Gratitude
This is Adriana, another apprentice at Collin College this year. Here she was having the time of her life at our staff retreat and I was wondering when I would ever be able to get off of the tube. |
I can't believe it's already September. It feels like I was sitting in orientation for the apprenticeship just yesterday. School has officially started and the apprenticeship is in full swing. Adriana and I both moved from Denton to do the apprenticeship, so she's been a comforting, familiar friend. She's been our team hype woman over these last few weeks with reminders to follow through and work hard.
This is the majority of our corefa team in the final portion of our preparation day. We sang a few worship songs together and everyone shared a personal vision for the ministry this year. |
We call our leaders "corefas" because they facilitate our small groups, also known as cores. All of our corefas commit to about 15 hours of ministry on top of classes and jobs. FOCUS wouldn't really work or exist without them, so we are incredibly thankful for their commitment.
On the final Saturday of summer, we had a preparation day for our leaders. They sacrificed the entire day to get to know one another, discuss our mission and vision for the year, and explore ways to welcome students to campus. We ended the night in hopeful expectation of what the Lord will do this next year. I pray that none of us would forget why we decided to do this in the first place and that we would let the Lord shape our upcoming year.
On the final Saturday of summer, we had a preparation day for our leaders. They sacrificed the entire day to get to know one another, discuss our mission and vision for the year, and explore ways to welcome students to campus. We ended the night in hopeful expectation of what the Lord will do this next year. I pray that none of us would forget why we decided to do this in the first place and that we would let the Lord shape our upcoming year.
The girls at Collin are fun-loving and inclusive. I've loved getting to know them in my time here so far!
Here are a few messing around with a kid's meal toy after Thursday Night Fellowship.
From left to right: Adriana, Shannon, and Jessica.
Here we are at our first Thursday Night Fellowship (TNF) of the school year!
At the end of the week, we gathered with all of our new friends and, indeed, sang songs of joy! God showed up and showed out during Welcome Week and brought us new students who are longing for Him. Cody, one of my teammates and friend, kicked off our sermon series: Do You Know the Man Jesus? He pointed the students to God, who we hope in, and shared with them why we do what we do as disciples.
All I feel is gratitude as I reflect on the last month. My role as an apprentice is opening my eyes to new sides of ministry I wasn't fully aware of before. I'm thankful for the hard work people have done before me, the patience of our team as all of us new apprentices learn the ropes, student leaders who show up and meet people when we're setting up for events or TNF, God for teaching me even through the most mundane tasks. As we settle in to more routine and build our cores, I'm excited to continue to learn what goes into campus ministry.
I'm thankful for every one of you. I couldn't do this without your support and prayers. Please let me know how I can be praying for you!
Prayer Requests:
With love,
Jacy Garcia
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I love hearing about other campuses and how there is light being shone into the students' lives there! It's super cool to see just what God has been doing and how He's been building relationships with so many students within the first few weeks. I'll be praying for your core and the other cores at the Collin campuses and that God would work through you guys and help bring people into a community that can be family for them in a way that supports and loves on them. And I'll keep staff in my prayers as well, that you would see where the Lord wants to lead the ministry and follow that path!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stephen!!
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