His Crown and Kingdom Never End

Hey all! Per usual, it's been another busy month! But it has been full of amazing experiences and new relationships. Above is our student testimony from Hallie, a student from UT Arlington. Her story is so powerful, one that really exemplifies Jesus' call for us to drop our nets, or sell all our possessions, or pick up whatever your cross may be, and follow Him. 

Pizza Theology

"Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives." Titus 3:14

Hallie shared her powerful testimony at length at our Pizza Theology. Pizza Theology is a four hour session of intense teaching about one particular topic with a one hour break in between for pizza! This semester we dived into the topic of race. I got to speak the first part: The Biblical Vision for Race and laid out the groundwork of reading and interpreting God's Word and seeing His plan for humanity including its different races, cultures, and languages. If you'd like to hear it, or any of the talks or student testimonies, go here. Even four hours is not enough to get through a fraction of the topic, but it's more than we could do in a typical 30 minute sermon. And our students come out in droves, eager to learn more!

Reunions

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13

This doesn't have much to do with work, but it was an encouraging time for me. I got to hang out with some friends that I had made in Austin, TX when I worked there for the government during my undergrad years. These friends welcomed me into their campus ministry, Epic, and became fast friends in my very short eight-month stint there in 2013. They were a big part in shaping my view of Christian community, and a shining Godsend during a difficult period of life. Now we're all graduated and doing our separate things, but seeing us all back together again was life-giving and reminded me what Christian community is all about. I recently heard in a sermon that there are only two things God's Word commands us to do daily: to take up our cross and to encourage one another. And these men have been a great encouragement in my life. 

Spring Student Impact (SSI)

"Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." 2 Timothy 4:2

Now for what I've been going this past week. I've been waking up doing outreach, debriefing, outreach, dinner, then outreach again, almost daily for this past week. Every year for one week we have students from Western Washington University come down who have signed up to use their spring break to evangelize at another university campus, what they call SSI. This year, Sarah and I had the pleasure of planning and running their times of outreach on campus. We've been moving our students to view outreach as a part of their lifestyle as a disciple and not an events-based part of their life where they only talk about the gospel when we put on an event to draw people. We want disciples to be ready and able to talk about Jesus whenever the opportunity arises. Part of that is being to talk to people, to invite people into your life, and build a relationship where those conversations and a walk towards Christ can happen. And even though these students were only here for a week, they were amazing in making those relationships. Some of them built relationships, many of them made connections accepting the fact that they wouldn't be able to walk with  many of these people from beginning to end, but could link them up with one of our students who might be able to continue that journey with them. These students come to grow in their ability to reach out, but they also have encouraged and reminded me of my purpose here as a disciple of Christ. They've reminded me of the bread of life that I receive from Christ and the fulfillment that comes with pursuing Him with every waking moment. They gave up their break to be exhausted for the cause of Christ and every time I asked any of them what their favorite part of the trip was, it was always one of the conversations they had or relationships they developed. I can't wait to see them on their home turf in a few months!

Thank You!

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17

And as always, thank you for your support! These blogs remind me that God has truly blessed me with the privilege of working as a full-time minister. Even when I'm stressed and busy beyond belief, what I get to do is unbelievably rewarding and I would never trade it for a cushier job, a bigger paycheck, or an easier workload. My heart is so full even when I'm mentally and physically drained. I cannot wait to see many of you soon and be able to talk face-to-face about what God is doing here and in my life!

Praise to the King, His Throne Transcends

So the past month has been a busy one! (Has there been a laid-back one yet?) Three of my coworkers have gotten married (two to each other) and it's been an exciting season of change for the staff. Above is one of our student testimonies that we do every month. Josh is one of the students that I lead a core group with when I was a student! He is such a sweet guy, servant-hearted, and concerned for the things of God. 

SMU Prayer Meeting

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." 1 John 5:14

It finally happened! We kicked off our first meeting at Southern Methodist University this month. We had a small gathering of students from our communities bringing friends they knew attending SMU and we had a night of casting the vision, worship, and prayer. Please continue to pray as we follow God's hand faithfully at this new campus. 

