March Update

Skylar and Laura, two student leaders I get to meet with every week! They are some of the best.

Happy March!  

    Welcome back, I'm excited to share whats been going on this month at UTA. I hope I sound like a broken record, but thank you never goes without saying, so thank you!! Every time I sit down to write these updates and even regularly through out my weeks I am so incredibly thankful for you making this ministry possible. I get the privilege of seeing your impact up close and personal every day, so I hope some of these stories translate some of the vastness of what your generosity is doing at UTA. Let's jump in! 

Follow Up From Last Month: 

    Like I shared last month, Sam got baptized! Such an exciting time in her life, and in our community.  I'm reminded of Ephesians 4: 22-24: 

Ephesians 4: 22-24: 

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

    Join me in praying this this over Sam and all the baptisms from last month, may truth that they were created to be like God sink deeply into their thoughts and beliefs. May they fill their lungs up with the truth and exhale sincere devotion to God, the rest of their lives. 

Two Students: 

I want to spend some time telling you about two students that have been such gifts to me and the people around them this year. Their names are Mia and Precious! 

Lizzy on the left, Mia on the right. 

    Mia is on the right in this picture, Lizzy is the other student, she is great too but I want to talk about Mia haha. This picture is from 3 years ago when Lizzy and I lead core together, and Mia was a freshman. Now Mia is about to wrap up her junior year. I have been studying the Bible with her for the last three years.

     When she was a freshman she had a lot of inhibitions around God. I ended the school year when she was a freshman thinking she wouldn't be involved with FOCUS or God much in the future. 

    However, something changed that summer she came back and asked to come to my small group again and to keep meeting with me, this was a huge time of growth! We began to have conversations that illuminated that she really didn't know what following Jesus meant, so we spent the whole year in the Gospel of Mark to help her answer that question. At the end of that year she was able to articulate that she was beginning to see God as a God that brings fullness of life, and a God maybe worth taking some risks for. 

    I've continued to meet with her this year, earlier this semester she told me that she believed there wasn't another way to find life. She had been trying other things and relying on other things and people to bring life but they had always come up short. Which instantly made me cry, she was finally grasping what I had been praying for her for the last several years. 

    This semester particularly I've watched her jump into really believing full life is only found in following God. She shared with me yesterday that one of her friends gave her, her Bible before she left the country to study abroad and told Mia "You can have this, I'm done being a Christian."But her friend recently got back to Texas, and texted Mia asking her to study the Bible with her. How neat is that, clearly has God's finger prints all over it. Mia has been able to spend a bit of time with her and hear what she is going through, and yesterday spent a few hours praying for her and writing a letter around Psalm 116, inviting her back into knowing God. 

    I was so touched by this, and reflecting on Mia's life the last few year. Join me in praying for her to continue on this trajectory of knowing and loving God for the rest of her life. Join me in praying for her time with this friend of hers. I can clearly see who God is making her to be and how He may want to use her. Pray she continues to be brave enough to join God where he is working! 

    The other student I want to tell you about is Precious. This a kind of a bad picture but it is sweet, she is holding one of the new babies at church! 

    Precious is a freshman this year, and we have gotten to meet every week to study the Bible. I have continued to be more and more blown away by her. Her depth of thought is far beyond most 18 year olds, she is profoundly devoted to God and affected by his word, and is incredibly humble. I think very highly of her. 

Again, I can see very clearly who God is making her to be and how he may want to use her, even just during her time in college. Our students need peers like her, the body needs members like her. She is a regular source of encouragement, conviction, and refreshment for myself as well. 

    She is going to be attending a conference called SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry) in May, to learn how to be further equipped as a missionary to her peers during her time in college. Join me in praying for a few things for her: 

    - Pray that SICM would be an impactful and catalyzing experience, that it would be a real launching pad for her own ministry. 

    - Pray for bravery, she is a bit more timid and reserved, but even in the last 6 months I have seen this grow immensely. Pray for opportunities for her to grow, and the courage to rise to the occasion!

    - Pray that she continues to love and pursue God the rest of her life. 

Thank You! 

    Again, thank you so much. These lives wouldn't hav been touched without you, Mia and Precious may not know God the way they do without your generosity and trust that God will do something incredible with your investment. Thank you for trusting me to be a part of this! 

Love, 

Sophie