April

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. Prov 6:6-8

Closing The School Year

 I read the above Proverb at a FOCUS meeting on campus at Richland today. As the weeks go by and the spring semester comes closer to the end, we have discussed the idea of being spiritually active during the summer. This is an important topic for college students, they are often not around their spiritual communities much, or at all for some university students, during the summer. As a student, it is easy to view summer as a time to relax and have fun, but it is also important to continue working hard and building/maintaining good habits. If students slack off too much over the summer, it will be harder for them to get back into good habits that will make them a better student during the school year. This also goes for their relationship with God, if we are not working hard for His kingdom during the summer, we will not be ready to reach the lost and form new friendships in the first few weeks of school next fall, which are the most important weeks in the life of a campus ministry. I thank God our ministry has been blessed with many bright and hardworking students, they all shared their plans to be hard working and stay spiritually active, and involved with the community on campus, over the summer.

I am so proud of these young men and women, they have all come so far and continue to grow in maturity, as well as closer to God, everyday. Just today, one of the students I have been studying the bible with told me the biggest lesson God has taught him this year is being consistent, both with God and in the spiritual community God has blessed him with. I had the opportunity then and there to affirm his growth in that area this year. He has not missed a small group meeting this semester, and he wasn't even involved in small groups at all last semester! Another student in our group is going to be starting her first one-on-one bible study, being co-led by another leader, with another student over the summer. I'm sure she will be ready to start one-on-one bible studies with all the students she meets on campus by the time fall comes around! The Holy Spirit has definitely been at work in these students hearts, transforming them to be more like Christ.

Transition

We are just now starting to transition from the spring semester to summer break. Final exams will be held next week, and everyone will be done with another school year. This is such an important time for our ministry. We will be taking a break from our small groups over the summer, but we will be replacing them with a unique group meeting called school of ministry. We do these school of ministry groups each summer, but this is the first year we will be doing one for Richland college. The purpose of these groups is to give the students an opportunity to study scripture and pursue God at a higher level. We will be listening to audio recordings of a graduate level class on the new testament. Most of these students have never had an opportunity to learn about God in such a setting. They will be pursuing God on a higher intellectual level and growing in their maturity and understanding of scripture. Please pray for students who will be in these groups this summer. Also pray that students will continue to put into practice everything they learn from these groups, that they would put into practice the things discussed, and find ways to use their knowledge serve God and seek the lost.

Another exciting transition this summer will be taking place in our big group meetings on campus. All four of our college ministries, UNT, UTD, Collin College, and Richland, will be combining their big group meetings every week over the summer. We will all be meeting at the same time and place every week. This is such a great opportunity, we only really get to have all of the ministries together once a year at our annual winter retreat. Students will get to be around several hundred other college aged disciples from all walks of life that have an incredible love for Jesus, how cool is that? This will also allow all of our staff members for each campus to come together every week for each of our group meetings, giving all of us more time to fellowship with each other and students from other campuses. Please pray for all of our upcoming transitions and all of the exciting events planned for the summer.

THANK YOU!!

I cannot even begin to thank you enough for your support in our ministry. All of these things would not be possible without you! Thank you for allowing God to work through you to bless college students. I am so blessed to be able to follow God's mission for me and have a group of people who are very generous and willing to see God's will done at Richland. Through you we have done many things on campus this year, and have blessed and changed the lives of so many students. There are many cool stories of students whose lives have been changed through what God does through us on campus at Richland, and not only Richland but the three other colleges we are at as well. It is really exciting to get to start a spiritual community on a campus that really needs it. I definitely have a vision of the ministry at Richland growing to 80-100 students within the next few years. It may seem like a daunting task, but nothing can stop us when we are being backed by the almighty LORD God! Thank you again, you are such a huge blessing to me, the rest of the FOCUS staff, our ministry at Richland college, as well as each and every student at Richland.

A picture of the FOCUS group at Richland College

March Update

 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Jas 5:16

MARCH!

Spring definitely has come early this year, and March has been a great month in many ways. First I want to start with a big thank you to all my supporters, I couldn't do God's work at Richland without y'all.

