Welcome Week at SMU

Welcome Week at SMU!

During the first week of school, most universities and colleges put on events and activities to get students connected and allow them to build friendships. FOCUS, like many other campus ministries, takes advantage of this time to meet students and invite them into our community. Most students build friendships within the first few weeks of school, so this time is crucial!

This time has become my absolute favorite part of the year! There is something really exciting about being one of the first people that incoming freshman and returning students meet and inviting them into friendship! Welcome Week at SMU kicked off with an organization fair, which was such an encouraging start to the week. So many students expressed interest in campus ministry. But, SMU proved to be a very different campus than UNT (should be obvious, right?).  We met smaller numbers of students throughout the week than I expected, and I was tempted to measure success by numbers.

But, I've learned that success cannot be measured by numbers and that was so obvious this week! We've started to build some really cool friendships with some of the students we met, and have been praying that God would build the ministry into a strong, spiritual community.

One of our outreach events: Football Bowling & "Bad" Tattoos. We all have matching puppy tattoos :)

Our first kick-off fellowship meeting at SMU!

One thing that has been such a blessing to me, is the leader team at SMU. Three students, one alumni, and three other staff members have committed to serve SMU's campus. Some of these people, I've only known for a month. But, they have been such an encouragement to me, and have become sweet friends! Spending time praying for one another, sharing our fears and excitements, and doing ministry alongside each other has made disappointments an opportunity to praise God.

Part of the leader team at SMU!

Thank you for joining in my ministry! I'm so thankful for the opportunity to serve our campuses, and I'm thankful for my ministry partners who make that possible for me!

September's Student Testimony

"When I came to UTD, I felt really lost. I didn't have many friends, and it seemed as if my life had no direction at the time. I had known for years that I wanted to

Michael Murphey
University of Texas at Dallas
Computer Science
Sophomore

study computer science but in the fall of 2016, I was doing little else and it felt painfully meaningless at times. I decided to come to Friday Night Fellowship one night and met Mark Merola. Even though we were complete strangers, Mark took a particular interest in me. After sitting with me during the service, he invited me to come to more FOCUS events and to join his Core. I started coming to Core regularly and became friends with everyone in the Core. With Mark and the rest of my Core, I gained a group of supportive peers that I could live life with and learn from. I grew significantly in my faith and also as a person. Through studying the Bible and discussing it with members of my Core, I learned more about who Jesus is and my relationship with him deepened. My relationship with Jesus also led me to examine who I was as a person and make changes to how I act. FOCUS added a lot of meaning into my life and helped me see who I want to be. I have become a Core facilitator for the 2017-2018 school year, and I now know that the path toward God is the path that I want to take my entire life."

Prayer Requests:

-Please be praying for the students we have met at SMU! Please pray that God would give them a desire for a spiritual community and that we would be faithful to extend friendship and invitations to the students who are around us!
-Pray that the first few weeks of Core (small group Bible study) would start strong and create an atmosphere of community and friendship, and be a place that brings people closer to God.
-Praise God for all the students that were met the first weeks of school. Pray that the Holy Spirit would work in their hearts and draw them into spiritual community.

-Please continue to pray for the families that were affected by Hurricane Harvey and the severe flooding in South Asia.