September update!
Hi friends and family! As I reflect on the closing of this month, I am filled with gratitude as I think about how in our ministry, we are now in more of a routine, friendships are beginning to grow deeper, and people are really choosing to pursue the Lord a little more!
Let’s start off with the best part of this month: BAPTISMS!
We had four people in our ministry choose to make the decision to publicly commit to following after God! Isn't it so neat how many of our students show up to support one another?!
Diana's Baptism!
Diana’s baptism was so intentional and special to be apart of. If you know her, you instantly love her. She’s someone that can be heard anywhere in the room haha, and more importantly is someone that is so quick to encourage others, and if anything is going on whether good or bad her first response is always prayer right then and there. A huge part of her story is that she came into college a part of tons and tons of student organizations because she really desired success in her field, and to make her resume stand out. However, God had other plans for her. Through so many different people she encountered in our ministry reminding her that her value does not come from her achievements, but from simply being loved by God. During Diana’s baptism, she asked these different people who impacted her to share about the Lord’s work in Diana, and then Diana gave a very personal and vulnerable sharing of her testimony, followed by a personal message of gratitude to her parents, which brought a lot of us to tears. Diana is a fashion design major, and she asked myself, my roommate Aileen, and two other people to be in her senior project which is a fashion show displaying different pieces that she will create by hand. Her piece is titled "My God, His Temple" and talks about how our worth comes from Christ alone. How powerful is that in a fashion world that doesn't often welcome displays of one's faith. I'm so proud of Diana and her boldness to display Christ to her peers without fear.
Chris!
Later, on the same day, we had the other three baptisms for Chris, Nia, and MJ. Christiana (chris for short) has become such a special friend in my life. Chris makes you feel so welcomed, and she has a huge gift of hospitality. We became a bit closer over this past year, where she would invite me over to her home where she would cook homemade Japanese food for me, and send me home with lots of leftovers which just goes to show her selflessness to share her culture and upbringing with me. Something I’ve learned through people like Chris, working in ministry is that even though my job is to minister to others, most times they minister right back to me personally. I think this is a way that God humbles me, but also reminds me that I don’t get to be the one leading people, only He does, and his grace to me is putting others younger than me to also help steward my own faith.
MJ & Nia!
Nia and MJ: I don’t know them as personally, but it's been sweet to see their growth from afar. My roommate Catherine (pictured in the blue on the left) has taken them both under her wing this past year when they first came to our ministry and were all in small group together. On many occasions this past year, they would come over to our house, and stay over late into the night having intentional conversations about hardships, life things in general, and would pray with one another often. Nia came into college last year in a hard place mentally and wrestled with her faith the whole year, and my other roommate Victoria (pictured on the right) studied scripture with her one on one throughout the year and was so patient and encouraging as Nia thought through all of this. However, over the summer, she decided to give her life to God! If you had seen her last year to now you would know, she has been completely transformed from being very unsure and reserved, to boldly sharing Jesus with those around her! With MJ, she has also wrestled with God, similarly to all three of their testimonies was the theme of willingness to persevere despite encountering really dark places of their life, but not choosing to stay in that place, praise God! I'm so proud of these girls and the faithfulness of my roomies to them!
Returner’s ice cream bar hang!
This year, one of my specific roles on staff is to focus more on the returner’s in our ministry. These are students who have been a part of our ministry for at least a year, but have either stepped down or not been able to lead in our ministry for various reasons. I’ve been excited to help create a space in our ministry for people who may not have the same time capacity to be a corefa (small group leader), but can still have an impact in our ministry. My big thing I have communicated to them is that you don’t need a title to be a disciple. Whether they are able to be a corefa or not, God’s mission for them is the same. Our main ministry focus is on leadership development, however, the reality is, after students graduate their capacity for ministry is going to decrease once they are working full time. So it’s important for them to know how to balance working long hours, yet not losing sight of still being on mission for God in whatever capacity they have. This hangout I put on, was for some of the UNT girl returner’s to come and fellowship with one another, but also to come with answers to questions that I had sent them about how they can invest in our ministry. They came prepared with so many helpful ideas for new things we can implement in various capacities which was encouraging to see them being excited for how they can still be involved in giving input for our ministry.
Ministry houses dinner!
One of our alumni and other students from our ministry, hosted a dinner for the people who live in ministry homes. Ministry homes are different homes that our ministry has around denton where our different guys and different girls live. They often host lots of events for our ministry, and are very hospitable and selfless in opening their own spaces for others to come into, which I’m sure is not always easy. This dinner was so that each of our homes can fellowship with one another, but also for the goal of sharing ways we can seek out more opportunities to serve students in our community with places to stay when needed, ways that we can love on our roommates more, and share Christ with them. This night brought tears to my eyes, just thinking about how thoughtful these students that hosted were in making a really nice meal, and space for us to basically just become better servants which I just felt like really glorified Christ in the conversations we had.
Amelia and Audrey's bday party!
I’ve spoken about both of these girls before, but they both mean so much to me, and I’m so thankful for their friendships. The party’s theme was to dress up as “The Beatles” or “60’s era” and it was a lot of fun! Through these two girls, I’m reminded about what I love about ministry. I met them when I led a small group with my friend Rian three whole years ago, yet we still are such good friends with one another. It just goes to show you that in community, God can blossom so many friendships, and you never know what He has in store for the people around you. I’ve just been really thankful to have been blessed with working in ministry where I get to continue seeing how God is shaping the people around me even though our seasons of life have shifted.
Combined core after event!
After small group each week, we often will go and do a fun activity together, or stay at home, and play games or something like that to help create deeper friendships with one another. A few weeks back, our core decided to join another core small group and go to Braum’s together. This was really fun, and a sweet way to have our girls get to know another girls small group to hopefully encourage more friendships outside of just our own small group. I lead core with a girl named Murphie (pictured on the end in green). She has a nature gift of making others feel comfortable and loved, and its been fun growing in friendship, and leading with her. We paired up with Diana and Kayla's core (Diana was mentioned earlier for baptism, and is to the immediate left of me, and kayla is the one taking the photo).
TNF! (Thursday Night Fellowship)
This is our weekly gathering, and this was a photo I took during worship from the front of the room since I was in charge of running slides that night. I love getting to be upfront to just look around and see God’s people in sincere worship. God’s been moving in huge ways in Denton, and it’s a gift to be here to experience it!
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