Endings and Beginnings

 

May is always an interesting season in ministry. It seems to always be filled with some of the sadness moments, and some of the most exciting. That is typically because we have two major turning points for our students in May. The first is graduation. One of the hardest parts of campus ministry is seeing the students you’ve spent 4 years pouring into graduate and transition out of the ministry. Many of you reading this are intimately familiar with this having been students who have graduated out of our ministry. As much as I am excited for the next stage in our students lives, it’s heart breaking to see them go. Especially because our seniors are often our most mature, wise, and capable students. It feels like every year is like planting a church, where we send off some of our most capable ministers and wonder how we will ever make it by without them. It truly is a bittersweet season.

The crazy view from the coffee shop I'm writing this from

But that’s only the first week of May. The second week is when we leave for SICM, our yearly leadership conference for our students. This week is filled with excitement and hope for our ministry. This year is the first in 3 that we’ve been able to send our students to Bellingham, WA for this conference. I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed this trip till we got up here. There is something different about taking 100 students on a trip across the country to help them lay foundations in becoming Christ-like leaders. As I write this we are only half-way through SICM, but already I have been astonished by how the Spirit has been working in such a short time.

Some of our Denton students at SICM!

I finally have a ton of photos so you get a lot this time! 

My favorite story so far is about Chuwku, one of our Denton students we brought up. He was a late invite (being invited only a week before we left) but amazingly he said yes to going. Being relatively new to our ministry he was nervous about knowing people and getting connected. But last night during our worship night he shared that as a kid he was exuberant and excited, but as he got older and went through some tough experiences he closed himself off. Then he said that the way he had been welcomed and encountered Jesus this week made him feel like that kid again. Once he got off stage from sharing a crowd of about 15 of our Denton students ran up and hugged him. Did I mention Chuwku is a 6’6 basketball player trying out for UNT’s team? Imagine that guy being surrounded by students and embracing the childlike faith he once abandoned. It’s safe to say we were all crying.

Obligatory Chuwku photo. Featuring ridiculous gas prices in the background

It’s amazing to see Jesus change people to rapidly. I’m sure there are going to be so many other stories like that come out of this week. It makes me so excited for this next generation of leaders. While that doesn’t make the sadness of seeing our seniors leave go away, it does give me an incredible hope for the future. God’s Kingdom keeps advancing.