September blog!

 

Hi friends and family! Now that its been about a month into the school year, we are now getting into the swing of things! It's been a great start to the year, and so many new students are getting plugged into community, and many of them have never experienced a christian community before, and its so exciting to get to share that with them!

                                                            TNF! (Thursday Night Fellowship)

We have a full service of students each week on Thursday nights ready to come fellowship, worship, and hear sermons to deepen their understanding of God and scripture! I love getting to do the slides for the night because I get this great view of students in sincere worship. Nights like these feel like a small slice of heaven and it is so rejuvenating to my spirit!

Layla's Baptism!

A few weeks ago, my house got to host a baptism for one of our student leaders! Something that stood out from this baptism to me is getting to hear her dad share how he'd seen Christ in Layla. It is always so meaningful to me to hear from a family's perspective of what they see God doing in a student's life. He shared how he used to be a pastor, and that he never wanted to force his children to follow God, and that he was so encouraged that Layla had decided to follow God on her own, and this ministered to me to hear about!

Peer team two on one's: 

On the left is Avery & Laniah, and on the right is Alexis & Natalia. This was in the early weeks of the semester, where I got to have them over to my house and make them breakfast. This year I get to lead these girls, plus another pair of girls not pictured as they lead their own small group of girls this year. Each week we discuss different areas of leadership, discipleship, and personal things going on in their life as well. This has been such a neat window into ministry that I get to have this year! I love helping them navigate their small groups, and different situations that are coming up that they may have questions about. I also love getting to hear about their one on one bible studies getting started up and hearing what things the girls they meet with are learning about God for maybe the first time! Every few weeks I'll get to visit their small groups, and I've loved getting to know the girls they share about by personally getting to meet them! Our leaders in our ministry are such a blessing! They are all so eager to serve and love on the people that God has entrusted them with this year, and its so neat getting to be apart of it!

Social media impact!

This is a picture from our social media of the girls I led small group with last year! Since I've joined staff, our ministry has experienced a huge increase in students! This is very much due to the spirit's work, but we've also done some new things. Something I wanted to share that might be surprising to hear is how much of an impact our social media posts have had on our ministry. At this point, for our new students that have joined over the past few years, a large reason for that has been our emphasis on posting more on our social media. I've met so many students especially at the beginning of the year who got connected because they saw us on instagram. One of our staff members Darby, spends a lot of time keeping our page up to date and with finding creative ideas to show what our ministry is like so that when students come, they have an idea of what to expect. It may seem odd, but it has been so fruitful! If you would like to follow to see more of whats going on in our ministry beyond these blogs our Instagram is: @Dentonfocus

Please be praying that students would continue to get connected and find us whether online or through other ways!

Core reunion!

This past weekend, my small group from last year got to have a reunion! Each new school year, the leaders are paired with new people, and the group is usually a brand new group of people, so its really special getting to reconnect after many of them are in different groups this year. We went around sharing what new life updates we have, and played games! It was a great time getting to hear about whats been going on in their life, and what God is teaching them!

                                                                           DNC small group!

Since I'm not leading a small group this year, and working in other capacities, I'm able to join a women's small group at our church for the first time! This is something I have wanted to do for awhile and has been a huge blessing! Since a majority of my time is spent with college students, I haven't been able to connect with the adult women at our church as much, so I've loved getting to be more connected! 

                                                                            Watch nights!

Something I've loved about living in a new home is that I now have a bigger space to invite our students into! We've gotten to host for various things, and one of them was a watch night for a tv show the past few months. Our house also hosts for a small group that meets every Wednesday night, and our watch party allowed several of those girls to stay and connect with more people they wouldn't have met!

This was taken after the finale episode, and its such a joy getting to bond with so many girls from our ministry, many of them who are brand new, and we get to share with them a vision for healthy friendships rooted in Christ!

Mark sermon series!

At our large group gatherings, we are continuing in the Mark series that we started last semester! Last week I shared over Mark 12. In chapter 12, it deals a lot with the teachers of the law confronting Jesus and trying to test him. Essentially they had hardened hearts towards the things of Christ, but Jesus was giving them an opportunity to be softened to a new way of life that Jesus was trying to present to them if they were willing. I tried to remind them that we too often can be like the teachers of the law as well. I discussed a connection between all the different stories within the chapter over the topic of the things that God loves vs the things that He hates. I had our students reflect on whether or not they find themselves also loving and hating the same things that God does. I share these questions with you, so you may also take time to reflect in your own life on how God's love  or lack of it presents in your life, and how God may be calling both you and me to look more like Him.

(I don't think it is yet posted), but eventually: if you want to hear my talk or any of the others here is the link: 

 https://open.spotify.com/show/7s3v1iKyUUVMdG2nbsghza?si=5UFC5MzhQYK3B0HJGa51Dw

                                                            Student testimony!

Additional prayer requests: 

Please pray for our upcoming Fall Retreat! This is a one night retreat we do every year, and the goal is that new students would decide to really plug in and choose to be consistent with God and with community. This is also where most people really start feeling closer to their small group, and start making friends that they may have for the rest of their time in college and beyond. Please be praying for open hearts to come and for any obstacles to be removed!

I'm gonna have a new baby nephew soon! My brother and sister in law are having a baby! Please be praying for the delivery to go well, and a smooth transition with navigating new born life!

Thank you all for how much support you have so generously poured on me! If you're ever curious about anything in our ministry, or anything at all, please reach out!

Blessings and peace,

Keanna