Parent Night
Each year I get really nervous about this event. Who wouldn't get nervous talking to a room full of older, wiser men and women who have come to see what their children are involved in? I find myself projecting a skeptical mindset on them as if they came to scrupulously evaluate the ministry for any and every flaw. Fortunately, through prayer and reflection, I find peace in knowing that God's got it and realistically parents are simply curious. Truly, I enjoy our Parent Nights. I see it primarily as a time to build up, encourage, and thank the parents for making the largest investment in their children thus far. We, as pastors, get to build on the foundation lain primarily by them and the Lord - what a blessing!Later on in the service, we open the microphone up for any of the students or parents who have been around for a while to share how they've seen the Lord change people through the FOCUS ministry. It's much better than anything I could say to them, and always is a real treat for everyone to hear. I'm very thankful for the people the Lord has put into our body (parents and students) because I get to hear about so many neat things He is doing through all of His people.
If you're a parent who attended Parent Night this year, thanks again for making it a priority to visit! We really appreciate you being there.
SICM Showcase
I had talked in my last post about SICM, explaining what that was. I'd like to invite you to a fundraiser concert we are hosting to help financially support our SICM students. Several students in our ministry will be performing and let me tell you, we have got some very talented people!This will be March 28th, 8pm, at Legacy Church in Plano. Tickets will be $15. I would love to see you there!
Here's the address:
4501 Legacy Dr.
Plano, TX 75024
Spring Student Initiative
Speaking of SICM, each Spring we host students from the ministry that hosts the SICM conference in Bellingham, WA. It's another way that we use to deepen our relationship with Campus Christian Fellowship. From March 21st - 28th we will have 24 students/interns visiting our various campuses to help us with a week of campus outreach. Unlike our normal weekly outreach efforts where we spend one day per week on one of our campuses, we spend every day during this week on every campus! It allows us to have a good progression throughout the week in our conversations with people. In years past we have put marker boards out and let passersby respond to various questions to initiate conversation (see below) Some people's responses were really sad or hard to hear, but that's all the more reason we need to talk about this stuff! Please pray for our efforts: that this would be beneficial to the students on our campuses and enriching to the Washingtonians visiting with us.
Prayers
- We are currently in the process of interviewing potential interns for next school year. This is very exciting, but we would greatly appreciate your prayers during this time for the Lord's guidance on acceptance and placement of each of the thirteen applicants.
- Please continue to pray over our efforts to start a student org at North Central Texas College this semester. Also pray for our efforts at University of Texas at Arlington!
- Continue praying for our SICM trip in May.
- Guidance for the staff in leading the ministry.
- Pray that the Lord protects our ministry from the forces of evil and emboldens us (staff, students, you!) to be people of the truth in every circumstance. May we all be children of our Father in heaven.
Thank you for all you do! God uses each person in different ways and I believe that you have made a difference in His work on the college campuses through your support of this ministry.
Yours for the Campus,
Matt
