. He came in to the ministry a little later in the game last year, and quickly stood out. He's smart, likable, and funny. He takes his ministry really seriously and wants to bless the guys in his group. We've had some great conversations that show me how deeply he thinks about things, to the point where I've found myself thinking, "Is he really a sophomore?!" I can't wait to see how he grows in the coming months and years!

Dave

Dave has such a cool heart for God. He's open and vulnerable, and Peter (his partner) brags on Dave's skill at coming up with and asking good questions just about weekly. He is also a PA (like an RA in the dorms) and has a very demanding schedule, but he has made his ministry a priority. Dave spoke at our Fall Camp last week and now I'm afraid I'll be out of a preaching job here in a couple years!

Peter - My UT Dallas Intern

Peter is one of my two interns this year. He leads core with Dave, but he also coordinates and leads our entire worship team at UTD, which consists of a LOT of people. He is thoughtful and strategic in the way he leads our ministry into worship. Peter is brilliantly smart, musically talented, and initiates all sorts of fun games with people. He's really taking advantage of the internship to try to grow in areas he's never dealt with before. He's incredibly competent, so I love assigning him new things. Peter has a heart for campus ministry, and wants to continue making a difference in the years to come.

Austin - My UT Arlington Intern

I met Austin when he was a freshman in our UNT ministry, and we've stayed connected through his undergrad and his first year out of school working in the film industry. I was so excited to hear that he was hearing God's call to ministry and wanted to be a part of starting FOCUS at UTA! It's challenging to mentor someone when I only see him a couple times a week, but he has lots of other support. Austin is an amazing storyteller (my favorite so far having to do with fake pirates firing cannonballs at him) and just so much fun to be around. He is definitely an artist, and this internship is stretching his organizational skills for sure! He asks GREAT questions and really loves the guys God has put in his life at UTA.



I mentor a number of staff ministers as well, but these are the young leaders I have the joy of pouring into this year. I can't wait to see how the Lord uses them, not just this year but in the decades to come as they put these experiences into practice. Thank you for supporting me so I can raise up new leaders for the harvest.

Jesus told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." - Luke 10:2

As a bonus, here are two songs we've been singing a lot at UTD FOCUS this year. Feel free to check them out!

He is Faithful

No Longer Slaves

How We Used the #FOCUS140 Money

So almost a year ago we launched our 1st Annual Keep FOCUS Growing Initiative (#FOCUS140) and raised $31,000 to keep FOCUS going and growing!

In the 10 months since then, so much has happened. Together with your help, we:

• Established a major new ministry at UT Arlington and started groups at both NCTC and TWU Dallas as well. This means we are reaching students on 9 campuses now!
• Finished establishing FOCUS as a separate church legally, which protects our assets and ensures they will be used for campus missions in the years to come. It also gives us increased flexibility to meet the specific needs of our mission field. 
• Launched a new website to meet administrative needs and better communicate with incoming students.  
• Welcomed 14 new full-time interns, our largest class to date.
• Trained more than 150 student small group leaders to be missionaries to their campuses!

We are poised and ready for future opportunities because of those generous gifts. I've outlined below (in rounded numbers) how we spent that money. I tried to keep it general, but I'm happy to answer more specific questions as needed.

Purpose	Amount
UTA launch expenses (leader retreat, moving expenses, sound equipment, etc)	$5,200.00
Outreach and advertising to new students (for 9 campuses)	$4,500.00
Printing FOJ books for the new year (enough for 675 one-on-one studies!)	$900.00
Staff development (seminary coursework and staff prep days)	$4,300.00
Paying for counseling for students (who need it but can't afford it)	$1,400.00
New website (design, launch, and first year)	$1,400.00
Internship expenses to help fund 14 interns (books, event costs, etc)	$9,000.00
Legal expenses and fees as we finalized our new corporation	$2,800.00
Prepping 150+ student leaders for the year (materials and meals)	$1,500.00
Total	$31,000.00

A special "Thank You!" to all of you who gave. Our 2nd Annual Keep FOCUS Growing Initiative will launch in November!

So Many Great Things Happening!

August is always crazy (and we're all tired!) but God has been doing amazing things. First off, look at these snapshots from some of our first group meetings.

Our very first Thursday Night Meeting at UT Arlington! They can't reserve rooms yet, so they had their service outside on campus. Pretty much everyone there is someone our team met in the last couple weeks! 

The first meeting of the year at UNT. They couldn't use their normal room, so they packed into this one. Looks like every chair is filled!

Weird perspective, but Collin has had their biggest attendance ever. Garrett said we need a second projector because the people on the sides can't even see the words! 

This was during our first FNF (Friday Night FOCUS) at UT Dallas last week. I didn't count, but there are well over 200 students there, and it was one of our most diverse groups ever!

Our student leaders have done a fantastic job of meeting and befriending and inviting new students on all of our campuses. Thank you for praying for them! I wish there had been people like them to meet me when I first walked on campus at UTD all those years ago.

Another campus we are starting to reach out to is TWU Dallas. This campus is mainly for nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy students, and has very minimal Christian presence. One of our student leaders shared this about her co-leader and I wanted to share it with you:

I wish I could tell story after story, but I want to highlight just two more. First, our UTA team has been meeting tons of people from India who are looking for friends and also for God. One of them was sharing with one of our interns over there: "In India, the Hindus are still making up new gods. They see a rock standing up, spray paint it, and call it god. I don't believe that's real, which is why I'm interested in the God of Christianity. Will you read the Bible with me?" What!? I think God is at work there for sure! (You'll be glad to know our intern did consent to study the Bible with him. :)

And lastly, you'll want to read this poem shared at UTD last week. One of the girls who came to know Christ in our ministry awhile back shared this testimony. It goes with our "Living the Future" theme for the school year.

