It's that time again! A New School Year!

     " I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -Philippians 1:3-5

  Hello again! I apologize for the lack of ministry updates over the Spring and Summer. Work with CTF and life has been busy, and I regret that I haven't kept you all in the loop as much as you deserve! That being said, I have so much to share with you about what God has done so far this year, and exciting plans for the new school year. I pray for you all often, and my heart overflows with gratitude as you sacrificially partner with me to help God's Kingdom grow amongst the students I get to minister to!

Spring Semester

    We had a great Spring semester at CTF! We kicked off in January with an Alumni Night that was so sweet and fun. It's so encouraging when our old students come back from college and drop in to see us. We continued through the semester with sermon series' on Jesus' parables, the book of Ephesians, as well as a few topical sermons that we felt called to preach for our students. We talked about mental health, sin and shame, as well as living a life of worship. 


CTF Alumni Night!


    This year I was able to take a group of our older boys up to Colorado for Spring Break again! This is the 3rd year I've gotten to do this, and it's always such a great trip. We get to grow closer to each other and God, spend time in the snowy mountains admiring creation, and make lifelong memories. 


The crew!


Trent (one of my seniors) and I at the top of Loveland Mountain.

    I continued to get to lead Bible studies on Wylie East's campus, as well as Cooper Junior High. I was able to speak to the 8th grade basketball team every week during their season, and lead a Bible study with the Varsity Baseball team every week at East. One of my favorite things about my job is that I get to walk on to public school campuses, teach the word of God, build relationships, and serve the students, teachers, and coaches. God continues to bless us with amazing opportunities! 

Summer!

    Summer is always so busy and flies by incredibly fast. This summer was no exception, but it was awesome! We brought back Deep Dive again for the summer. We met every Tuesday throughout the summer, and read and discussed the Gospel of John. It was great! One of my favorite things about digging into Scripture with students is when things start to click and make sense! It's such a blessing to help teens grow in their understanding of and passion for the Word of God.

    We also had an amazing intern over the Summer named Laiya! She committed to spending her whole summer learning about youth ministry and serving our teens. It's so important and such a blessing to have College-aged people who are wholeheartedly committed to Jesus as examples for our teens. It shows them a real picture of what it can look like to invest your college years loving and serving God instead of "sowing your wild oats". We're so thankful for Laiya and all of our CTF Alumni who serve as great examples for our students!

Laiya leading worship at CTF Camp!

    Of course, the best part of Summer is always CTF Camp! I often tell people that God does more in one week at camp than in the whole year at home. I'm not much of a cryer, but I cry multiple times every year at camp watching God move in such powerful ways. Teens open their hearts to God, confess sin, express a desire for repentance and growth, reconcile relationships, worship openly, and build Godly friendships. It's truly the highlight of the year! This year was no different. Camp was so fun, and such a huge momentum boost for our ministry heading into another school year. Enjoy a few pictures from camp!




Color War!


Worship


My good friends Matt and Matt who serve CTF as adult volunteers!
(and are quite a bit taller than me)


Praying over one of our students, Abby, who we got to baptize at camp!


Group pic!

Fall Semester Plans

    Steve Miller Band has a song that says "Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future". That is the truth! It's hard to believe that another new school year has already started. It's even harder to believe that I'm heading into my 5th school year on CTF staff! But here we are, and here we go! I'm not sure I've ever been more excited for our ministry than I am right now. We had our Fall Kickoff last Wednesday night, and it was amazing! We have such a strong core group of students right now, of all ages. Our sermon series to start the year off is titled BOLD. Proverbs 28:1 says "The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." Our goal for our students this year is to be BOLD. To go into their classrooms, sports teams, jobs, and homes boldly living for Jesus. To share their faith with others, oppose the things of the world, and stand up for what is right. I'm confident that in everything we do this year, Wednesday nights, one on one discipleship, events, and on campus outreach and service, that God is going to bless our efforts and move powerfully through this ministry and these students! I can't wait to get back on the various campuses we serve to shine light in dark places. It's gonna be a great year!

Prayer Requests

-Please pray for our students as they transition back to school. Pray for protection from the Enemy and his schemes, pray for boldness, and pray for the new students that we're meeting.

-Pray for our Adult Leader Team. All of these adults work full time and give their free time to serving our ministry. With our ministry model of one on one discipleship, we need all the help we can get. Our leader team is the most important part of our ministry. Luckily, we have an absolutely rock solid team of leaders. Also, we added three new CTF Alumni to our team this year! This is the first year where some of my past students (Class of 2019-20) have come back to serve as adults. What a blessing! 

-Pray for the students that I'll be discipling and mentoring: Huntyr, Trent, Carter, Josh, and Liam!

-Pray for our work on the various Wylie campuses: Wylie East High School, Cooper JH, and McMillan JH. We're so excited to be actively working on starting a Fellowship of Christian Students group at McMillan JH this year. Our staff will get to go on campus twice a week, train student leaders, lead small group Bible studies, and speak to sports teams. Praise God!

    I believe thank you never goes without saying, so thank you to all of you who continually pray for me, my family, and CTF. Thank you to all of you who consistently give financially to support me in this ministry I get to do. I truly do "always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel". I couldn't do this without you! Love you all so much, and as always please let me know if there are specific ways I can serve you and pray for you! 

-William Royal

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