Blessings Even in Hardship

Hey friends and fam! Thanks for giving my blog post for February a read! Again, thank you all for your support, both financial and spiritual. God has been moving powerfully in the lives of our students this year, and it wouldn't be without your support! The beginning of the month was a little strange in ministry since the snow storm, but I think God has taught me a lot about ministry in that time that I probably wouldn't learn otherwise. Let's jump in!


Snow? In Texas?

I think we all know, but it snowed for a few days. My housemates and I were without power for about 3-ish days, so we stayed at my supervisor's house until the power came back on at least somewhat regularly. While it was pretty annoying to be away from our house and stuck not being able to do my usual work, I think God still taught me a lot. My supervisor, Peter, lives with 5 other guys who are a part of (or were at one point) UTD FOCUS. Staying with them for the short time we did gave me a great example of what it would look like to make college a really enjoyable and memorable time for the guys who I live with. In all honesty, it's very easy for me to come home from doing ministry work all day and interact very little with my housemates. But, God taught me through Peter's housemates that my ministry is at home, too. I've slowly started building stronger relationships with my housemates since then, and I can see how God may work through them!



The view from outside the front door after the first batch of snow. Even though it was absolutely miserable, I took a walk around the neighborhood. Snow and ice is part of God's good creation too, right?

A group of my housemates and Peter's housemates hanging and playing games together :)

We got to participate in one of their roommate nights which I've started to copy at our house. It's been a great opportunity and tool to facilitate relationship and community growth.

While I was settling down for the night, Peter's dog, Penny came and slept next to me. She's the sweetest.

Bonus Penny picture!!!

Spring Showcase

Spring Showcase is coming up April 3! Spring Showcase is an entertainment fundraiser put on by FOCUS every year to raise money to send potential student leaders off to a week long leadership conference to learn more about how to lovingly and effectively minister to the college campus. Typically, FOCUS sends potential leaders to SICM (The Student Institute of Campus Ministry) in Bellingham, WA in the summer for this training, but SICM isn't taking students this year due to COVID. So, FOCUS will be preparing its own SICM-esque material to train our leaders for next school year. Since COVID hit around the same time as SICM signups last year, those students who were invited last year will also be invited this year. So, we need all the financial help we can get to help prepare these students to minister to their peers next school year. I've linked the website for more information above on the Spring Showcase heading. It'll be a great show!


In Christ,

Jacob






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