Thank you for your ongoing support and prayers. Keep praying! We're still meeting new students and already hearing heartbreaking stories, but also seeing amazing opportunities to bring God's kingdom to the lives of college students.

The Countdown to Freshman Move-in

The beginning of August has been a blur. We've already had orientation for a new year of the internship (our sixth class!), gone away for a staff retreat, and put on a 2-day prep for the UTD/Richland/TWU Dallas student leaders. After just the few times I've been with our new UTD staff, I'm already so impressed by them. They are talented and eager and passionate for the Lord.

We have five great interns who will be leading small groups and mentoring student leaders this year. And as I've mentioned before, our leader team will also be driving outreach at Richland and TWU Dallas, two smaller campuses. This will allow their student leaders to be a part of a bigger leader team. They'll also be coming to our Friday Night large group meetings.

Our overall staff this year is huge! But that's fitting considering the 9 (maybe 10) campuses we will be reaching out on this year. It's crazy to me to think that we have nearly 30 campus pastors now. I remember so many years early on when I was excited to see 30 people at one of our events! But God is faithful. He put a mission and a vision on my heart--one that I know many of you share--to plant vibrant, outreaching, Jesus-loving communities on every campus in the DFW area, communities who would make and mature disciples to His glory.

Sending six amazing ministers to Arlington this fall to begin building at UTA is a huge step forward in that vision. Would you set a reminder to pray for that mission work daily over the next month as it begins? Pray for God to guard the hearts and minds of our amazing team of students and pastors who have moved away from all their friends to build the kingdom elsewhere. Pray that they would be bold to share and live the message of God's love, that the Spirit would work in the hearts of those they encounter, and that the devil's plans there would be frustrated. I've watched your intercession to our good God make a difference repeatedly in the past, and I know it will again!

The 2015-2016 FOCUS Pastoral Staff
(We're missing some part-time admin and pastoral support staff in this picture.)

Lastly, at UTD this year, we have a great student leadership team. We have 38 UTD student small group leaders, 2 at Richland and 2 at TWU Dallas. And we have a lot of other leaders who serve in various other ways. With the Spirit's help, they will make a huge difference this year. After our prep weekend with them, I'm so excited to see what they do!

Thank you for your prayers and thank you to those of you who partner financially with us. FOCUS is not a rich ministry, but I feel like the widow visited by Elijah in 1 Kings 17--the jar is never full but never goes empty. I think it's through depending on you and so many like you that the Lord teaches this community to depend on Him.

Saying Goodbye and Prepping for the Year

Summer is always a major transition time for us in campus ministry. Some years, in addition to saying "goodbye" to graduating students and interns, we also have key staff people transition to other things. This year is particularly sad for me (though I'm very glad for this in the Lord!) because my sister and brother-in-law are transitioning off staff to lead the youth ministry at Wylie Northeast Church. Tyler and Brianna have been a major part of our mission for years.

Tyler and Brianna with their daughter Reese at the Collin End of Year Banquet a couple months back.

Tyler is our longest serving staff member except for me. He has worked at 3 of our campuses, including as one of our founding members at Collin College. All of his years on staff, he has worked full-time as a firefighter/paramedic and has never taken a salary from FOCUS! He is the consummate servant and a man of deep character and wisdom. Brianna has led the women at Collin these past few years, and I've loved every second of working with her. She has so much "ministry sense," as Mandy and I like to say. She loves deeply and has a passion for the kingdom transforming the lives of young people.

I'm so excited about this next chapter of their life and ministry. They are already developing an exciting vision for that youth ministry--one with a consistent record of feeding leaders into FOCUS, I might add. We have great people coming on board to fill their shoes at Collin next year, but they definitely have big shoes to fill!

We are also saying goodbye to Glenn, who has worked with our admin team for the past year. He was the mastermind behind the #FOCUS140 fundraiser that made it possible for us to launch new ministries on new campuses this year. And he drove the new website project (as well as lots of other behind the scenes work too). He has a great job at the Richards Group now, but plans to continue to volunteer some of his time with FOCUS as needed. We are so thankful for his year of service.

My buddy, Glenn

A few other things of note:

1. We have 3 young women who are going to be starting a small group at the TWU Dallas Nursing Campus this fall! Amber, who has been going to school there this past year, said "There's nothing down there at all," when asked about Christian outreach to that campus. Well, there will be soon! Please pray for this exciting new outreach.

2. Two of the students from UTD who we took to SICM this year were exchange students from Brazil, here for a special one-year program. They head back to their home country soon with a new vision for ministry and new skills to serve and bless their peers. Lucas wrote this letter, and I wanted to share it with you. Your influence is crossing borders!

3. Lastly, we are starting to plan for a big 20-year FOCUS Reunion in Fall 2016! The exact beginnings of FOCUS are a little murky, so the 1996 date is a little arbitrary, but we think it will capture every generation of FOCUS alumni. So if you are one of many past or present FOCUS members or advisors, stay tuned for more information!

Thank you for your prayer support, your emotional support, your financial support, and your friendship. I'm truly one of the most blessed men on earth.