April Update

 

Retreat with our local church (ACC), it is so special to be a part of a church that partners with us in our mission to reach college students. 

Happy Spring! 

    I hope you've been able to enjoy some of the warmer weather these last few weeks as winter comes to a close. Spring is always a time that reminds me of the faithfulness of God. It reminds me of what CS Lewis says in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: 

"Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,

At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,

When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,

And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again."

I hope these last few weeks, especially with Easter occurring within them, have been reminders to you of the promises of God that are fulfilled and more fully await us. The spring time is good news! 

72 Hours of Prayer: 

One of the most special events that happens in the spring time at UTA is 72 Hours of Prayer (72HOP). Every year, all of the ministries on campus come together to put up a tent in the middle of campus with various ways to pray inside. These prayer stations include praying for UTA's faculty and staff, fellow students, our government, people we know who aren't saved, praying for local and global churches, and just general prayer requests. 

The tent! 

The idea is that across all our ministries, students would sign up for one or more of the 72 hour time slots to pray, and we are about to facilitate 72 continuous hours of prayer. 

This is inside the tent, the cross in the middle was a station where students could write sin they are dealing with on the black sheets of paper, pray for deliverance, tack it to the cross, then take a small cross necklace to wear as a reminder. Reading these sheets was really gut wrenching. Almost 90-95% of the ones I read were about lust, sex, pornography, etc.. It was really heartbreaking that this likely felt like one of the only safe places for these students to ask for freedom from those things, and I've watched all of those damage people deeply.  Join me in praying for freedom from this, as it is clearly gripping this generation deeply. 

Prayers for the church! 

Every year this is such a meaningful experience to participate in, a neat reminder that God is active in many other places besides FOCUS, and that we are a part of something so much bigger!

Thank you! 

Thank you so much for your faithfulness and heart of generosity towards God's mission at UT Arlington. It is a privilege to get to partner with you! 

Until next month, 

Sophie