Ryan's Ministry Blog

Hey everyone! March is here! February flew by and a lot of encouraging things happened! I want to thank everyone who is supporting me this year, I couldn't do this without y'all! Let's see what happened this past month! We started a new sermon series towards the end of February titled "Pillow Talk". During this sermon series we are focusing on various topics relating to sex and relationships. For our first week of this sermon series, we did a dating panel! We had students submit questions anonymously and had our panel answer them. I think that dating in a Godly manner is a super important topic that doesn't get talked about enough!   This is Garvin! He is one of the student leaders that I get to meet with every week. Garvin brings me a lot of joy and is such a blessing in my life. He recently graduated in December with a degree in Marketing, but is continuing in his role as a core facilitator (corefa) for the rest of the school year. Garvin is do...

January was a great month! Our students came back to school and I got to spend some extended time with our staff members from other campuses! January flew by so let's hit the highlights! January started off with bang, literally! Unfortunately on our way to staff retreat, I was in the passenger seat with two other staff members and we were involved in an accident with an 18-wheeler. Thankfully we are all okay, but as you can see, the car was not. It was only by the grace of God that we walked away unharmed. For a few days following the accident, I kept replaying in my head how it could have and should have gone so much worse. But God was definitely with us through that time and I'm so thankful for that! At TWU (Texas Women's University), we have started doing a time called "Wednesday Hang". It's an hour where we get to fellowship with students and do some fun things! We are really trying to grow our men's ministry at TWU and I really ...

Wow! I am halfway done with the FOCUS Apprenticeship and I cannot believe it! Time flies when you're having fun! And what's more fun then doing God's work? December was a great end to the semester and a great time for rest. Let's jump in! Here are some of our students during an outreach event we call "Bad Tattoos"! And it is as exactly as described! We use washable marker to draw bad tattoos on people! It is a fun activity that gets people out of their comfort and is just generally silly! I have no idea what exactly has been drawn on their legs! In this photo we have Mateo (one of the students I regularly meet with) and Benji (my dog)! Mateo is such a kind soul and one of my favorite people. He's entering into his last semester at UNT so being praying for him as he concludes his college career! December was a fun time because I got to do things with students that I don't get to do on a regular basis. Like in the picture ...

Hey everyone! Christmas season is upon us and I could not be more excited! The start of December also marks me being 40% done with apprenticeship! I really can't believe how fast it has gone by and how much God has done in this time so far. Let's jump in to see what happened this last month!  Earlier this month we had our Fall Pizza Theology event. Pizza Theology is an event that we do with all 11 of our campuses once per semester. It was so encouraging to see how many of our students that were willing to take five hours out of their Sunday! We heard from Bill Watson on the story of scripture and it was super insightful and informative. It's one of my favorite events because we get to see all of our campuses fellowship together! I was super glad to see all of my UTD friends that I don't get to see that often anymore. In the picture above, our students and staff are doing Questions on Display for outreach! Basically we put a question on a big board and ha...

Hello friends! It feels like just yesterday that I was writing last month's update, time really does fly when you are having fun! I have some great things to share with y'all that happened over the past month! But before I start, I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support throughout my time as a minister so far, I couldn't do it without y'all! Let's dive in! We had our annual Fall Camp in early October! We take travel down to Mt. Lebanon in Cedar Hill for 24 hours and worship and fellowship with everyone in our Denton community. In the photo above, you can see some students waiting to share. It's always encouraging to hear students be vulnerable in front of their peers. We could really feel God speaking through them and the students were really moved by what they shared. This is a less than flattering photo of myself and two of the other staff members (Ryan and Aaron). Our whole staff dressed up as Disney princesses! I was Ariel, Ryan (midd...

Hello everyone! Another month is in the books and the time has just flown by! I've been so encouraged in my time so far and I'm excited to share about it with all of you! Here we go!  Pictured above is one of my favorite outreach events that we do! We built this structure and play a game called 9-square. It attracts a lot of students and is a great way for us to talk to students! We spend several hours a week doing facilitated outreach at various times doing various things, and it is so encouraging! I love getting to watch our students have fun while doing the Lord's work. It reminds me why I love my job so much! This is our staff plus a couple of significant others! We took some time this past month to have some fun together (on top of all of the fun we have doing ministry). I love all of these people so so so much. I consider them family and I'm so blessed that I get to work with them each and every day! They challenge and encourage me in various ways ...

I can't believe that a month has already gone by! My transition to Denton has been seamless and I feel like I'm fitting in great. So many great things happened this month so I'm going to dive right in and hit the highlights! Move-In Day Above is a picture of me and some student leaders from UNT move in day! We got to volunteer as a student organization to help students move in to their dorms. It made me so happy to see the reactions of students and their families when they saw that we were there to help them. I was also so proud of our students who gave up their weekend to come serve these students. It was a great way to invite people to all of the stuff that we were doing during Welcome Week! Outreach As you can see above, we like to have fun! Every week on Tuesday and Friday, we do outreach during the day to meet new students. We've used that big beach ball and it has made me feel like a little kid again! I feel that God truly works through...