Support the (Associate) Minister

I could sit here with whatever amount of your time I  have while you read this to tell you about Dwell and the things we do with our donations, but I instead want to tell you about the students since they're what my ministry is really about. (Then I'm going to tell you why donating helps those students anyway!)

Our student leaders are incredibly hard workers. I don't know what I would do without some of them. Our club president literally keeps the club running. Without her the ministry would be just as dead as it would be without myself or Jessica. Our student leaders put in so much time a the beginning of semesters to plan and prep themselves mentally and spiritually as we begin a new Bible series or a plan events. Don't get me started on the event planning. I am not an event planner. I can do a bang-up job at it in a pinch if I do say so myself, but I was dying when I first started with Dwell and was in charge of planning and organizing all of our events... I am infinitely grateful that our current student leaders took it upon themselves to take a very hands on roll in planning all of our weekend events, and relieving some of that stress from me. They also come up with so many ideas for Bible studies, events, social media management, website design, outreach, student engagement, and our favorite - dinners! In all seriousness the community our student leaders foster within our leadership group spills out into our full group, and it keeps our ministry the welcoming, loving, tight knit group our students love so much.

As for our members that aren't leaders? I adore each and every one of them. Dwell is what it is today because of the students and young adults that care enough about their connections and relationships with our ministry to take their time and spend with us. Sometimes it's a lot to take time out of your life as a young adult between school, work, friends, free time, navigating becoming an adult. I would know! I'm the same age (or younger) than some of our young adult/profession members. It' not just the time commitment our students put towards us, it's the monetary commitment they make when we go to events like bowling, hockey games, service retreats, fall retreats in the mountains. Those things aren't cheap, and we all know times are tough. I endlessly appreciate each and every student that is willing to spend money to be with us at any event. For so many reasons I can't share many specifics about our students, and that makes it extremely difficult to express how much each and every one of our members means to me. It's impossible to sit here and share very story of the long nights at retreats talking and playing games, or discussions of faith, the jokes made, the laughs shared, the emotions felt, the deep community formed, the meals shared, the home built for myself and our students on the UofA.

It's not always easy, but there is nothing I would rather be doing (well maybe working on a movie set, or video shoot if I'm being honest) than taking my time and energy to help Dwell. I am proud of the work I do, and while I never expected to have anything to do with ministry, at least professionally, I wouldn't trade anything for being here in Tucson with everyone at Dwell. Even a shot at working in film/video right now today. If you know me then you likely know that has been my dream since early high school, and I still want to be there someday, but right now I need to be at Dwell for my sake as much as for the needs of the ministry.

I know I said I was going to talk about the students not myself, but I also said i would tell you about what donating today actually does for us, and I'm my own transition to get there! Sorry not sorry? So yeah, me, this fundraiser is for Dwell Campus Ministry a part of Arizona Campus Mission Foundation. If you don't know or haven't figured it out by this point in my story, I work for Dwell! I'm the "Associate Campus Minister", and what does that mean? It means I do a lot of stuff, and I get to hang out with a lot of cool people, and do a lot of cool things. Sadly cool things and time are both very expensive, but luckily I am not! I get an undisclosed amount of money from Dwell every month that is not enough to fully cover my rent. I am in no way complaining (remember that whole "I wouldn't trade my dream job for this"?), but it does make things difficult for me sometimes. I work part time doing videography for a church unrelated to ACMF, and freelance photography to afford my bills every month. It works, but it takes a lot of my time away from Dwell sometimes. I'm asking for donations for myself on this fundraiser so I can worry less about survival and focus more on our students and ministry that mean so much to me. Any money donated to this fundraiser goes straight to me minus processing fees, and I would appreciate if you would consider donating to this or another fundraiser for Dwell or Camp! Thank you for making it this far with me, can you help me go a little further?