A Real Life Interview w/ A Student! 👨🏾‍🎓 📚

My friends & team!

Why does it feel like I blink and…BAM - it's Friday again? ❤️

Okay, this is a special blog post today. 

I wanted to share with you a very special conversation I had with Meech. Meech is a Dallas College FOCUS student who has recently transferred to The University of North Texas after being a part of our Richland FOCUS ministry for the last 2.5 years.

I had the privilege of getting to know Meech, studying the Bible with him, and becoming good friends with Meech. Meech has a special place in my heart as a student who made real life changes during his time at Richland. 

We hung out a few weeks ago and he was reflecting on how God had moved so powerfully in his life during his time at Richland. I felt led & asked him (on the spot) if it would be cool if I asked him a few questions, recorded his responses, and shared it with my support team (y'all!) - he said: “Absolutely!”

So - check out the interview below - be encouraged - this is what your support is going toward. 

Thank you for believing in me and our mission to love college students. Let's goooo!!!

(read interview w/ Meech - below!)

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Sirak: What has Richland FOCUS meant to you during your time as a student?

Meech: It's been a place where I can have friends. It's been a place where I can learn more about myself, and who I am through God. It's also been a place where I can find godly friends & put myself in the right direction, with community. A place where I can be vulnerable, explore places where I fall short, and realize I'm not alone. God's there with me. There's people here going through the same thing, and God's bringing them through - He's gonna bring me through it too.

Sirak: Your season at Richland is closing and a new one's opening at UNT. Looking back, what has God done in your heart through Richland FOCUS?

Meech: God has given me hope for tomorrow. I can't even lie - I came to FOCUS at one of my lowest lows. I didn't know where to look, but I knew God was the place to go for my troubles, and that's how I found y'all. Shout out Cole.

It's allowed me to forgive myself for all the mistakes I've made in the past, all the wrong I've done to myself or other people. Those people I've wronged have forgiven me, and I've forgiven myself. It's allowed me to walk into a new life in Him, free of shame. I still feel guilt about things when I sin, but not to the point where I completely shut myself off anymore. I feel like there's nothing I can't work through with God.

That's why I feel hope for tomorrow - I've been through 100% of my bad days. I know it's not going to get easier, but I know God's going to be there and get me through it.

Sirak: As you transition to UNT - what's your hope for the students walking onto Dallas College campuses who won't meet FOCUS until winter retreat or something like that?

Meech: That they lean into community, and that FOCUS veterans can be a place they lean on - that the community itself is a place people can feel vulnerable and share hardships. These last couple of cores I went to with Moses and Ricardo, I was glad they were talking about things that really hurt. It hurt to hear some of their sadder stories, but at the beginning of the year, I don't think I would've heard them talk about things like this.

I don't want to say jump into vulnerability right off the bat - but whenever an opportunity to be vulnerable presents itself, don't run away from it. Get into it. Because in those moments, that's where you experience true spiritual growth. I've had to grow in some really uncomfortable ways, and it's made me a better man than I was.

Sirak: What has God gifted you with through your time at Richland FOCUS that you want to bring to the ministry at UNT FOCUS?

Meech: A revelation that I really try my best to be there for people - to be friends with everyone, to make sure no one feels left out, to foster a good community attitude. I hope I can bring that to Denton - make sure nobody gets lost in the crowd, because I know it's going to be different up there.

I also want to help foster a community of men who aren't afraid of feeling their feelings - who aren't afraid to go ask a girl out, to tell someone “hey, what you did made me feel this way,” to tell their parents “I don't like what you're telling me to do, I'd rather do this with my life.” I want that group of men to be vulnerable, assertive, strong-willed, strong-minded men of God - and I hope I can lead by example in that.

Sirak: Richland's a lot smaller than UNT FOCUS - about 30 people compared to 250. How are you going to make sure you don't get lost in the crowd?

Meech: One way is really sticking to my values. We had a great conversation maybe a year ago about how if you don't know what you value, you'll put up with almost anything. So knowing my values, knowing the life I want for myself in my relationship with God - when you know what you value, making choices is actually easy.

It's not just succumbing to gossip, or whatever's in the status quo at Denton that might be just as bad as at Richland. It's going to be harder, but I want to be someone who leads by example - someone people see and think, “Meech doesn't gossip. Meech doesn't do that. He doesn't buy into how everyone else thinks.” He's just a light.

Sirak: Looking back three years ago, when you walked into Richland FOCUS - who was Jesus to you then, and who is Jesus to you now?

Meech: Back then, Jesus was like a “get out of jail free” card - someone I'd call whenever I was down on my luck, kind of like calling my mom for $100 when I needed it. I only really talked to Him in times of need. I didn't picture the relationship as two-way - just Him giving me things and me thanking Him every once in a while.

