End of the Summer

Laurel, Loren, Sam and Emily after we prayer walked UTA one evening!

Hello! 

As you know school starts this week!! This is such a special time of year so I wanted to send you an update right before we jump in. I'm going to update you on the last piece of the summer, give you a sense of what the next few weeks will look like, and share how you can join me in prayer for the upcoming weeks.  Lets get started :)

End of July and August: 

Every year before we go back to our campuses our entire staff takes a week to retreat together, connect, and prep for the school year. This is our team for the upcoming year across all of DFW! UTA has a team of seven this year, myself included. This year we spent this week together reflecting on "In the Name of Jesus" by Henri Nouwen. In this book Nouwen writes about the three temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness and how they can be perverse in Christian leadership. He coins them the temptation to be relevant, spectacular, and powerful. The one that I think will stick with me for a long time is the temptation to be spectacular. One of our other campus pastors distilled this down to "taking the focus off God and putting it on myself". They highlighted how subversive this temptation is and how prone I am to buying into it. Another one of our campus pastors in response to this shared a Jesuit prayer they had been praying recently to combat this temptation, I wanted to share it with you. 

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus

From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus

From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus

From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

I was so touched and challenged by this prayer. I hope it ministers to you as well. 

Every Monday evening all the girl students who were in town for the summer would get together, read scripture and hang out. This was for sure one of my favorite parts of the summer! To cap off our time together, my coworker Emily's mother in law, Pegi, asked if she could host us for a tea party to celebrate the end of the summer!!  This was for sure a highlight for all of us that were able to go. 

Welcome Week: 

Welcome week is finally here! All the students that we have been praying for are arriving on campus starting today. For the next two weeks our staff and student leaders have a bunch of super fun events planned, and will be at all of the universities events. We plan to be out on campus from about 8am-10pm most days for the next two weeks. This is such an incredibly crucial time of year for students and our ministry, please join me in prayer in the following ways: 

• Please pray for God to prepare the hearts of the students we are about to meet. Pray that they would be eager and open to getting to know Jesus, and that God would place a desire in them for christian community. 
• Pray that all of the students that set foot on UTA's campus come to know and love Jesus. 
• Please pray for our staff and student leaders. This is very much like a two week long sprint. Pray for energy, patience, genuine care for the students around us, and that we would remain in constant prayer and remain connected to God, working out of his strength not our own. 
• Side note please pray for me, I have not been feeling well the last two days. I am so bummed and want to be able to be present on campus during this time. 
• Please pray over the conversations and connections we will be making. Pray that God connects us with the people he is preparing for us. Pray for divine appointments for our team! 

I am so thankful for your partnership and support in ministry. I am reminded of Mark 9:29 "This kind can only come out by prayer"- Jesus' response when his disciples were unable to cast out a demon. I feel like God has been pressing this on my heart about welcome week. These weeks can only be done by prayer. Students only come to know Jesus by the power of God, student leaders come to be brave enough to share about Jesus with their peers only by the power of God. Please join me in prayer 

I am so excited to share with you what God does these next few weeks, 

Love, 

Sophie