June Update!
Hi friends and family, happy summer! I hope it has been filled with more family time than usual, and more rest both personally and in the Lord!
Ministry over the summer certanly slows down a bit, and that has been a blessing to learn more rythms of stillness, and more reliance on God than on myself which is hard for me when life feels most busy. A verse on my mind this summer has been Psalm 23:1-3 "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul." I feel like the Lord has been redirecting me to this verse and having me focus on the whole passage, taking each section in a way of slow reflection, but I especially love this first part.
Thank you so much for all of your generosity toward me, as always, I am immensely grateful to each of you!
3 Juneteenth cookout!
Summers with the roommates!
Aileen (in black), is my roommate, more than that, sister in Christ, but also sister in life. I am not always the easiest roommate, but she has been the most consistent friend, not just in my life, but in so many others especially when people have been difficult to be friends with, and to me that looks a lot like Jesus. She is so patient, kind, and makes you feel so understood. Very recently, she found out she passed her last teaching exam! This is a huge praise as she has had to keep delaying her graduation until she has completed all her exams. I could write paragraphs about how much I love Aileen, but I did want to highlight what stands out to me most and its been shown in how she responds to hardships and obstacles in her life. She handles them with such grace and dependence on Christ, and she has been a huge example of perservering under trials. I hope to follow more in her example as I navigate my own trials, or future hardships, but in a way of leaning on Christ to support me.
I got to host a Juneteenth hangout at the park with my roommate Victoria with the theme of bringing food that reminded you of a cookout meal from your childhood! This event was so special to me personally because growing up I didn't celebrate things like Juneteenth or have cookouts. Working in campus ministry has brought about a unique opportunity that I didn't think I'd be a part of, and has allowed me to learn more, and celebrate things about black culture that I now really cherish and appreciate sharing with others like the people pictured here!
These are all of our roommates, and our newest one (Lyss pictured on the very left) recently moved in, so we had a roommate night where we went to get ice cream on the Denton square. I love living in a house of several girls because I get to have close relationships with so many. A majority of these roommates are in the FOCUS ministry with me, so it's a huge blessing to have a home where God is the center, and we get to have fellowship, late-night talks, and lots of people over for hangouts, but in all these things we do them to glorify Christ which is such a blessing!
Summer FOCUS!
Over the summer, our ministry gatherings look a little different. A good handful of our students are back home for the summer, but a good amount are still somewhat local so every year we put on what we call summer focus at a church in Richardson. We do the same things that we do during the year, where we start with worship, have a sermon, and have after-event activities. However, what makes summer focus so special is that all of our DFW focus campuses come together to worship and fellowship with one another. This year in particular, the staff team that is in charge of putting on this event every Thursday evening has placed an emphasis on creating relationships within our campuses in order for our students to not only bond with just their own campus, but to be able to form friendships, and learn what God is doing on other college campuses than their own in DFW as well! We have about 300 students who come, and it's a huge encouragement to be unified with so many of our students!
Denton takeover at Summer FOCUS!
This is my roommate Victoria, who was doing what's called our "investing in the vision" talk that we do each week for our students to give towards our ministry, and they usually share about how they have personally been invested in by the people in our ministry. Since we have several campuses that come together each week, we like to recognize each one by every week having students and staff from one campus do the different sharings for the night. This past week's sharing was really special because it covered international ministry. In our announcements, they shared lots of ways for us to donate to different orphanages in different places of Africa, and we also had a sharing about a few students (including Victoria!) and our Denton staff member, Steven who are going to Sri Lanka in just a few weeks to do ministry in house churches! Please be praying for them as well as the ministries in Africa that we have students also going on mission trips to soon. The coolest thing about all of this is that previously our ministry wasn't as connected with international ministry so after this night, I was just reflecting on the growth that our ministry has had in terms of diversity, and the international side of diversity is one that really excites me for our students to learn to open their hearts and be aware of how they can take part in it!
Core going away dinner for Treasure!
