I've spent most of my summer working to pull together a team of student leaders. It's been a tall task, but most rewarding as well as I transition into a new ministry at UT Dallas. Would you believe that we are going to have over 50 people filling all sorts of different leadership roles in our community this year? No wonder it has taken so long!
We're having a student leader retreat this weekend aimed at re-orienting and affirming our vision and mission on our campus, building relationships, and gaining some momentum for the coming weeks. God desires to bring life, wholeness, hope, and extra-ordinary love to every student at UTD, and we intend to distribute those good gifts widely.
As school draws near, I can't help but think about years past. This is my tenth year at this, and I have so many special memories of the first few weeks of each fall semester. I met some of my dearest friends...heck, I met one of our new campus ministers!...on those first few days after move-in.
I think about Ricky. We met at a free meal that FOCUS hosted in the freshmen apartments. Ricky's a guy that grew up "Christian," but really had no sense of what that meant. I (ONLY by God's grace) had the privilege of studying with him, baptizing him, leading core with him, living with him, and watching him grow in faith and maturity every year since. And, I just held his first born about a month ago!
I think about Matt, who I met the next fall. By all accounts, he was kind of a goober (I say that with great affection) when he showed up at UTD, with little direction in life. He and Ricky had similar stories, and my story with him follows much the same pattern. After graduating and while working full-time, Matt helped me mentor young men at Collin College for 2 years. He has since quit his job, completed a year in our full-time internship program, and is moving out to Denton to lead our ministry at the University of North Texas.
It's impossible for me to concisely communicate what all God has done in the lives of those guys, much less the immense blessing that they have been to my life and the ways they have made me a better man. But the sweet memories I have include many others, and they all remind me why we do what we do. It's because God is just too good.
Please pray for us consistently over the next month..
- That we would go forward with great purposefulness and boldness
- That God would open doors for us to serve, love deeply, and speak truth
- That all of God's people at UTD would find unity and community under our common Lord and his redemptive vision for university students
