We're Almost Halfway Through!!

 Hi to all my partners and more!

Just to start...can we just agree that November went by way too quick? Just in writing this, I'm drawing on a blank on what all exactly happened because it all occurred within a blink of an eye. However, may the Lord bless Google Calendar for helping me to jog my memory on everything I did and learned this past month. Besides Thanksgiving antics, this month was definitely a learning curve in how to be a more effective minister, roommate, friend, daughter, and girlfriend. 

Ministry

This month, it has been so sweet to see the friendships forming among the students at Wylie. Nothing major or life altering has been going on, but it always leaves me in awe to sit back and watch these students love on each other without David or I having to prompt it. It's so common for, after core (small group), them to initiate a hangout at Whataburger or even playing volleyball together. 

Even students that regularly come to our Tuesday Hang spend time with each other outside of that. I had one of these students recently exclaim to me that they didn't have any friends before coming to Tuesday Hang, and now feel like they actually belong on campus and don't feel as lonely. This student isn't a Christian, and isn't interested in knowing more about Jesus. However, even if that is the case, I feel like he is still pursuing her in just bringing her friends and community the way he has-even if she doesn't want to recognize it in that way. My prayer for her, and other students as well, is that the love they experience and feel doesn't just stop there, but is deepened in them knowing their worth and freedom in Christ beyond what the world can give them.

Our core also had a really amazing session one night where we talked about dating, and what it looks like to do that as disciples. We split up between guys and girls so we could go more into detail and specific situations, and dang...the Holy Spirit really showed up. Never in leading a core, have I ever had girls ask me deep and thoughtful questions about dating, and not even just that, but questions around how to be better Jesus followers in dating. It was so cool to see and witness God changing their hearts and minds right in front of me, and a beautiful reminder that this has nothing to do with any advice or thoughts I give them, but everything to do with the Spirit moving in them and God pursuing them. It gets me so excited to think about how, if they are wanting to give as big of a topic as this to him, what might this mean in the little things as well. 

This month, FOCUS also hosted its every-semester event called Pizza Theology. This event is meant to get students to think deeper about their faith and theology, with the idea of how to think rather than what to think. FOCUS is an interdenominational organization, so the students involved have a vast array of denominational backgrounds with different doctrinal beliefs and ideas. So, one of the goals of FOCUS, as an organization, then, is to not just add to those ideas or try to 'correct' them, but, instead is about simply prompting the questions of 'what would Jesus think?' and 'what would be pleasing to you, Lord?'. The idea then is to live under submission to Jesus, not submission to FOCUS. 

So, this semester we talked about the idea of what it means to think like a Christian. With that, Brandon (director of FOCUS and director of UTD FOCUS) and Garrett (director of Collin FOCUS) presented ideas of what it means to think subjectively versus objectively, and how each of us have our own bias that we tend to filter the world through. They then took this idea and applied it to how we should let scripture and God filter the way in which we view the world versus just our own ideas and whims. This definitely was a great topic to think through because something I've realized I struggle with, along with many other people, is being subjective over being objective majority of the time. So, this conversation gave me some really great tools and resources to think through how to do this better.

Here's a photo from Pizza Theology! So many students ended up attending.

Here are international students I've been meeting with every week for Conversation Partner Hour for them to practice their English. We recently had our last meeting, and it was such a treat getting to befriend them this semester!

Here are guys from my core at our Friendsgiving. Holding David left to right are Matthew, Ryan, and Adam.

Here's a photo from one of our Thursday Night Fellowship services. 

Classes

This month, we apprentices have wrapped up our Old Testament class, continued with our Holy Spirit class, and have learned a lot about effectiveness as an adult in Mandy's class. Obviously, there has been more to this, but this is just a brief overview of this month's highlights. 

In Old Testament, we finished up our lectures and discussions, and finished out the month writing our final paper as a reflection of the entire class! The prompt was "how should a Christian read and use the Old Testament?". To which, I briefly discussed how the Old Testament is ultimately a magnifying glass into God's heart, and through different themes highlighted, we get to understand it more and more. Even more so, these particular themes end up continuing into the New Testament and even today. Ultimately, the Old Testament can be really hard to read, and I know I didn't have the best attitude about it before this class. However, this class left me with a new found appreciation for this section of the Bible because, though I will never understand it 100%, I have the opportunity to know God and his heart for me and others through these stories and themes. God made that accessible to us, and, to me, that is a beautiful thing. 

Thinking about our class with Mandy, I genuinely think that class has been the most impactful to me this past month. That is because, with settling into the apprenticeship, I've realized tremendously that I have a lot to grow in with being an effective professional and adult. Something Mandy had us reflect on earlier in the month was tracks and systems we have to get things done in our lives. This led me to realize that I have very little in my own life, and I dearly wanted that to change. So, I've been starting with small things in my life, like setting reminders to take care of things the moment they pop into my head so I'm not forgetting or stressing about it. I also have switched to using a weekly meal kit instead of grocery shopping, which has led me to save money and waste less food. On top of that, I've seen this move into my own personal life, with blocking time off in my schedule to actual do my chores and be a good roommate and to set reminders to send Connor, my boyfriend, prayers in the morning or to bring him ice cream once a month on our dates. These small systems have freed up so much mental space in my life, and have caused me to be stressed less, which is mind boggling to me. So, I have been genuinely grateful that God has been moving in that class like he has to invite me and others into this area of maturity. 

On a side note, we also had our evangelism class this past month. As an assignment, us apprentices had to plan an outreach event on campus on our own, and dang, how much those effectiveness lessons helped. Just from this assignment alone, I gained a deeper appreciation for what my campus pastors did when I was a student. Planning outreach events isn't easy, but it sure is rewarding and fun. As a group, we decided to plan a multicultural potluck, where we had students speaking about their cultural backgrounds and sharing food from their upbringing and culture. This seriously was such a successful event! So many students came by to grab a bite, speak, or even stay and play games with each other. We even had a student exclaim that if all FOCUS events were as welcoming as this, he would come to all of them. Just to know that we were able to make that kind of impact on campus really left me excited for what God is trying to do at Collin this year, and that genuinely is thanks to you and your support. 

Here's a photo from the outreach event we put on. This really was such a fun and informative experience.

Again, thank you all so much for your support over these past few months. God has really been at work in mine and others lives, and getting to participate in his good work, specifically on the Collin campus, is due to all of your support. As this semester comes to a close, I'm so excited to see what God does in the slower pace of the break, but also, in what he does during the Spring semester. 

Love,

Orion Childers

Prayer Requests:

• The break for students. Some of them are going home to hard and broken situations while others need prayer to be disciplined and immersed in community. So, regardless of their circumstance, if you could be praying that God really be moving and make himself known to these students, even in the mundane. 
• Winter Camp! It's a 4 day retreat we have for students every January, and we are so excited to be able to have it this school year! So, if you could be praying for students to catch the vision and come, and just for preparations leading up to it. 
• The end of the semester! We're almost halfway through the apprenticeship, which means our first sermons. I'm so excited, but also super nervous. So, if you could be praying for ease of mind, wisdom, and guidance to finish well and to prepare this sermon to the best of my ability.