Now I see God as the divine creator of my life - the hand that guides me everywhere I go. Without Him, I wouldn't even be able to say these things I'm saying right now. The world would've taken me under so quick, but God has remained so faithful. He lets me mess up. He lets me come back. He lets me mess up again, and He lets me come back again. He's helped me become a better person, a better Christian, a better friend, a better son, a better brother - hopefully a better boyfriend, husband, and father someday.

Jesus is honestly my main man. My blueprint. I didn't even know I could strive to be like Jesus until a conversation we had before Sitcom - I looked at some scripture after that and thought, man, Jesus is like… I love that, bro.

(end of interview) 

Thank you for believing in the work we do on campus! I hope that this glimpse of Meech's story encourages & enriches your heart. These are real students with real stories and Meech's story is just one of many that will be changed forever thanks to your support & partnership with us ❤️

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Here is a photo of our Dallas College theme this year: "The River Is Coming"! - (see previous blog post for context & why we chose this theme!) 

We got to help with the NSO (New Student Orientations) - this summer! We're so grateful to work with Dallas College and the wonderful organizations that set up this opportunity to meet incoming freshmen! 

Picture of me (left) and Meech (right) - grateful for this guy! Please pray for him as he transitions to UNT and settles into the campus in Denton! 

Anaya had her 1st day of pre-school! August was wild! 

❤️ 👍🏾

We loved getting to meet all of the incoming freshmen to Richland College - this was our first summer doing the incoming freshman orientations and they were a huge success! 

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We recently had to sell the recliner that we used since Anaya's birth as her rocker. So many sweet memories were made in that chair :) - We didn't even notice it happening but Anaya outgrew that rocker quick! 

This year we got up early and set up our table/canopy on campus (around 7:30am) - everyday the first week of school. We are still learning what the students need & resonate with at Dallas College. Please pray for us as we discern how to meet new students & invite them into our club ❤️

I don't know if y'all have ever met Becca - (behind table) - but, she is a PRO when meeting new students at our FOCUS tables. When you meet hundreds of new students day to day...it really becomes a craft to have the same conversation over & over in an authentic way...Becca has mastered the craft!
 

Our Fist Wednesday Night FOCUS! The first week, we had around 25 students - last week we had around 35 students :) Please pray for us as we go week-to-week and continue unpacking the Gospel with our students! 

Grateful for all of these students being a part of our ministry so far this year! 

We had an after-event @ Sonic and our students showed up! So many awesome friendships are being built in our ministry! 

Thank you for your support and for believing in us! This was a bit of a longer post today so I hope you at least read Meech's interview! 

God bless you & please don't hesitate to let me know if you need prayer for anything going on in your life! 

Love y'all - will talk to you soon :) 

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak 

The River Is Coming... 💦

I wanted to share with you all a story.

In 2021, as campuses begun to open (post-lockdown), a student in our ministry text messaged me and said: "Pastor Sirak, God gave me a dream last night and He wanted me to share it with you. Can we meet today so I can share my dream with you?" 

"Most definitely," I said. 

When we met, he shared with me (I am paraphrasing & working from memory - but the basic structure is still the same): 

"In my dream last night, God showed me the image of a flowing river. It was a river that had animals and wildlife of all kind(s) coming to drink and enjoy the refreshing water that sprung from it. God wanted me to tell you that the River is coming to Dallas College." 

"Awesome!" I said ✌🏾

The student continued... "God also wanted me to let you know that there will be years ahead of digging up dirt, pulling up weeds, and excavating the soil in order to make way for the River. When the river shows up, no one ever says, 'Hey, where did this river come from?' - they simply enjoy the water and life that springs from the river. There are difficult years coming ahead, Sirak, but God wants you to stay firm and hang in there. Do not give up and do not lose hope. The River is coming..." 

I remember then asking him: "And God wanted you to tell me this?" - "Yes," he quickly replied, "God said to tell you this as soon as possible." 

It has been around 5 years since my conversation with this student and in those 5 years I can definitely say that there have been seasons of digging up dirty, pulling up weeds, and excavating the soil - but what has kept me moving forward in moments of difficulty are those haunting (but beautiful) words: The river is coming...

I share this experience with you all because this upcoming year at Dallas College will feel very different. We have a new team, a bigger team, new welcome-week strategies, and a lot of moving parts to help us reach the students of Dallas College. 

