Something About the Sunshine….

I really cannot believe that June is over! I hope you have had a fantastic month and I hope that you have been able to spend time in the sun. The summer looks quite different from the school year but has been so so sweet. Thanks for all your support and I cannot wait to tell you all about the things God is doing in the lives around me!

End of Year Wrap Up

After we got back from the Student Institute of Campus Ministry (SICM) in May, the apprenticeship wrapped up quickly and we finished the whirlwind that was the last 10 months. To say that this experience was a blessing would be an understatement, but there are not quite enough words to describe how transformative this experience really was. I genuinely loved all of the classes that we took, books that we read, and conversations that we had, and would be completely remiss to not mention that my life has been tremendously blessed by the relationships that God has given me through this experience. I might be biased, but I really do feel like my apprentice class was the best and I am incredibly grateful for the friends that I have found in them! The end of the year is always bittersweet and this year was no different! Would you join me in praying for our staff that transitioned off- that they would always seek to do the will of God? And for all of us who are staying on- that we would also seek to do the will of God on the campuses that He has called us to? 

Women’s Staycation

One of the fun things about the summer is that we have a little more time to get to do the things that we do not have a ton of time to do in the school year. For a couple of days this past week, our UTD women’s staff got to know each other a little better through having a staycation in Plano! We got to have a lake day where we spent time tubing and hanging out in the sun, then we went back to the house and got to chat about all sorts of things, and ended the night with karaoke, ice cream, and an animal planet episode. Getting to do life and ministry alongside these women is such a blessing to me and I am so glad that we got to have time together where we got to laugh and cry! One of the many reasons I wanted to stay at UTD was because of the impact that the staff had on me, and now to be coworkers is just a reminder to me of how sweet God is to me. Would you be praying for our women’s ministry this summer and that it would reflect the heart of God?

Fundraising! 

Fundraising season is in full swing! A big part of my job over the summer is to raise support for the school year to be able to work full time as a missionary at UTD. A lot of my time is spent connecting to people near and far and getting to tell them about the things that God is doing at UTD and across all of our FOCUS campuses. Because of your generosity, I am now 63% to my fundraising goal and am believing that God is going to continue to be very generous through the people that He has connected me to. One of my favorite parts of this season is getting to connect with people that God really used to show me different parts of His character and being able to express my thankfulness for those people- which are all of you! Thank you so much for your continued support and generosity! With that being said, I am still looking for a handful of people to join my team for the fall and would love to connect with anyone that you think would be interested in hearing more about campus ministry and what God is doing at UTD. Would you join me in praying for the remainder of my fundraising season and that God would continue to move in big ways?

Thanks again for joining me in ministry this year and for being so supportive of all that God is doing at UTD! Your prayers and support have been so apparent and appreciated!

Until next time,

Jessica :)

P.S. Waldo was in the ice cream picture last month! Can you find him this month?