The Vision of Discipleship is Caught, Not Taught

It looks like I am hosting a sermon on the side of a hill,
but it was just dinner at Gasworks park

HOWDY AND HELLO!!!

It is now June, and I have a great update to share with y'all from May. But first I want to say thank you so much for your continued support. It is Summer now, so my fundraising has begun, meaning many of the people receiving this are reading for the first time. Thank you for joining along in this mission of discipling young college students.

This update will be primarily about our most recent leadership trip up to Washington. Every May we take students to the Student Institute of Campus Ministry (SICM) up in Bellingham. This was our largest group invited yet, over 150 students who want to be equipped to make Christ known on campus.

This conference has been foundational to the growth of our ministry as a whole, and a huge impact on the lives of hundreds of individuals who have come through FOCUS over the years, including my own. When I went as a freshman in 2017, I had no idea God was planning to call me into ministry specifically then, but that week I did learn and catch a vision of a lifelong commitment to being a disciple of Christ. Many of my guys expressed the same things this week :')

150 Students from all across DFW!!!

Sunday service at Hillcrest Church

Waiting for a class to start with Mauricio

We are hosted in Bellingham by Hillcrest Church and Campus Christian Fellowship. They have been partnering for over 25 years to host this conference and teach college students the building blocks of discipleship and campus evangelism.

Our classes for the week were held at the church and featured subjects like:

- how to host a small group

- how to read the Bible well

- how to evangelize on campus

- how to be a spiritual friend to others

- and much more...

UTA invited about 16 students, and 9 of them were guys that I have gotten to lead and befriend. There were my friends and leaders, Mauricio and Vincent, and some of my most recent Bible Study Buddies, Garrett, Kamaal, and Israel. During the trip I got to know Daniel, Austen, Dominic, and Josh much better as well. It is a trip that you learn a lot through classes, but it is absorbed much more through relationships and interactions. Many of these guys came in as friends and left as Brothers in Christ.

We didn't end up eating at this delicious looking sandwich shop (feat Garrett and Josh)

Stopped by my favorite thrift shop in Bellingham

Mauricio cheezin

Looking fly for Christ

We got to do a fair bit of traveling at the beginning of the trip. Stopping in Seattle, Pike's Place, the Space Needle, Mt. Rainier, The Fremont Troll, all the way to downtown Bellingham, Whatcom Falls, and Larrabee State Park. It is such a blessing for Texans to see such good nature in such good weather. This part of the trip gets many of our students primed and connected for the lessons they learn later in the week.

When we arrive in Bellingham, we stop hotel hopping, and are received as guests in the homes of the local church members. Hillcrest loves to support missions and Kingdom work, and their community is bought in clearly. They host all our student in their homes, 2-4 at a time, making us meals, sharing their space, and getting to know us.... ALL FOR FREE!!! We could not do this trip without the willing hosts.

Kamaal, Israel, and I stayed with my friends from last year, the Roeters! They are a fun family of 5, that reminds me a lot of my childhood with 3 boys in the house. While we are there primarily to let our students be formed into disciples, I get so excited thinking about the impact we are having on those boys when we spend that week with them.

Caitlin had told me they were so excited for me to come back, and I really hope they catch a vision of what following Jesus as a young adult really looks like from me and my boys I bring.

Playing some sort of game with the boys

Lots of basketball and soccer every time we came home

The Roeters celebrated Kamaal's birthday by getting him a sports jacket from their boy's soccer team. He is one of the family :')

This will be the last section of my writing, but I wanted to share some of the notes my guys wrote when I asked what they learned this week. The rest of the blog is just more photos of the trip and our time there!

Thank you again for your support. I am eager to see what leaders God raises up from this group of 9 individuals, and the 150 in total. I am also eager to see the leaders they will raise up after them. God is so good!!!!!

Garrett

"If I were to describe SICM in one word I would say it was whimsical. My first thought looking back on SICM is the relationships I built. I met lots of people and became even closer with the people I already knew. My close friend, Graham, kept saying that it was a glimpse of heaven, and I would have to agree. Everyone I met exemplified love through both words and actions. I’m excited for winter camp so I can see these people again.

What I got out of SICM is valuable knowledge and skills. Initially going into SICM I wanted to learn how to lead a small group because I value loving friendships very highly and want to share that type of friendship with as many people as possible because they are so, so good, and I did learn how to lead a small group! But I learned so much more as well. Many of the sessions were about things I had never even thought about, but after the session was over, I was glad I heard it. An example of this is that friendships should be valued more than sexual relationships, and that friendships are a greater form of love.

Lastly, probably the best thing that I learned was the skill of evangelizing. We went on campuses in Washington and when we started talking to random people about Jesus, you won’t believe me, but they didn’t persecute me!

There’s a lot more that happened at SICM but I’m trying to keep this letter short. If you’re curious and want to hear more, I’d love to share.

I can confidently say that SICM was the most valuable week of my life."

Exploring Bellingham

Got to take my boys to Mt. Rainier

Picking Mauricio up from his late flight

I drove these four to class every day. What a good, silly group!

Israel

"Going to Washington felt kind of like vacation days at the beginning, so I honestly did not expect all of these things that Jesus had for me in the second half. Graham and Colton explained to me what Sicm was, learning discipleship and how to leave an impact on your campus. During my 10 days in Washington, I made new friends and met great young people that are very kind and love the Lord as I do. Jesus first taught me how to be patient with others, how to love them the same way I would like to be loved, but that is always much easier said than done. At SICM though, my mind has changed completely on how to deal with any situation where my feelings are hurt. I learned how to be the one who solves problems, not the one blaming others or trying to defend myself. My outreach day in Bellevue College was the first time in a while that I went out and evangelized without being scared. I had an amazing time praying for others. In conclusion I can say that I’m feeling like a real disciple of Jesus, ready to go out and make more disciples. ❤️"

Austen captured this great pic on our last day

Beautiful lunch out by the lake

Daniel

"I have two answers to this. The first one, the more obvious answer, would probably be what SICM is all about: discipleship. Coming to SICM, I had little experience in evangelizing, however none of it was done to complete strangers who I knew nothing about. Through the various topics that we were taught, I was able to approach people on campus and have conversations with them about their faith and mine. And through those conversations, I realized what it truly meant to be a disciple of Christ. If someone had the cure to cancer, they would surely not want to keep it to themselves and not use it to treat others in need. In this same way, Christ has healed me from my past, and I want others to be healed through him as well. The second thing that I learned at SICM would be fellowship. My expectations of the trip before we left was that I was probably going to stick with everyone from UTA, and we’d just do our own thing. That was definitely not the case during the trip. I’ve met so many amazing people from different campuses that have made the trip even better than I thought it was going to be. As I had made stronger connections with the people from my campus, I had also developed more strong connections with people who I had no idea existed a month ago. Thinking about this lesson makes me think about Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Whether it be making sure everyone was together when sightseeing in Seattle, or encouraging my roommates to get up in the morning, I have learned that we are all capable of supporting one another and being there for each other. I am eternally grateful to have experienced such an amazing time, and I’m looking forward to making more disciples of Christ!"