Graham's Ministry Blog

HOWDY and HELLO! We have finished January and have begun the school year. We kicked off the year like we always do, with a Winter Retreat with all of our campuses together. Around 500 students from across various DFW colleges came to worship and learn for a week.   All the UTA students who came to Winter Retreat Our tiny TCC crew. Considering we had two students come the year before, this is INSANE! God is good. Winter Retreat is always a really encouraging event. We held it at Riverbend Retreat Center this year. We had students from eleven different colleges get together.  My favorite part of these retreats is the closeness it creates between people. Through shared experiences and meals, so many of our students saw themselves as part of something bigger than themselves. When I was a student, I remember realizing for the first time I was really a part of the Body of Believers at this retreat. Worship in the morning UTA guys  I also got a lot of one on one time with variou...

HOWDY AND HELLO IN 2023!!! The new year has begun, and college students all over the world are getting ready to start their Spring semesters. A time of life where they are open to change. friendships, and conversations that could alter their life for better or for worse. That is why I am so excited to go and meet them. To go and tell them about the Good News of Jesus, and that they are a part of something much bigger than just getting a degree. The week leading up to Christmas, till MLK day, our students are home with family and friends. They are given a chance to rest from the rush of the semester. We campus pastors do the same.  I spent a majority of the past two weeks, resting, reading, praying, and traveling. Emily and I saw much of our families in this time, caught up with old friends that are out of town, and we even got a puppy named Waldo. All of these things take energy, but are restful and meditative for the heart. I am feeling ready to go out and meet some students. My c...

 Howdy and hello, friends! Merry soon to be Christmas!  Of course I am posting this once again a week into the new month while covering the last one! I feel equipped to minister to students, but sometimes feel so forgetful of these important tasks, like sharing good news with you all! Thankful for you, your patience, and your prayers. We are coming on up on finals, so the school year is coming to a close. We celebrated with a Christmas party with both our UTA and TCC students together.  Say hello to Waldo!! (p.s. Emily is ecstatic) A friend of mine on staff created this graphic to help explain some of our commonly used jargon in ministry. Our theme for the party was Christmas in Hawaii, so there was lots of great decorations, outfits, and themed snacks. Where so much of my job is meeting with students one on one, and having pretty serious conversations about life, scripture, and sins, I find that these celebrations do a great job of forming relationships and making memori...

  This is going to be one of my favorite photos ever. Love this guy. This is my friend, John. As we were finishing up our 10 week Bible study, FOJ, he decided he wanted to get baptized and commit himself to the Lord. It was with great pleasure and a full heart that I got to welcome my dear friend into a committed life with Christ. John is now figuring out how he might disciple his classmates, coworkers, or really just anyone around him. He is full of life and God's Spirit. I pray that Christ will reach many through my friend, John. Helen and Emily reading some scriptures before Helen getting baptized. As sure as John was, we had two more students get baptized in the same week. When John invited everyone to come to his baptism, two girls, Helen and Sam shared that they had been thinking about this decision as well and were ready to make the commitment. God can be so good like this. Emily got to baptize these sweet girls after John and I went. It is that time of year where we get to ...

The guys and I from Friday core (L to R: Armaan, Mauricio, Vincent, Josh, Michael, Alan). Love these guys Howdy friends! I have been so busy with ministry, but have been so excited to share about this past month of Good News!! I want to start with some of the heavier things on my heart, and later get to how God is good despite the storm. In this past month, I have had three different guys step away from ministry. Two of them I have spent many hours with discipling and studying the Bible with. One of them called me, and just because of his class schedule keeping him from attending events, plus his church offering a college group, he has decided to step away from FOCUS and be a member there. This one did not sting, and I am happy he has made that decision. The other one told me through text that they saw no fruit coming from our ministry and that I had become overbearing, that I had made him angry.  This is a student I have spent many times praying for and asking for guidance in how ...