A lot of our core small group is pretty spread out this summer, so many of them couldn't come to this, but Jenna who I led with this past year (on the very left), and Kadie (next to Jenna) got together with Treausre (to the right of me) and her two sisters since she soon left for the military. It was bittersweet for sure, Treausre has become a good friend of mine in ministry this past year, we studied the bible together, and I learned so much from her, she and her family recently moved from Nigeria, and its been a blessing to learn more about her culture and how that has shaped her view of Christ in a way that differs from mine, which excites me that I get to have new perspectives that help to grow me as I minister to others in being able to expand my understanding from the various backgrounds people have in the kingdom, which has impacted me greatly.
Sabbath day!
On focus staff, at different points in the year, we're required to take a sabbath day where we can choose to go to a park, day retreat or any other place to set aside time with God for an extended period. I got to do this with Becca (on the left) and Veronica who are on staff. Both of them I had met years ago in Denton when we were students, and Veronica and I were the same year in school, did the apprenticeship with me this past year, and will also be continuing another year officially on staff. Becca is a few years older, has been on staff for longer, and has been someone I've looked up to for her faithful ministry to the girls at both TWU and UNT. I miss Veronica in Denton, but I get to hear of all the ways God is using her at Richalnd community college, and she has been thriving! We carpooled to the same place for our sabbath, and this was taken during our lunch break. We each went off on our own for the majority of the day, but it was so special for the lunch time and very end of the day when driving back together to hear about the different things God was reminding us or teaching us.
During my sabbath, I found myself being reminded of how I have felt a huge sense of appreciation for the gift it is to have ministry as my job. It's incredible that I have a job that prioritizes the health of its staff team so much that they would require us to regularly make sure we are refueling with the Lord to sustain us, instead of giving into the temptation to depend on ourselves. Throughout the apprenticeship, they taught us a lot about what unhealthy leadership in ministry looks like so that we could think deeply about what we want to be sure to personally avoid in our own lives and ministries. As hard as it was to hear about the horrible impacts some pastors have had in ministry, I have come to learn the importance of how much influence I have on students. Also, how vital it is for me to recognize and implement healthy ways of leading them towards Christ, and this largely starts from a place of emptying myself before God so that He can do what only He can do. At different times of the year, I found myself reflecting on this verse: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" John 15:5. This helped to ground me in the times where I had been leading on my own strength, and God would make me aware that I must not do so. I encourage you to reflect on what this looks like in your own life.
Rian's Wedding!
Rian is one of my dearest friends, we led core small group together last year, and God allowed us to form the sweetest friendship for a really special ministry year when we were both still students. Rian taught me what it looks like to bring fun and creativity into ministry, how to make people feel special and seen through thinking of ways to love on people by going the extra mile. On June 7th, she got married, and this was her "house party" which weren't her bridesmaids, but close friends that we got to spend a whole weekend celebrating with! This is an example of her leadership in our ministry, where she really cares to honor people in her life so well by allowing them to feel included. I say this often, but I do think this shows you something about our ministry. A majority of these girls are people she's met within focus, and I think that is an exact reflection of our model of deep friendships and community that we place a huge emphasis on. Often, people are lucky to have even one or two good friends in their life, but in the kingdom that can look different. God gives in such abundance and friendship is a huge way I've seen that to be true. Both Rian and her husband Devon have been a couple the students in our ministry can really follow their example in of what a Godly dating relationship looks like. They met in high school, which meant they dated for a while, and even long- distance at times. However, they have both made decisions in their dating that look radically different than others because they first and foremost chose to commit to a relationship that glorify's God and what honors Him most and not themselves. I couldn't be more proud to have stood beside such a wonderful couple!
Aileen's surprise bday!
Fundraising update!
I am 72% away from my minimum goal of 2400/month for my salary for the year that will start in August. I am about 46% away from my maximum goal of 3702/month since the cost of living increases every year, our board for our organization encourages us to get to our max because of this, in order to be able to sustain a job in ministry. I am so honored by the support of each of you in your giving either monetarily toward me, words of encouragement, or your prayers that are a huge support. Thank you immensely! Our deadline for fundraising is the end of July, so I have about a month left to get fully supported. I am looking for referrals of others who may be interested in hearing more about the work I'm doing in campus ministry. If any of you know people within your network, please let me know and I would love to connect with them, thank you so very much!
Student Testimony!
So thankful to each of you -
Blessings and peace,
Keanna
Comments
Post a Comment