Future Student Leaders!

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9

We've poured in a lot of energy this past month into identifying and inviting students who we see God powerfully shaping into potential student leaders. It has been so fun to meet and get to know these students that our current student leaders have been so excited about. Please pray that God continues to provide workers for his harvest here at UTD, and that we are attentive to who he is calling. 

Keep FOCUS Growing

"For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever, and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually." 2 Chronicles 7:16

We wrapped up our Keep FOCUS Growing campaign for this year and made $48,000 of our $55,000 goal! It has been such a nice change of pace to work on this campaign this year. I have enjoyed learning how to direct and shoot videos, how to edit and produce them, and just hearing the stories that are happening on our other campuses and how they've impacted donors has been such a blessing. Big shout out to my work buddy, Sarah Hubbard (now Glenesk) for directing them with me, and my very good friend Sean Do for volunteering so many hours to come with us to shoot and edit these videos! Be sure to watch our thank you video here. I'm very proud of this one!

Thank You!

"May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy," Philippians 1:2-4

A lot of what I've done this month has just been mundane but tiring kingdom work. Nothing flashy, nothing that has quantifiable numbers to prove its success, no big story to write home about. However, it has been such a joy to meet so many new guys who are excited about being a part of campus ministry. So often I've heard people say that they're experiencing community like they've never experienced in their life before. This is why we do it. This is why I do it. Because I've experienced the love of Christ so much in this community. Through surprise birthday parties, massive birthday parties, weddings, Chinese new year parties, celebrating other cultures, making new friends and being able to catch up with old, watching people grow as men and women of god, watching people grow as husbands and wives, as servants and disciples, to see them think differently about life and choose Jesus, and to watch all of that in myself as well. There is nothing that could make me think that this wasn't worth it. So thank you all so much for being a part of this, for allowing me to be able to witness this and be a part of God's work here. Thank you for your faithfulness, your love and support, and your friendship. You all mean so much to me, and I hope I'm able to continue to communicate that to you as long as I am able. 

Praise God the Holy Trinity

Christmas Break

In Denton with fellow campus pastor, Aaron

"But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children." Psalm 103:17

Having some time off was amazing. finally getting some time to spend with people who I don't normally get time with can be such a rejuvenation and breath of fresh air. I got to spend some time with coworkers outside of the business setting and just got to have fun with them. Building close friendships with coworkers makes working so much more fun.

Playing board games with the cousins

Going home for the break was quite the adventure. I got to eat so much good food (thanks, mom and dad!), play board games with my siblings and cousins, and have an overall great time. Getting the entire family back together again gets more difficult every year, but it's always so worth it. Coming back to Dallas, my brother and I ended up driving all the way from San Jose to Dallas, a 25 hour trip. it was quite the ordeal, but it was worth it. 

All the siblings posing

It was also great to have some time with the roommates without so many responsibilities vying for our attention. So often it's the ones at home that get our worst rather than our best. I hope that you had a great Christmas vacation as well!

Corefa Class

Corefas getting taught

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

To start off the semester we had a corefa class for all of our corefas across the campuses. It was a time for us all to learn, give updates on how all of our ministries are doing, and encourage each other in building the kingdom. Our leaders learned about how to select new leaders and replace themselves as their time in college is extremely limited. 

Winter Camp

Morning worship session

"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for. But actually, it's the event many of our students wait for: Winter Camp. Four days of worship, learning, and relating between all of our students across every campus. It's an intense time that result in many lives changed because of their encounters with the living God. 

Playing board games at winter camp

This year we talked about the church. One speaker tied the idea of church together with the body, how the body needed unity. A body without unity might be like a paralyzed body, where the brain tells it to move but the limbs won't move. A church, a body, must be unified in order to do its work. 

