focus_90803

Posted: 9/5/03

	A student pauses for a time of reflection outside the UTA BSM before ministering to international students.
Volunteers count the $11,000 offering given for missions.
A group of students examine missions material they picked up from exhibitors. (Becky Holt/BGCT Photos)	Kent Barlow, director of Baptist Student Ministries at the University of Texas at Dallas, prays during a worship session

Students 'Focus' on faith

A Stephen F. Austin University student converses with another Focus participant between sessions.

FORT WORTH–About 3,500 college students spent their Labor Day weekend at Focus, a Baptist General Convention of Texas event offering spiritual preparation at the start of the school year.

Gregg Matte, founder of Breakaway Ministries, and Voddie Baucham, a well-known youth speaker, encouraged the students to concentrate on developing themselves spiritually while reaching out to non-believers on their campuses. "Focus" isn't just the name of an event; it's what every Christian needs to do, Matte said.

A focus on faith development, as well as educational development, will lead to greater vision for God's work and more relationships that further the kingdom of God, he explained. Matte urged the students to move beyond a "pep rally for God" and using worship as a drug.

By gaining a larger vision of the world and of where other Christians fit in, students can avoid the temptation to think Christianity is "all about you," he said. The students gave offerings of more than $11,000 to support BGCT student mission efforts. Most of the participants stepped out from the Fort Worth Convention Center to minister in a variety of settings throughout the Metroplex.

They helped with apartment ministries, a food pantry and clothes closet at Mission Arlington and ministered to international students at the University of Texas at Arlington. They also did door-to-door evangelism with members of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Fort Worth.