April blog!

 Hi friends and family! We are closing out the school year, the spring semester always happens so quickly! I'm feeling overwhelmed with gratitude about the year, and all that God has done and continues to do in our ministry!

To close out our last few weeks of our large group gatherings, we have been doing a mini series called: "Divine Expansion". The idea of this series was to get our students to start expanding their relationship with God outside of a knowledge level faith to truly learning how to experience God with our whole beings, and in that, really learning what it looks like to know Him more intimately. Two verses and a quote that has been on my mind from this series has been:

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1

"Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." Matthew 22:37-38

"It's an abiding: and from that abiding flows every other true thing -Theology, Philosophy, science, art, music - all in accord. A universe flawlessly expressing the sacred signature of its maker." -John Nadeau

2025-26 student leaders (corefas!)

A few are missing, but we have about 50 student leaders this year who have faithfully served in our ministry this year! It is not an easy thing to become a student leader, its a big time commitment, and can be a hard balance with school and work, but so many of them are so willing to sacrifice because they have been personally impacted by their previous leaders, and want to do the same kingdom work for others! It is such a gift to have them, our staff could not do much without them!

                                                                         Hangout with Pilar!
                                                                                                 Pilar was a in my small group last year, and I studied the bible with her where I got to learn about her sweet heart for God, and how much she loves those around her so much! She is a reminder to me of carrying the joy of the Lord, and bringing laughter everywhere she goes! A neat thing with UNT is that they have whats called the ELEVAR program which assists those with special needs, and one of the students that I mentor gets to advises and support Pilar which is a neat connection! Pilar is graduating soon, and has been able to balance school, two ministries, being on the UNT dance team, and working! I'm so thankful to have met her, and am excited to see her walk the stage!

                                                                           Open House!    

     Every year, our ministry puts on an open house for family members, and friends to get to come and see what our ministry is all about! This is one of my favorite things we do because it can be hard to describe in words for myself or for our students what campus ministry is like, so when people get to come and experience it in person, it helps give a full picture!

Another reason this night is special is because we always ask a few parents to come up and share about how they have seen the Lord move in their child's life while being in our ministry. It's always so special and meaningful to hear from their perspective of getting to see God shaping their children to become more spiritually mature, and make their faith their own when out of the house when they don't necessarily have to.

Worship night!

One of our students' women's ministry homes hosted a worship night for our community! I'm always so encouraged by our students taking initiative to host their own events, and want to not just socialize with one another, but to prioritize connecting with God!

Last years small group!

                 For our last official ministry gathering, several of the girls from our small group last year got to come and it was so sweet getting to see some of their faces that I haven't in awhile! Both Pilar (the middle in green), and Kayah (in light blue) are graduating and we won't be seeing them next year which is so bittersweet, but I know the Lord will continue to use them in big ways!

                                                                                        

                                                               Celebrating 30 years of our ministry!

                                                                                 

Our 30-Year Celebration is just around the corner and you're invited! Please help us spread the word by inviting any of your friends who are alumni or with anyone who might like to join.

If you’re an alum, please take a moment to complete our https://web.charityengine.net/alumniupdate to ensure you don’t miss any updates. We can’t wait to celebrate with everyone in October. Our big celebration will take place at CityBridge Community Church in Plano.

                                                                 My ministry update:

           I will be recommitting for 3 more years with FOCUS! I have loved getting to see the Lord working in huge ways around me with our college students, and seeing the need for so many of them who are searching for community and getting to experience that for the first time, and it impact them many years down the line as it has for me! I would love it if you could be joining me in prayer for the summertime which is when our staff begins our fundraising season so that I can reach my goal and am able to continue in what God is doing on college campuses! I am always trying to expand my support team, so if you have anyone who would be interested to learn more about campus ministry, please text, call or email me!

                                                                      Student testimony!

Thank you all for your continuous support towards me, and the work God is doing on these college campuses! Your giving is impacting so many on a daily basis, and I'm so very thankful for your generosity!

Blessings & peace,

Keanna Barber