Coming Back To Community

One of the coolest things that happened this month was to have a student come back to our ministry. He was a student at Richland who I had started studying the bible with last year. He started being very inconsistent with coming to our group meetings, and very often didn't show up for our one-on-one bible study because he was sleeping. Over the winter break he stopped coming to everything altogether, and he didn't come to anything in the beginning of the spring semester either. The cool part of the story was getting a text message from him last week saying he is ready to be more involved with the ministry at Richland again. I talked with him more that day, and he told told me he wanted to get back on track with everything we were doing in the fall. Ever since our conversation that day, he has not missed a meeting/event that our ministry has held. He went to an event that very night, and has not missed anything yet. I have set up a weekly time to study the bible with him again, and I am excited to talk with him about his involvement with our ministry. I love to see people realize how beneficial Christian community is to them.

Human Trafficking Awareness

March was a great month for evangelistic activity. I have been leading a team of UTD students this semester that is in charge of various creative decisions for our ministry on that campus; big group meetings, events, advertisements, etc. This month at UTD we held a week long evangelism/awareness campaign about human trafficking. We called the campaign "Not For Sale" week, and we had events on campus every day. During the day, we were set up outside of the student union at UTD with large displays that told real stories of human trafficking victims. The stories were accompanied by pictures in frames and it was all hung by thread in wooden frames. There was also a dirty mattress with facts about human trafficking written on it. The dirty mattress was a great visual that emphasized just how vile and unjust the problem is. We had people standing by these displays during the day, ready to engage people in conversation as they came up to look at the displays. Our main goals for the week were to raise awareness/support for victims of human trafficking and the organizations that combat it, as well as to share the love of God with all those who we encountered. The week was very successful, most people I talked to were eager to learn more about what they can do to help fight against human trafficking. We also held two bigger events that week, we had an outdoor screening of a documentary about human trafficking, and a speaker from International Justice Mission, an anti-human trafficking organization. Both of the events had a great turn out. If you are interested in learning more about this terrible problem in our world, and ways you can help in the fight against it, visit www.ijm.org. I've added more pictures of the event below.

Other News

Some other great news from the ministry, we have selected four new interns for our 2012-2013 school year. We had four graduates from our campus ministries apply to work with our staff as interns next year. We have selected all four of them, Sirak Asfaw, Melissa Kenfield, Courtney Atherton, and Katy Jordan, to take part in our full year internship for the next school year. Please pray for our new interns, and for the staff as we decide where to place each person amongst our four campuses. We also have two students from Richland college who are going to a student leader training conference in Washington state in May. This will be a great experience for them, and is sure to help grow the ministry as we gain more experienced student leaders.

This spring has been an exciting semester and there are a lot of new people, and lots of growth. Please continue to pray for our ministry as we continue to grow and gain new students and new disciples.

Travis

February Update

  Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. - Ex 3:11-12

Friends and Family,

Thanks so much for all your love and support. The ministry at Richland college continues to grow and mature by God's grace. He has done a lot on our campus and in our ministry this semester. Our small groups have doubled, going from one group to two. Both groups have about 7-8 members attending, I am pumped to see so many community college students who are ready to get involved with our community of disciples. We have made a smooth transition from splitting up our existing core and making two new cores, adding people along the way. We also have two host homes for our cores to meet in, which has been such a blessing for everyone.

The most exciting thing this month, and one I will spend most of my time on, is our first baptism at Richland. One of our Sophomores decided he wanted to commit his life to the Lord, he was ready to become a life long disciple of Jesus and wanted to get baptized. I have studied the bible with this student, Griffin, for a little over a year now. I first met him in the fall of 2010, during my year as a Focus intern. During the first few weeks of school, I went up on campus a lot to meet people and spread the word about the bible study I was starting on campus. I met Griffin in a hallway by the cafeteria and started hanging out with him. We soon started studying the bible one-on-one, and he was coming consistently to the bible study on campus. When I met him, he was not a disciple, and he told me he did not consider himself a Christian. He was interested in God though, and that was one thing that excited me. Griffin really asked a lot of tough questions that year, and he spent a lot of time thinking what it meant to be a disciple and follow God, and to fall under his will. Over the summer he decided he wanted to be a committed disciple and follow God's will. Since then, we have studied the bible a lot, and talked about him being baptized. Griffin made the decision to be baptized in early February, he decided he had thought about it long enough and it was time to fully commit his life to God. I am really ecstatic to see Griffin live his life as a committed disciple, he has grown so much over this year and he is one of our most consistent and committed students. I couldn't be more proud of Griffin, or more humbled to see how God used His power through me to make a change in Griffin's life. You can read more about Griffin in the testimony he shared on the front page of our blog: http://anyfocus.org/updates

