Ba De Ya - Dancing in September

How is September already over? Sometimes I feel like I have years left of the apprenticeship but also only 5 more days of the apprenticeship. September was so full. All of our classes fully picked up, we had fall camp, and core is in full swing! It feel likes so much of September was spent trying to build relationships with students.

This is my friend Zoë and Taylor. A bunch of UTD FOCUS guys signed up to play on an itermural team. We would go and cheer them on!  Zoë is a student leader that I've known since she was a teen. It's so neat getting to watch her do campus ministry and think through what it looks like to know Jesus, love people, and serve well. 

The UTD girl Apprentices had an impromptu girls night after Monday night leader meeting. It's been so strange to work with friends but not to spend much time with them so we needed a girls night! It felt like we were back in college going to Wendy's at 10pm and getting out of a movie at 12:30am on a Tuesday morning. We got to catch up, encourage each other, and just laugh. 

F A L L  C AM P

Fall Camp is a 24 hour retreat weekend at Mount Lebanon Camp. The whole point of camp is to create time for core to build relationships and cast a vision for the school year. We get to spend a good chunk of time with our small group so there's a big hope that all of your core will come. Half of my core came and it was so great! We laughed, worshiped, and did crafts together. I was in charge of crafts and the people LOVED the bracelets! Also can you believe the handsome squidward?

 

On the left is a picture of my supervisor and the other small group leaders I meet with weekly to talk about life and ministry. The middle and right picture is my core! Siena and I love getting to spend time with our small group. These girls are the sweetest and I am excited to see our friendship grow.

After reading through the minor prophets in our Old Testament class, we were assigned to write a modern day prophesy to an audience of our choosing and share what we felt like God wanted them to hear. I wrote mine to the teen ministry I worked with last year. This was an incredibly emotional assignment for me. I felt like I got to feel a small fraction of how God cares for them. I wanted to share my assignment with you

 
This is Jackson, he was in CTF and is in his first semester of college. Ky and I love him a lot.

-Please pray for my core. Pray that we would become true friends. That our group would love fiercely, speak truthfully, and carry each others burdens. It has been such a blessing getting to love up on these girls and I have loved leading them. 

- Please pray specifically that fear of imperfection and grades will not riddle the girls in my core and at the greater FOCUS student body. I have seen satan had such a hold on the students in playing at their need to succeed and feel valued through their school work.

- Please pray for the apprentice group, that we would honor God with the things that we are learning and that we are faithful to what God has given to us.

- Please pray that the staff as a whole will see the needs of students and that we pursue them the way Jesus pursues them.