Staff meeting at winter camp

Another speaker related the church to a family, how a family loves one another no matter what happens. She also talked about the relation between communion and a family dinner. She made the joke that at thanksgiving dinner, her family doesn't dim the lights and start talking and thinking about just spiritual things. If the church acted more like a family, being inclusive, loving each other through difficulties, helping each other out in hard times, we would look a lot more like Jesus.

To see more about what happened at winter camp, check out this video a student made! 

Thank You!

2015-16 UTD Interns!

"Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name." 1 Chronicles 29:13

Thank you all for your support. Because of you these students' lives are being changed forever. I firmly believe that God is using your prayers and your support to impact generations to come. I know mine is changed forever already because of these experiences, and just knowing that I have a team of people who love me and believe in me. Thank you all so much. 

Let Us Exalt on Bended Knee

Pizza Theology

"'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'" Jeremiah 33:3

Well, this past little while we had an event called pizza theology. If you don't remember, it's where we have a four-hour teaching period on a subject and have a break for pizza in the middle. This year we had a guest speaker from a partner ministry, Campus Christian Fellowship up at Western Washington University come to speak to us on listening to God's voice in the modern age. This topic was a question we heard our students asking a lot, and many of them had great feedback for the day. So many of us, young and old want to hear from God to tell us what we are supposed to do. Many of these college students are wanting to hear what their careers will be, who they should marry, what they should do with life in general. And while God doesn't give us all specific directives for everything in life, He does have words for all of us, and it's important to be able to take the time and the discipline to hear from Him.

Sermon

"And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation...'" Mark 16:15

Early December I was able to preach my first sermon of the semester. More often my time in front of the students is with a guitar in my hand and a band behind me, but this time it was me all by my lonesome. Sermons generally make me pretty nervous because of how seldom I do them, but afterwards I'm always glad that I have the experience. I talk about 1 Peter 4:1-11 and much of what I've learned about grace this semester. If you want to listen to it, you can find it here!

Christmas Party

"So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13

You know what's one of the most stressful parts of my job? Christmas Party, because it's such a big holiday! We have a themed party every and decorate the church to make it super festive. Families celebrate the holidays together and Christmas is the biggest one for families across the nation, including our spiritual family here in FOCUS. We have cores sign up to do song skits and it's always a blast watching people leave their dignity at the door in the name of group bonding. This year we had an 80s theme and required our song skits to include an 80s part in it. Our staff also does one every year! Check it out here (you'll have to scroll down a little bit)!

Keep FOCUS Growing: Next 20

"As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work." John 9:4

We're having our annual Keep Focus Growing fundraiser going on right now! This year we're focusing (haha!) on the next 20 years. FOCUS has been around for 20 years, and we're anxious to see what God has in store for the next 20 years! This year I've taken a much larger hand in the fundraiser by directing the videos you may have seen. An absurd amount of work goes into each one to two minute video, check them out here along with cute pictures of alumni's kids and beautiful art made by our students! Please consider donating to this fund! We use it to really take advantage of the opportunities God puts in our path. This is just part of the stewardship we believe God has called us to, financially and spiritually. Next year may be the year that we plant a ministry at Southern Methodist University. It'll be our first venture into a private university! There have been many connections we've made and coincidences that can only be God guiding us in that direction, and we're slowly moving forward watching for the Spirit's guidance. The money raised as part of this fundraiser will be going towards things like this! We're trying to raise $55,000 this year, so please pray and consider being a part of this mission! 

Core Reunion

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:16-18

As many of you know, cores (our small groups) are named that because they're the core of our ministry. And last year I had such a fun group of guys that I loved being around. We formed a deep bond, and I truly hope that they'll be friends for life. We all grew up a lot together last year, and this is what this community is all about: deep spiritual friendships that last a lifetime.

Thank You!

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers." Ephesians 1:16

Because of you I get to do a job that I love every day. Thank you all so much for believing in me and supporting me. I am thankful for each and every one of you, and if there is anything I can ever do for you, please let me know! Please have a wonderful Christmas!