Griffin about to be baptized

Students and Focus staff praying for Griffin after his baptism

Another big thing happening in ministry right now is preparation for sending students to a ministry training seminar in Bellingham, WA in May. Every year we select students who display leadership potential to attend a student ministry training seminar called SICM(Student Institute of Campus Ministry). SICM is an intense week of ministry training, hosted by a Chi Alpha student ministry at Western Washington University. The student ministry in Washington, CCF, shares a lot of our core values about making and maturing disciples through small groups, one-on-one bible studies, large groups, and on campus evangelism. The students learn from the CCF staff, who have been teaching college students how to be leaders in campus ministry for years. Please pray for students who are making the decision to attend SICM, especially those who are currently at Richland college.


Your Campus Missionary,
Travis

January Update

Hi Everyone,

There was a mess up and this blog did not get published last month like it was supposed to, sorry for the tardiness.

I am super excited about this semester, the student ministry at Richland is really growing fast. We have a few new students coming to our group on campus this semester, and  I am excited to spend time reaching out to more students on campus during this spring semester. I am also really excited to start a new core this semester, something that I have been planning for over winter vacation. Our group has grown large enough to have to small groups, and that is really exciting to me. Please pray for our split, I will be splitting the existing small group to mix things up. Also pray for leaders to rise up to lead the new small group, and for host homes to meet in. We have also been really blessed to have our new staff administrator, Debbie Sustaita, on board with our Richland crew and helping lead the ministry there.

I am also really excited about our winter camp this year, we had a blast. We had a friend of the ministry, Eddie Howard, come down from Colorado and speak to us from the book of Joshua. Eddie was very passionate in his talks, and he really instilled a passion for God in the students. We had a record attendance at our retreat this year, we had over 250 students sign-up. Wow! God does amazing things doesn't he? We had four different colleges from the DFW metroplex represented at our camp: Collin College, University of Texas at Dallas, University of North Texas, and of course Richland Community College. Our group was so large, we booked out the entire camp, had every bed filled, and there was only one room large enough to fit us all at once. Not only was this an exciting time to see how many students are affected by our ministries, but it was also a great time to watch the students in action. I love getting to see the love they have for each other, their heart to serve God and others, their willingness to learn from our speaker, and the overall positive attitude for the entire weekend. More Richland students came than we had last year, but we still have plenty of room to grow. Please pray that those who did go to winter camp this year will share their experiences with those who didn't and get them excited for winter camp next year.

The Richland group at winter camp '12

The entire group at winter camp '12

Another awesome time this month was our Focus ministry staff retreat. All of the staff and current interns gathered together for one weekend to discuss in depth how we can better serve God and lead the ministries on campus, and to plan for future success in the campus mission field. We talked a lot about how God leads us in ministry, and how we should seek out ways to serve Him better with our planning and preparation. We also discussed how we as leaders need to be led by the Holy Spirit in everything, and what it looks like to include the Holy Spirit in all of our planning. We returned home that weekend with a vision for the future, how we can raise up leadership and seek out new opportunities on different campuses around the area. I can't wait to see what God can do through us and around us in the ministries we are a part of.

We will soon be accepting applications for new Focus interns for the 2012-2013 school year. Please pray for those who are wrestling with the decision to commit a year of their life to a full-time college ministry internship. Please also continue to pray for all of the students at Richland, especially those in leadership positions.

