Matt's January Update

There's a lot on the horizon as we enter a new semester (please be praying for our students as they come back from the break and new students who may join our community). I look forward to sharing about all of that soon! The most imminent thing to mention is Winter Camp this weekend. All of our students from our various campuses across the DFW metroplex will be heading out to Sky Ranch today (Friday) through Monday. Please be praying over our time there, that the students will be blessed through their experience. I'll have more to tell you about that in my next update!

I also wanted to update you on the results of our Keep FOCUS Growing fundraiser. It was a huge success and we raised more than we ever have, more than we had imagined even, at nearly $65,000. THANK YOU so much if you participated in that! I'm very thankful for all of our generous donors who are passionate about college ministry!

Aside from the KFG fundraiser, thank you for your consistent support of my ministry here in Denton. I'm very blessed to have ministry partners like you who believe in what we are trying to do for the Kingdom. Your partnership creates a multitude of opportunities!

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Student Testimony

Something neat about Graham, the student below, is that he'll likely be at UNT next school year. I've spent a little time with him this semester when he would come up to Denton to visit the campus and I'm really excited to potentially have him as a part of our community!

"FOCUS showed me what a real relationship with God is. Coming from a Christian private school, I thought I understood God pretty well but I didn't have a relationship with him at all. Through the example of my Corefas, staff members, and just so many other students, I saw what it means to earnestly seek God. One of my favorite moments from freshman year was a talk with my friend, Pedro. We were good friends at this point in the year, and I had become pretty vulnerable with him. We got into a serious conversation about our current walks with God, what that looks like, and why. After poorly answering how my relationship with God was "pretty good", Pedro really pushed my ideas of why I was Christian. I ended up realizing most of my faith was blindly following the laws God had given us, and not really seeking him out. Pedro then opened up to me that he had struggled with the same problem early on in his faith. I'm beyond thankful for Pedro and so many other friends like him who have spurred me on in love. Before FOCUS, this community, I was living half the life I am now. Now, I am living life with God, not just for him."

Graham Spencer
Collin College, Spring Creek
Illustration
Sophomore