I do want to share, however: Even if we still have 20 more years of "pulling up weeds" - that is still valuable work and meaningful ministry. God is, after all, the ultimate gardener and he prepares the way and "...Goes ahead of you..." (Isaiah 45:2) - so - maybe God loves pulling up weeds & excavating the soil to make a way for...the River 👍🏾 🤷🏾‍♂️

I'm so pumped for this year! 

Thank you for your ministry support & for believing in our mission to love college students. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

See some photos below for my July update! 

Our 2026-27 Dallas College FOCUS team! from left to right: me (Sirak), Becca, Alex, Jessica, Casey, Lailah, and Nahom. 

I had the privilege of speaking at our FOCUS staff commitments ceremony. We had several FOCUS pastors re-committing to serve on the college campus and it was a special night.  

Becca's mom snapped a picture of us praying together! I'm so so pumped to be on this team! 

Stian (College College Pastor) and I got to speak to a group of students at our Activate Conference. This conference is for group of students who are hoping to learn & engage more with the practicals and "how-to's" of ministry once the year begins. It was so fun & encouraging to get to connect with these students. 

Happy birthday, Anaya! (she turned 3!) 

Our 2026-27 FOCUS Pastors (all of us - across all of our campuses) - we had a great staff retreat and feel energized and prepare for the school year! 

Another picture of staff retreat! 

2026 Summer FOCUS was such a blast. The students we have coming up through our ministries are excited, full of energy, and passionated about Jesus! Please pray for them as we connect with a new group of students this fall. 

Dallas College has hosted a number of freshman student orientation(s). We've been able to connect with new students this summer - please pray for us as we go into the year with an excited group of students to connect with ❤️

Dallas FOCUS retreat staff team pic #1

Dallas FOCUS retreat staff team pic #2

Last but not least...Anaya turned 3! ❤️

When Anaya was born, there were several parents who told me: Enjoy it! It goes by quick... - I'm just now beginning to feel what they meant by that. 

She is no longer a baby...she's a little girl now. I feel so blessed. She loves to play, go on walks, ride her mini-bike, and eat Ice Cream! lol. I feel so blessed to have the life I have - thank you for your support and for believing in our mission to love college students. God is just getting started! "The River is Coming!" 

Let's gooo!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak 

What does it take to start a church?

I have noticed a trend among college students & young people in the faith...

I have noticed that they show a strong desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves. This desire is also coupled with a suspicion of authority and an urge for self-expression & creativity. 

Someone asked me recently, "What are your goals & strategies for Richland college this fall?" As soon as they asked me this I was at a loss regarding what I should say. Each year, Richland FOCUS has felt completely different from the last. 

Depending on the students we meet, the available rooms, meeting time(s), exam schedule(s), administrative policies, and a host of other variables - I do not know, as of right now, what this fall will look like & feel like. 

Despite the ever-changing variables, students still desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves, are looking for a place to feel at home, and desire to know who they are. Jesus offers all of this in relationship w/ Him and we get to be an instrument of that happening on campus this fall. 

I've always admired church-planters. Their entrepreneurial spirit, drivenness, adaptability, and relationship building capacity has has continually reminded me what year-to-year ministry at the community college feels like. 

My early years on the community college were marked by a desire to "build something", "establish something", "create a ministry-system-thing that keeps itself running", etc. In other words, I desired to crack the code of community-college ministry and then sit back, relax, and let the fruit unravel ✌🏾

God (ever so gently) has been revealing to me that what He has been focused on establishing and building is me and my heart. God has been and always will be the God who establishes and builds his people for the work He has called them to. The setting, location, variables, strategies, context(s), etc. are always going to change, but - the mission (ours & God's) stays the same ❤️

What are my goals & strategies for Richland FOCUS this fall? To start again. To be faithful again. To be present again. And let God do the rest! 

Enjoy the photos below! Grateful for your support. This has been a restful summer (Sloan, Anaya, and I did a weeklong beach trip down to Port Aransas, TX!) ❤️

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Sloan & I celebrated 8 years of marriage in June! 💍 Wow...what a ride it's been; so grateful to walk through life w/ her! 

CARE Church in Richardson, TX has been such a blessing to us. Allowing us to meet in their building each Thursday night has been exactly what we needed! Praise God! 

We got to do a family beach trip! The beach is very relaxing. Anaya and I played in the sand and enjoyed life! It was a blast! 

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Anaya had a blast at the beach - I promise! 🤷🏾‍♂️

Anaya loved her time at Thursday Night FOCUS last week! 

Summer FOCUS has been a highlight for us week-to-week. Many of our students remain in town during the summer(s) so we have loved getting to see them & spend time with them every Thursday night! 

               

I had the privilege of preaching last week during Summer FOCUS. Our sermon series this summer is all about Maturity and I preached on "Maturity: Humility in Learning". I addressed the question: How can we learn in a way that is humble & resembles Christ in an information-saturated world?