The Power and Might of His Great Name

20 Year Celebration

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalms 126:3

On October 8th, we celebrated 20 years of existence for FOCUS. We had donors, supporters, and alumni form all over come and share in this celebration. Hundreds came out to the event and eat, have fun, and fellowship with each other, young and old. It was an awesome time to really take a step back and see what God has done here for the past 20 years.  From a small little campus ministry on one campus to one that is on nine campuses across the metroplex, God has really done some amazing things.

Fall Camp

"But if we walk int he light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:7

We had our Dallas fall camp on a weekend and it was a blast. We had over 150 students come out to join in a short retreat. A major part of the camp was the student testimonies. Instead of a sermon in each session we had multiple students prepare and share testimonies on how they had been brave. Students shared about confessing and coming into the light, forgiving family, learning how to reach out to others, and they really set an example and impacted their peers.

Jesus and Politics

"Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place." John 18:36

Finally this coming Saturday, Sarah Hubbard and I will be teaching a seven hour class on Jesus and Politics or what we like to call, "Jesus: The Man, the Myth, the...Politician?" With all the controversy and talk surrounding this election season we thought it best that we talk with our students, discuss, and teach how to think like a Christian even in the political arena. We want to convey that God's values are different than any one party can contain, that He has called us to care about our neighbors and their well-being and politics is one way we can do that. We've put so much work into preparing this class and I'm excited to see how it goes! Please pray for us!

Thank You!

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity" Proverbs 17:17

My brother has come to join the ranks of Uengs in Texas (of which I was the only member previously).  It has been great showing him around, introducing him to FOCUS and friends, and him cooking and cleaning up after me! It reminds me a little of Epaphroditus and Paul, that Epaphroditus was sent to deliver a letter to Paul and help him in his daily ministry just as the church in Phillipi that he came from was supporting Paul financially. I have to admit that my room becomes a huge mess throughout the week, particularly these past few weeks when my weekends are taken up by events and appointments. Paul hasn't just keep my room tidy, he cleaned it when he arrived, and he has made my bed after I've already taken off most days. This help is a metaphor and a reminder of your support for me. I'm always so thankful and filled with joy when I think of all of you, my supporters, and I jump at opportunities to spend time with any of you. I pray that your ministries are also being blessed and that we can encourage each other in times of joy and in times of sorrow. 

It's A Good Life We Lead

Get ready. I really pour my heart out in this one.

It's Only Beginning

Our corefas!

Oh wow, August was such a busy month, where do I even start? Well, school has started and we're in the full swing of things! It's been crazy but so good. We had two corefa (small group facilitator) prep sessions in early August. One was to prepare them for the rush of welcome week, what to expect when meeting a ton of strangers, and to calm their nerves as they got ready to talk to and build relationships with new people! The second was to teach them how to begin leading their cores (small groups). This year I'm leading a peer team (group of small group leaders) of eight awesome guys. Pray that I mentor them well!

Welcome Week!

Games on the Mall

United Worship with other ministries

Along those lines, our welcome week was such a success. Despite forecasts of rain, we trusted that God knew what He was doing and we would take whatever He gave us. Well, the forecasts were almost entirely correct and all but one of our events had to change due to weather. You would expect turnout would suffer because of that, but not at all! If anything, many of our events were even more successful than usual because the rain funneled students inside and to our events as well as lowered the temperature so that when we were able to play outside it was nice and cool. God's plans are higher than ours! 

Zombie Tag indoors because of the rain

More Games on the Mall

One of my favorite moments of welcome was the time we played games on the mall. The mall is a long strip of land right down the middle of campus that passes by most of the classroom buildings and the Student Union. Because of possible muddy conditions we changed our original plan of playing sports on the fields, but then the day of we reverted back to the plan since the fields felt dry enough to play on. However, since we had already planned to play on the mall as a contingency we decided to go ahead with it before we would head to the fields at the advertised time. All of this is to say that this event was unadvertised and only had a few hours to spread by Facebook event and word of mouth. Well, as you can see from the picture it had such a great turnout. Easily hundreds of students, ours included, were a part of the games we played. From throwing around a Frisbee to games we played in a circle, to just talks on the wooden steps, it was a sight that gave me chills. When one of our directors came by the event I told her, "Welcome to the kingdom of heaven." It really was an amazing sight to see God's people enjoying each other and obeying His commands to go and make disciples.

