Work Hard, Play Hard

This month has been jam-packed with fun in the sun. A lot of it has involved getting to know our incoming apprentices who will be joining our team in August. We will hit the ground running in August to get ready for the start of the year so we invited them to go on some adventures with our staff before all that kicks in. 

The girls took a day trip to Tyler, TX! We squeezed in my van so we got to hang out and ask each other questions the whole way. We also made a stop at Ham Orchards where I got the best peach ice cream. I'm so excited to work with these women. I love getting to see their heart for people and the Lord every day!

(Back, left to right: Ryan, Alex, Shayla, Darby, Drew. 

Front, left to right: Casey, Keanna, Hannah E, Hannah W, Cathryn, Me)

This is our staff for the year! We invited the incoming apprentices to join us for a planning day and went to dinner afterwards. I think we all felt a bit body slammed by a luchador (see picture) after all the talking and working out details we needed to do but it was so productive and sweet to do it together!

The "hard work" is in full force too. We're getting our corefa (student leader) team set up for the year. These are the people who will end up driving so much of our mission on campus. They are truly the hands and feet of Jesus. And their excitement and zeal is infectious. 

This past weekend, we put on a new event called Activate, a conference designs to help get people excited and prepared to do ministry in their context on campus. I gave a little workshop on how to do an inductive Bible study, there were talks on evangelism, prayer, seeking advice well, being rooted and ready, handling sticky situations, and the Holy Spirit. From the feedback I've heard, I think this was exactly what was needed to get people fired up for the semester. I'm so excited to see the fruit of that.

I'm anticipating such a whirlwind when August starts. We'll have our staff's annual retreat and then we'll jump straight into three full weeks of outreaching at UNT and TWU as students are moving in. Would you join me in praying now for God to be working in the hearts of these students, tilling the soil and preparing it for His good word?

Fundraising Update!

I'm in the midst of my fundraising season for next year. Currently I'm looking to raise another $600 a month. I love that I get to partner with so many generous people who are excited about the work God is doing on these campuses! If you are interested in giving or increasing your support, you can do so at anyfocus.org/ReagannSmith. Our fiscal year starts over Aug 1st so if you'v ebeen thinking about giving, now is a great time! As always, I so appreciate your support and prayers. 

The other thing I'm looking to do this season is make more connections. If you have anyone in your network who loves God and might be excited to hear about what I’m doing, I would love to talk to them! 

* You might notice that the site linked above has changed. We have switched giving platforms over to CharityEngine. We've been able to migrate over all the data so you shouldn't have to do anything on your end. If you ever need to change anything though, this will be the new site!

Owen Update!

Owen turned two this month!

He also got to ride a pony at a friend's birthday party, which he loved. We are now completely obsessed with horses, including the "nay, horse" movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.

Love y'all! Thank you for being here and reading along!