Thank you for all your love and support,
Travis

December

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. - Ecc 3:11

everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. - Mt 7:8

Hi Y'all!

Happy new year to everyone! I hope that y'all enjoyed a great Christmas time with family and friends. December is certainly a fun and restful time of the year for most of us, time to be with family and remember what is important to us. In the college ministry life, December is a time to wrap up the fall semester, and what a great semester it has been. We've had new students join our group, started new bible studies, and brought Christ to a campus that desperately needed Him.

The the day after finals we had a Christmas party to celebrate the end of the semester and fellowship with each other. I love times like these when I get to be around college students who are laughing, having fun, praising God, and showing genuine love to each other. It is such a drastic juxtaposition to see students who shine a light in the darkness that is our world! Our Christmas party centered around wearing ugly sweaters, and we had a competition to see whose had the ugliest sweater. It is fantastic to be able to slow down and just have a fun time with each other, that is one of the things I love most about December.

Two of the Richland students at the Ugly Sweater Party

Another great thing about having a break between the spring and fall semesters is the chance to refocus. I had a lot of time to plan and get myself ready for the spring semester. I am so excited for the next half of the school year! I think God will do amazing things on Richland campus this spring. I am looking forward to many new relationships, seeing students grow closer to God, and seeing new leaders spring up in our ministry. Please pray for God to move in our ministry and on our campus this spring.

This past weekend, we had a retreat with the FOCUS staff from all four of the campuses we are on. The Focus staff and interns from UTD, Collin College, UNT, and Richland, of course, gathered together to fellowship with each other and plan for the new semester and the future beyond that. I always love having a chance to be around such godly people. FOCUS certainly is blessed to have so many talented people on staff; people who would be very successful in whatever they do, and have chosen to bring their talents to campus ministry. Over the weekend, we discussed how to be successful in our planning, what it looks like to plan according to God's will, and did some planning for the rest of the school year. We discussed questions such as: how to we determine what success looks like for us, what are our goals and how do we fulfill them, and what role does the holy spirit play in planning. We also had planning meetings to discuss our plans for Focus over summer this year, and a night of praying for each other and the work on our campuses. Overall it was an exciting time to prepare for the rest of the school year.

Staff and Interns at our Focus Staff Retreat

This weekend we kick off our spring semester with our annual FOCUS winter camp. It is a great time for the students of all four campuses to come together in order to learn, praise God, and build great friendships. It will be a great time for all of our new students at Richland to get to interact with the students at other campuses and catch a vision for what college ministry looks like when you have been on campus for more than a few years. I am excited to spend a weekend with all the students, and to see what God does in each of their lives. Winter camp is a great time for students to make big decisions for God and commit to serious life change. It is very often a big turning point for a lot of students. We will have a speaker named Eddie Howard come out for the weekend, he has been the guest speaker at past winter camps, and is a long time supporter of the ministry. Please pray for God to speak through Eddie, and that the students ears will be open to learn, and their hearts open for life change. God will do amazing things this weekend!

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. Please pray for our camp this weekend, especially as students make big decisions for God. I would also ask your prayers for students who will be interested in doing the Focus internship next school year. We will be announcing an info session for the internship at winter camp, and will probably be interviewing applicants a month or so later. Please pray that God speaks to those who are interested, and brings us the right people. The last prayer request is for Richland this semester. Please pray that we form many new relationships, start new bible studies, and bring more people into a relationship with God.

Your Brother In Christ,

Travis

November Update

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world - C.S. Lewis

Hi Everyone,


November has been quite a month. I can't believe it is already over, it seems like it began just yesterday. There have been a lot of exciting things going on at the Richland college Focus ministry this month. On November 20th, we held an event called Pizza Theology. This was a time for all the students in our ministry to come together and learn about a certain spiritual topic at a more in-depth level, as well as chow down on some tasty pizza! The event was hosted at the University of Texas at Dallas, and it was a combined event for all four of the campuses represented by our ministry. The topic was Christian discipleship and our relation to current media/culture. We discussed how we, as disciples of Jesus, should view media and interact with our culture. It's good to see college students who are interested in this subject. I believe we, especially the younger generation, immerse ourselves in the culture without processing how it rubs off on us.

