August: YOU CAN'T OUT GIVE GOD

AUGUST: YOU CAN'T OUT GIVE GOD

    One of the most exciting months of the year for campus missionaries is finally here! These early days of August I find myself praying for & wondering what students I will meet in just a few short weeks. I find myself wondering not only how their lives will be changed by encountering Jesus but also how my life may change. Every August I prepare my heart & mind to go out and be a blessing on campus & yet I find myself to be the blessed one. Every year God blesses me richly with new relationships that many of which will last far beyond four years on campus. Every year I am reminded no matter what I give, you cannot out give God! 

     If you look at the picture above, this is our team of campus missionaries at UTA this year. Sarah, our apprentice is to the right of me in the picture. She is such a special example of this in my life. I met her in 2022 when she was a freshman & we got to study the Bible together every week. She quickly became such a meaningful friend to me & continued to be a friend to me all through her years in college. Now she is one of our campus apprentices & we get to labor side by side in the place where Jesus radically grabbed ahold of us both. The beauty & grace I find in our stories individually & intertwined are hard to fully articulate- but suffice it to say- you simply cannot out give God. How beautiful to have a reminder of this walking around with me this year :) 

    Join me in praying for Sarah as she explores what it's like to be a campus missionary full time this year! The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few- praise God for people like Sarah! 

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR (like He taught us to!)

This is our theme for the 26-27 school year! There are several things that make this one particularly special to me. 

1. Two of our students wrote a song called "Called to Love"- inspired by Jesus' teachings & other key teachings in scripture. The bridge of the song says "Love your neighbor, like he taught us to!" We wanted to heat up both the meaningful content of the song, but also wanted to honor our students showing such neat initiative! So we made the line of the bridge our theme for the year. Themes are ideas or concepts we want to spend time drilling down deep with our whole student body. 
2. The design above is what will be on our tshirt this year & you'll see the lyrics of the bridge & a bunch of little buildings. These are all places in our little Arlington community where we spend time together- UTA's campus, ministry houses, mission Arlington, church, & a local favorite coffee shop.  When I saw this design I thought it was a perfect visual representation of the places that may be ordinary to any onlooker but, quite profound to a member of our community because they are places where the love of Jesus became real. I am really excited to watch these ordinary places become extraordinary to new students. 

As I, my fellow campus missionaries & our student leaders go out to love our UTA neighbors this month join me in praying. Join me in praying for all the new students, pray they would be hungry for God & that we would encounter them, ready to give the bread of life. Pray for our student leaders, pray they would remember their hunger & the source of their strength, pray God would fill them with energy & love for every person they encounter. 

Thank you so much for making ministry at UTA possible for another year. It is a deeply humbling experience to have your support and prayers behind me as I go into another school year. I am so looking forward to sharing with you in a month what God has done. 

Until next month, 

Sophie