Welcome Back

    It has been a while since FOCUS has really been on campus, and the push to get ready and start returning things to normal is in full swing.  

    It has also been a while since I have updated this blog. I apologize for this. A quick flyby of what I have missed, we got the news in March that the campus planned to reopen for the 2021-22 school year. We got to have our first fully in-person event in May, which was our end-of-the-year party. This summer, I was in charge of the A/V team that oversaw our Summer FOCUS meetings, and also began work on new advertising materials for the UTD team. Kelse and I also got a dog right at the end of the school year, his name is Indy.

    Now that we are caught up, and distracted by a cute dog, it's time to talk about August. What a month it always is, but this year it was especially difficult. On August 2nd, the staff left for our Fall Staff Retreat, which we had at Bridgeport Camp. We spent the time primarily making new relationships with the apprentices we onboarded for this year (of which there are 18!), worshiping and praying together, and preparing for the upcoming school year. This was a great time of fellowship and a great time for getting our minds right for the school year. 

(Peter and Brandon doing Karaoke over Guitar Hero)

(Two apprentices, Sienna and Graham doing the same)

(The sunset over the lake at Bridgeport)

    Almost immediately after we returned from our retreat, we turned around and went to Camp Eagle for the Texas Student Institute of Campus Ministry. SICM is usually put on by a ministry in Bellingham Washington, but since the pandemic started, they have not been able to host their conference in person. To make up for this, our staff put on the same conference at a camp near San Antonio. The students, over the course of 6 days, spent time learning in long lecture settings about Spiritual Friendship, how to exegete the Bible, how to ask good questions, and a lot more. All of these classes are set up to help them lead more effectively and seeing the way these students tackled welcome week at UTD, I think it is safe to say they got it! The camp wasn't all lectures and classes though, there was also plenty of free time where the students were able to do a bunch of activities, like Rock Climbing, Cave Exploring, Ziplining, and Swimming! The feel of the overall was quite different from the normal SICM experience, but the way the talks were done definitely left me (and I'm sure the students) equally as equipped as if we had flown to Washington. 

(My view of the Nueces River from my Cabin)

(The Students being guided through a devotional)

(People passing around the frisbee and relaxing between talks)

    After SICM, we headed straight into Welcome Week. Starting August 16th with our Welcome Week Prep class for the small group leaders, and some of the more veteran returning members of our community. We went over how to be inviting, how to look out for people, and how to talk about what FOCUS is.

(Our leader team worshipping together at the end of Welcome Week Prep)

 After this, we had an event almost every day for the next 2 weeks. For the first 3 days, we played board games and yard games in and around the dorms. We had crazy huge turnouts to these events, and people were so happy to see campus life (clearly many of them worried COVID would prevent this). A handful of the students I met on these first 3 nights are going to be joining my small group, which is super encouraging!

(The dorm lobby the first night we were there (only about 1/4 of the students had moved in))

(Dorm lobby day 2 near the start of our event, it didn't take long for people to get excited!)

    After we had met a bunch of Freshmen (and Sophomores on campus for the first time), we held an event to help students find their classes. We paired up people who knew the campus, with people who didn't, and helped these new students get comfortable with where they will be, before day 1 of school! That evening we had our first of 2 Zombie Tag events in the Green Hall (one of the oldest buildings on campus), and it was a huge success. Our turnout was massive and so many people were getting phone numbers, inviting people to Friday Night Fellowship and their small groups, it was all so encouraging to see. That weekend we had a back-to-school bash at the Student Union on campus, and again, the turnout was great! So many people came by to play games with us, get snacks, talk, and take a breather before school kicked back up. Then on Sunday, we had a carpool to church. That morning I met a student from Korea, and he decided to come to church with us. It was crazy cool that just by being out there in the morning, people would walk up to us and ask to come to check out our church! 

( A few of the students we met before that carpool, staying to have lunch with our staff)

    Week 2 of welcome week was just as crazy! Somehow we survived all of this, but here is what happened in week two. On Monday we had our first Leader Meeting with the Pastors and student leaders at UTD, which went really well. Seeing all of our leaders together sharing good news and getting on the same page was so cool to see. On Tuesday we had a couple of cultural events, one LatinX event, and one Black Student event. Both were HUGE hits! One of the black students who has been in our ministry for a few years said that this event was the largest gathering of black people he has ever seen at UTD! Praise God that we can help people find a place to belong! The LatinX event was going on in the same building, and it was equally great! So successful in fact, that we are looking into doing another one here in a couple of weeks! Skipping over Wednesday for now, we also had an Asian-American social on Thursday night. There was free boba tea and worship, and the turnout for that was pretty awesome! So many people came by, got tea, fellowshipped for a while, and then transitioned over into the room where we were having worship. It was so cool to see our community really come together and make a place for all of these different cultures! Back to Wednesday though, we had one of our larger events, Field Night. Out on the multipurpose fields, we had games of ultimate frisbee, kickball, 9-square (which is like four square but larger and above your head), and we also had a Kona Ice truck show up and start serving people. So many people came out and participated in this event, it was amazing to see, and a lot of serious connections were made. 

(Our leader team in their first meeting)

("The largest gathering of black people ever at UTD"- Darreyl Landry)

(A view of a bunch of tiny dots playing ultimate frisbee) 

(9 Square in the air, its line is going back to that white cooler)

    We wrapped up the week, and the month with our first Friday Night Fellowship since March 13, 2020. It was incredible to see the turnout, the praise, and the participation of students from all kinds of backgrounds. This month of feeling the return to normal has been so exciting! Please be praying for our student's continued involvement, and continued safety! Here is a student testimony from our community for this month.