Two other awesome events we had this month were evangelism events we held at Richland. We did an event that we call "Cookie Questions" twice this month. During this evangelism event we reserve a table and chairs at the cafeteria on campus, then we set up a white board on which we write a spiritual question. Throughout the time we are there people come by and we give them a homemade cookie if they will write an answer to our question on the whiteboard. This is a great opportunity to engage in meaningful discussion with students, and gives the ministry more of a presence on campus. Not only were these events great for meeting students, but there was also another awesome opportunity that came from our first cookie question table. One of the students called me while he and another student oversaw the cookie question table, I was elsewhere on campus preparing for my small group that night. The student told me I needed to get down to the cafeteria ASAP because there was a man there that wanted to donate to our student group. After hearing this, I am super stoked, so I rushed straight over to the cafeteria. I talked with the man, he said he was excited that there was a student group on campus who are willing to reach out to people. Not only did he donate money to our group, but he is also a faculty member at the college. I got his email address so I could contact him about becoming an adviser for our group. What a God deal! We have been praying for more advisers because the college requires a faculty adviser at every meeting or event we hold. Please pray that he will be willing to support our ministry in the role of a faculty adviser.

Group photo of the Richland Focus ministry

I want to end with an encouraging story about one of the students I study the bible with. I am usually a little discouraged about students who lack enthusiasm about studying the bible, or students who are not quick learners. Often, bible studies are an uphill battle for me. I find myself trying to teach students and sometimes getting a little frustrated about how long it takes them to make changes in their life, or how hard it is to get them to see God's vision in their lives. I said all that to tell you how amazed I am when I study the bible with Steven, who is one of the Richland students. His aptitude and honesty blow me away. Every time I study the bible with him, he seems to really understand the heart of each lesson, and he is quick to share about his own life and speak about past/current struggles. Something he asked me the other day was what has really encouraged me the most. He asked me what the next step is after we finish our current bible study. I was excited by this because it shows me he is ready for what's next and is looking forward to more bible study in the future. We are only halfway through the current bible study and he is already thinking forward and wants to figure out what comes next. I am so glad to study the bible with someone who is so eager and ready to let God's word be a big part of his life.

Thank you for all your support and prayers, I would not be able to be on campus without you. You have made a big impact on my life, and on the lives of college students like Steven.

Yours In Christ,
Travis

October Update

Hey Everyone,


     October has been a great month! The ministry at Richland college has experienced so much growth, and it is amazing how many students are out there seeking God. The more students I talk to, the more I realize how spiritually dead the campus is, and how much need there is for people who can make a difference in student's lives and call them to Christ. I am so glad to be able to take part in what God is doing at Richland.


     I just started a new bible study with a Richland student named Steven at the beginning of October. It has been such a blessing to me to see Steven's willingness to learn more about God, and participate in our community on-campus. Most of the students that I have studied the bible with up to this point have really taken a lot of work from my side. A lot of them don't have much knowledge of the bible, and a lot don't take the commitment very seriously, at least not at first. Steven's willingness to participate has been such a blessing and huge encouragement to me. He has a big heart for God, and I am excited to see where God takes him and be a part of that.


     Another thing that has been such a big blessing to me are the student leaders. It is great to see so many students committed to the mission, and after only one year on campus. I look back at my time in college, and how long it took me to step into a leadership role, and I am amazed by these students. Almost all of them are leading, or helping lead, bible studies with other students. They are always ready and willing to serve if we need people to help at an event or table. Please pray for their continued growth, and the growth of the students that they lead.


     If there is one thing God has been teaching me so far this semester, it is to wait on His timing. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time", and it is so true! God is growing our ministry at Richland, but it is going to take time. I work with what God gives me one step at a time, and I wait patiently on Him. We have a lot of good students in the ministry, and I think God is gonna do some amazing things to transform them into people who can lead other students to Christ.


Your Brother in Christ,
Travis

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

II Cor 4:6

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Rom 8:25