A New School Year!

 Hey there!

    I apologize for not sending out a ministry update in the past few months. I assure you we've been hard at work at CTF, and I want to tell you about some of the things that have been going on! But first, on a personal note, say hello to the newest member of the Royal family!

Bennie!

Summer

    Summer was fast and furious, but in a great way! Summer is always a strange time in youth ministry. A group of seniors graduate, people are in and out of town, camp is on the horizon, and then before you know it school is right around the corner. But we had a lot going on this summer! 

    This summer we offered our students a class that we called a Deep Dive through the Gospel of Mark. A group of us would meet on Thursdays and walk through the book of Mark at a little bit higher level than would typically be covered on a Wednesday night. I was blown away with how our students responded to this class. We had a consistent group of students who showed up every week, thought deeply, wrestled with the Scripture, and learned a lot! Overall it was a great success, and I'm excited to do it again next summer.

    Our Wednesday nights look a little bit different over the summer. We had a pool party, a park night, a lake day, a game night, and some other super fun events. The goal is to invite the teens into something fun and exciting to get them out of what is so often a "summer funk". They got to come have fun with other students and our leaders, play games, worship, and have small group discussions over Scripture and various topics. It was great!

    The other big Summer event that we had was camp!! CTF Camp was amazing this year. I find myself in awe of God and what He does every year at camp, but this year specifically He really blew us away. Our students got to go to the beautiful mountains of Sacramento, New Mexico, and spend the week learning about Jesus, worshipping Him, and having so much fun. It really is the best week of the whole year! I always forget to take pictures, but I did get one of our group listening to Matt preach one morning. When we got back from camp one of our seniors, Ian, decided he wanted to make Jesus Lord of his life. Matt studied the Bible with him this last year, and got to baptize him! Praise God for working in Ian's heart!

Some of our crew at church after camp!

Matt got to baptize one of our seniors, Ian! 

A crew of our teens at Matt and Sam's wedding!

Matt speaking to our teens at camp.

School Year Kickoff

    It felt like school started the day we got back from camp. In reality, the students went back to school about two weeks after we got home from camp. Our big push to our students this school year is to "Be the Good News". We've been talking about how each one of them has the power of the Spirit enabling them to be bold, speak truth, and love like Jesus. It's been really cool to see our students become more outreaching and confident in who they are in Christ. 

    

    Once the school year kicked off, we've been in full swing! I've been back at Wylie East HS three days a week! On Mondays I get to meet with my junior and senior leaders on the baseball and football teams. I help them plan and prepare for the Wednesday Bible study that we have during lunch. On Wednesday's, we've been averaging around 15 students coming to our Bible study! We have guys from football, baseball, basketball, and wrestling. I'm so excited to see what God does through our work at Wylie East this year. Then, on Thursdays, I get to lead a "chapel" time with the Freshman and JV football teams. Can you believe that? 

    On our Wednesday nights, we've been walking through the teachings and stories of Jesus. This past week we read the parable of the soils. I loved getting to hear our students think through what makes soil good, and what kind of soil they are! 

A few weeks ago I got to talk about what it means to Be the Good News!

Prayer Requests

-Pray for our seniors who are now freshmen in college! Pray that God would protect them from Satan's schemes, and that they would find a good spiritual community to connect with. 

-Pray for our students to Be the Good News wherever they go! Pray that they're bold to invite other students to CTF and into relationship with Jesus.

-Pray for the work that I get to do at Wylie East! 

-Pray for our new Junior High students! We have seven or eight new junior high kids, and we want them to feel comfortable and welcomed in our ministry.

-Pray for our outreach efforts on the campuses. That God would lead us to the students whose hearts are open to Him!

    Thank you all so much for your prayers, your support, and your love. I cherish my relationships with all of you, and I couldn't do any of this without your help! 

Love,

William Royal