Fall Retreat, Keep FOCUS Growing, and NCTC!

Hello ministry team! 

I hope you all are doing well! After another month I’m excited to share some of the things that have been happening this month in college ministry. 

First I want to share about our annual Keep Focus Growing Campaign. As the graphic explains, this fundraiser covers costs outside of our pastor salaries to keep things running and keep focus growing.  The big day to give is on Giving Tuesday, but if you would like to give early, you can visit anyfocus.org/kfg

We had our annual fall retreat last weekend.  All of us agree this has been the best year yet! Not sure what’s happening but students are more excited than in past years to commit to Jesus and be a part of Christian community and God is at work!

Our topic for the weekend was moving from a “me-centered” mindset to a “we-centered” mindset. We interviewed a few students who demonstrated this in their lives as an example for other students to look out for others and stay committed even when friendships in community get messy or their feeling are hurt. Essentially this: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” Ephesians 4:3. Students have been referring back to it, so we’re praying that message can soak into their hearts and start working its way out in their relationships with one another. Please pray with us!

We also split into teams to participate the camp cup (some fun challenges to complete as a team). My group was the orange team. 

 

Shayla and baby Joni

Lilly from my small group last year has been leading her own small group this year 

Not pictured is some good news about our new group starting up at North Central Texas College in Corinth. Me and my coworkers Drew and Alex have been meeting people at NCTC over the last few months (having fun playing a lot of Uno, Spicy Uno, and Uno No Mercy). A few weeks ago we started inviting those students to an hour of Bible study each week and the turn out has been great! Last week two new students joined us and both had just become Christians in the last year, one had been praying to be a part of a Bible study. We’re excited about the harvest at NCTC and the potential for a growing ministry there. 

Thank you for reading and for your continued partnership!

Becca Thurston