SMU at Fall Camp

SMU at Fall Camp:

We had seven students from our SMU ministry join the Dallas campuses for Fall Camp this year! Fall camp is held at Mt. Lebanon about an hour outside of Dallas. Although it's less than 24 hours, this camp is jam-packed with opportunities for meaningful conversations, worship, fun, and friendship. 

Worship! We had four campuses represented and over 200 students!

Often, Fall Camp is when our Cores start to build a strong sense of community, so it's something we really value and encourage our students to take part in. Dallas Fall Camp fell on parent's weekend for our SMU Students. Most of the students that attended asked their families to come later in the weekend so they could attend. How cool is that! 

SMU :)

One of the students, EJ, talked about how Fall Camp was so cool because he got to see the vision of campus ministry at work. He attended Brookhaven College before coming to SMU and had no community on the campus. He shared that it was so encouraging to see Richland's ministry and know that those students have a completely different experience than he did in community college. 

I was encouraged by a conversation I had with one of the women at SMU . She shared with me that her transition to SMU had been hard, but after coming to Fall Camp and seeing the huge diversity in college experiences and backgrounds, she felt more comfortable at SMU knowing that she was a part of a bigger community. 

Student Testimony:

Jocelyn Payan
UTA, Nursing, Sophomore

"I grew up Catholic but never consistently went to church. I always admired the concept of community and was really saddened by the idea of not experiencing that within my faith because of my lack of involvement. When I came to UTA this desire to be involved in a Christian community only grew. After being greeted kindly at the FOCUS information table at orientation, I remember thinking to myself, “Wow. God is really working here and I want to be a part of it.”  As classes started in the Fall, I was contacted by a girl named Kaylee who consistently invited me to events and had a deep-rooted desire to get to know me.  Through people like Kaylee, I was really able to see how those in FOCUS loved the Lord which directly translated into how they interacted with and loved people. As the semester began I was asked to go deeper in my faith and study scripture in a one-on-one study, Focus on Jesus (FOJ) with Alexis. Alexis really encouraged me and wanted to walk with me in my journey of building a relationship with God. Through this community, I was challenged to give love like I had received it. Although I didn’t know it, God had been working and was faithful to answer a prayer I hadn’t even thought to ask for. He blessed me with this community and an opportunity to share that with others. "

Prayer Requests:

-Please pray that the students who attend Core at SMU will develop strong, spiritual friendships. Pray that our community at SMU will continue to get stronger as we pursue God's mission together and that our students would be bold and outreaching with their peers. 

-Please pray for college students across our campuses as mid-semester hits. Please pray that the students wouldn't be overwhelmed or stressed by their schedules and school work.

-Pray for the one-on-one Bible studies across our campuses, that our students would seek God’s heart and grow in vulnerability and friendship. 

-Praise God for the lives that were impacted at the Fall Camps across our Dallas, Collin and Denton campuses.