September Update

 

There is SO much to share!!

I'm so excited to update you on the past couple weeks, God has really been present and worked in super tangible ways. Thank you so much for praying and partnering with me to make this possible. All the stories and faces I'm about to share would not be possible without your faithfulness and generosity. Thank you!! Join me in praising God for what he has begun at UTA. 

I am going to split this post into two parts: welcome week itself- I'll share about some of the events we did and include pictures, and students- I'll share about a few of our leaders and a few new girls! 

Welcome Week: 

To kick off welcome week, we did a united worship night with all the other ministries present on campus! This was super special and we got to be a place where students who were purposefully seeking community could come and get connected. I know a few guys approached my friend and coworker Graham after the worship night and said something like "Ok I am sold, I want to get plugged in. How do I do that?". So cool!! Especially since we have been praying for our mens ministry. Graham met with them a few days later and started studying the Bible with them. 

Towards the end of the week we did a late night karaoke night at a local coffee shop! This was by far one of the most fun events we have done in memory. This video was of the last song of the night, many of the students dancing and on stage were new students. I thought this was so neat seeing friendship visibly be built within a few hours between people who weren't very comfortable with each other prior. SO COOL!! 

This is from our first TNF (Thursday Night Fellowship) of the year!! We had about 140 students in attendance, as you can see we ran out of chairs. This was so neat, normally we have about 70-80 people at a regular TNF. I am so excited to see our ministry grow and I'm thankful for all the students God has entrusted to us. 

Students: 

This is Alisa and Laurel, and Austin in the back lol. Alisa and Laurel lead core together and are in my peer team this year! Which basically just means their development as leaders is under my care for this school year. I am so proud of them and impressed with them, they both deal with high levels of anxiety but chose to really believe that God has empowered them and they totally set the pace for our student leaders this year! They both were on campus meeting new students all day every day for the better part of two weeks straight. Fourteen girls came to their first core last week!! Be praying for them and their girls. 

This is Zoe and Jacie, they are helping me lead my core this year! They are some of the most relational, thoughtful, and devoted girls around. Be praying for them this year as they learn to lead others to Jesus well. 

This is kind of a blurry picture but this is from my first core last week! We are missing four people but such a sweet group! Starting with Jacie in the pink shirt to the left theres: Precious, Lena, Maddie, Kate, Karina, Me, and Zoe. We are missing Lindsey, Zaryia, Taylor, and Eden. Be praying over these girls and our friendships for the coming school year. Multiple of these girls shared either with me one on one or in core that they were so thankful to have connected to a ministry quickly and feel like God is trying to reconnect with them. 

This was a text I got from a girl after our first core. Her friend passed away in a car accident the night before, for context. I was so surprised but thankful she chose to come to core, it was a neat tangible reminder that being present on campus really makes a difference in these students lives. They need Jesus and they need hope, college can be a really dark time. Being praying for Maddie as she navigates this grief. Also she meant "no judgement", hahaha. 

This is Karina, we hung out the next day after core and we will be studying the Bible together this school year! 

Thank you!! 

Again this is seriously just the tip of the iceberg of what God has been doing these past few weeks, it is a privilege to share them with you. I hope these pictures and stories bless you and remind you that you are actively and tangibly making an impact on so many college students. You are such a gift to me and to them, thank you!! 

Love, 

Sophie