September Ministry Update: God is on the Move!

    Hey everyone! September has come and almost gone! Since my last blog update the school year has started and we are in full swing at Collin FOCUS. God is definitely working on campus and it has been so exciting to be a part of it.

Leadership Retreat

    At the end of August just before our welcome week, our student leader team and staff went on a leadership/training retreat to gear up for the school year. We shared testimonies, talked in depth about our vision and mission statements, and prayed for the students God would bring into our ministry. It was such a meaningful time to bond as a leader team and unite before heading into the mission field at Collin. Here is a picture of everyone there!

Welcome Week

    We spent the next week outreaching on the various campuses throughout the day! On Monday we made backdrops and frames for students to take first-day-of-school pictures, Tuesday was "Taco Tuesday", on Wednesday we passed out iced coffee, Thursday we hosted a block party before our first Thursday Night Fellowship of the year, and on Friday we played some volleyball at the student apartments on campus. All the while we were able to share with students about Jesus and our ministry! Please continue that God would continue guide our outreach efforts and for students as they invite their classmates and friends into Christian community throughout the year. Here is a little collage of Welcome Week I put together:

Thursday Night Fellowship and Core!

    Two big parts of our ministry at Collin are core - gender and campus specific Bible studies that meet each week - and Thursday Night Fellowship (TNF) - a weekly event for the entire ministry where we worship together, sort of like a regular church service. We hosted our first TNF the Thursday of Welcome Week and had over 100 students come worship with us! TNF takes place from 7:30 to 9:00 each week, so please pray for us to be able to continue to reach students and lead them to Christ through our large group events! Here is a picture I took from that night: 

    I also lead a core (again, a Bible study/small group) with my friend Gio on Monday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30. It has been such a cool experience getting to know guys and dive deeper into Scripture with them. God has been so good to us and has brought together some really neat guys to be a part of it each week. We have had at least 10 different dudes join us from various Christian and some non-Christian backgrounds to learn more about Him! Here is a selfie I took after one of our core nights:

Thank you!!

    I am still so blown away by the kindness and generosity each of you has shown me and these Collin students by making all of this possible! God has turned a small leader team that could fit inside a living room into a ministry of over a hundred students with hearts on fire for Him, and you are no small part of that. Thank you so much for investing in these students and for your continued thoughts and prayer - it has made such a difference.

    A verse I have been thinking about a lot since reading Jeremiah for our Old Testament class is Jeremiah 29:13 - "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Please continue to pray that students would be willing to devote their whole hearts to Him and put Him first amidst classes, jobs, and everything else competing for their time and attention. I have been praying that we would continue to be a light to Collin College and that our students would be genuinely invested in each other's lives. I'd love for you to join me in that!

    Our next big event coming up is our Fall Retreat, a time for students to get away from the hustle and bustle of campus for a weekend trip to a nearby camp/retreat center to worship Him and spend time in His Word. Please pray that students would be receptive and willing to attend! I am excited to fill you in on how it goes!

In Christ,

Mick

P.S. Here is a student testimonial from Dak, a student leader at Collin! As always, you can view a browser version of this blog at mick.mcafoose.anyfocus.org.