First Friday Night

First FNF

Our first Friday Night Fellowship also had a great turnout! So many of our students really put their all in inviting new students to come enjoy this community of God. A really great and surprising part of it was that while the band practiced in the hour before we started many students, particularly international students, heard the music and came by to check out what was going on. And so many of them stayed! Hopefully we will be faithful with the opportunities God has given us here and are willing to put in the effort to really come alongside these individuals and show them who Jesus is.   

Baptism

Marla's Baptism in the Pool

One of the ladies in our ministry also got baptized on the first week of school! It was a great encouragement to start off the year and really showed what this community is about. We love to hang out and we believe it is an important part of the Christian life, but at the end of the day we're here because of Jesus. He binds us all together, no matter how similar or different we are.

Thank You!

The bed frame in all its glory

Last but not least, I finally bought a bed frame! After years of sleeping on a mattress on the ground, I decided it was time to at least look like an adult! Thanks to all my supporters who helped me get to this stage in life! 

On a more serious note, thank you so much for all that you do for me: that you've given me this opportunity and privilege to be on the front lines at this campus. It is truly amazing what I get to do and what I get to witness here. I was talking to a coworker a few days ago and we were talking about the guys we were discipling. As we talked about where they were, what we were doing with them, I talked about the Comet Cafe. This is the eating area in the Student Union where most of the restaurants are and where most students eat. I talked about how I have lunch there with one of the students I'm reaching out to, and how I'm never worried that we'll eat alone because I know there will be at least a dozen of our students eating lunch there as well or at least passing by. And to this he said "It's a good life we lead." And truly it is. We may not make a salary that makes others jealous, we may not work hours that others envy, but it's a life we wouldn't trade for anything else. To God be all the glory!

Let Earth and Heavenly Saints Proclaim

Ordination Ceremony

"Again Jesus said, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' He answered, 'Yes Lord, you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Take care of my sheep.'" John 21:16

This year we had our very first ordination ceremony. The staff and incoming apprentices (previously called interns) made promises to the community on how we would live our lives, how we would act towards them, and what we would do for them. Many individuals from the churches involved with FOCUS came as well to witness it.

Staff Retreat

"One who has unreliable friend soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24

Early this month we also had our staff retreat for all of our staff across campuses. It was a great time of learning, relating, and fun. Unfortunately, I was having too much fun and didn't even take a single picture! So until one of my coworkers chooses to unveil one they took, you'll just have to imagine what it was like. But we were on a lake so it looked something like this picture we took in Washington. We really value being like a family, in our community and among our staff. So it's important to us to get quality time together even when we our campuses are far apart. 

Looking Forward

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." Philippians 1:20

Over the summer we've been working a lot, but a lot of that is planning for the new year, brainstorming on more effective methods, preparing our new students leaders, and deciding who those should even be. This summer has really stretched me since I'm not a huge fan of planning. I like to do and be productive, and I only like to plan what's necessary and immediate. So having to rest and allow this season to take its course has been a challenge, but a lot has been planned and I'm really looking forward to the new things we have going on this next year. We have plans to utilize even more of our students, giving them opportunities to serve and catch a vision for a ministry-filled life, we have plans for a politics class to help our students learn how to think through politics as a follower of Jesus, and so much more! I can't wait to tell y'all of how it works out this year!

Thanks!

"Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done." Psalm 105:1

Thank you to all of my supporters both past and present who are praying for me and giving to this mission. I couldn't do what I do without your help. Please pray as the first week of school starts soon and our students are going to be meeting new students on campus! It's probably the busiest two weeks of the entire school year so pray for energy all around. Thanks so much, guys!