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Thank you for your support and for believing in our mission to love college students. I'm excited for year #14 which begins here in a few weeks. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have anything in your life that you would like prayer for. 

God bless you!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak

SICM was 💯 :) - Thank you for your support!

Summer is here — and I genuinely don't know what's happening with time. It's moving fast.

I'll catch myself scrolling through old baby pictures of Anaya and think, "Okay, yes — I can confirm she was once a baby" — but I have zero personal memory of it. She just... is a toddler. I know she wasn't always 30 pounds and capable of executing mixed martial arts moves on me, but it genuinely feels like she's always been exactly this size and this dangerous.

On the ministry side — SICM was incredible! We sent 150+ students to Bellingham, WA for our annual leadership training conference, and they showed up engaged, excited, and hungry to learn. It was a joy to watch them catch a vision for what it looks like to follow Jesus and bring that back to their campuses.

Now we're in full-on fall planning mode — which, at the community college level, always feels a little like starting from scratch. Strategies that worked one year tend not to carry over, so this time around we're holding our plans loosely and staying open to experimenting. One idea we're trying: mobile block-party setups — basically popping up in different spots around campus at different times of day to meet as many students as possible where they already are.

Community college students are notorious for making the car-to-class-to-car loop without a single real human interaction. We want to interrupt that — in the best way possible.

Pray for us as we head into fall with open hands and open eyes for what God has in store. 🙏

her 1st day of school! (I can't remember if I've already shared this...my phone is mostly turning into solely anaya-pictures - see below for her last-day-of-school pic!)

Anaya had her official last day of school. So wild! 

Our end-of-the-year staff dinner was Renaissance/Medival Times themed. I have no idea what I'm wearing. Alex Caballero let me wear his costume. 

I got to help serve with worship @ SICM this year - it was a blast! 

One of our students @ SICM decided to get baptized - it was awesome & so encouraging to watch her make Jesus Lord her life.

Thank you for your support and for making SICM possible! We still have a couple of months left of summer & our first Summer FOCUS is tonight! 

God is moving among the lives of our students & I'm grateful to have you on my support team! 

Thank you so much & I'll be in touch!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak

2025-26 Is A Wrap! (A Gift, Too! 🎁)

And that's a wrap on the year! 

This upcoming August will mark 20 years since I walked onto campus as a freshman at Collin College (formerly Collin County Community College). It's difficult to describe what 20 years feels like in hindsight. In some ways, I still feel like the young, insecure, curious, and friendly 18-year old that walked into summer FOCUS for the first time. 

Back then (in 2006), FOCUS was only on 2 campuses (UT Dallas & Collin College), the first iPhone was just released, Bush Jr. was president, and I began growing out dreadlocks (for the 1st time). I remember feeling exhilarated to find other young men & women who were eager to seek God as college students. We read scripture together, moved in with one another, led small groups alongside each other, fought, argued, and forgave one another along the way as well. 

Those early years were messy, disorienting, hard, and an absolute blast! God was doing some clean-up work then (and now!) and I'm grateful that he has used me and my weaknesses to help reach students. 

I'm no longer 18 years old...I'll be 38 here in 2 months and I am asking God to lead me back into the messy, disorienting, and hard parts of ministry. Somewhere along the way I may have picked up the belief that life needs to be tidy, predictable, and clear. This belief has created numerous challenges in my personal life and ministry. 

Life is messy, disorienting, and hard. But it is a blast! God sent his only Son into the mess. Into the disorientating experience of being human. Into the hardship of sin itself. 

God has been so good to me in reminding me that the joy of the Lord is real and an integral part of our walk with Christ. It has to be. 18-year-old Sirak felt like he merely stumbled into the joy of the Lord - 38-year-old Sirak may need to do some reorienting to (re)discover the joy of the Lord hidden on His college campuses. It's there! Lord, give us eyes to see. 

I loved getting to work with these 3 amazing women this year (left to right: Sandra, Maria, and Becca)! 

Josh Soto (left), our 2018-19 FOCUS Apprentice, stopped by our end-of-the-year party to help serve food & (re) connect with our students! 

Any time we go for a walk in an opportunity for a photo shoot. She is so beautiful!

In case you do not know, this will be Sandra's final year on our Richland College team! She will be transitioning to our Collin College ministry team and we are sad to see her go! It's been a fun & wild ride working alongside Sandra for the past decade - she is a true gift! 

Our end-of-the-year party was amazing! We had an absolute blast and Becca had the amazing idea to bring confetti poppers! Our students loved it! 

After our end-of-the-year party, we threw streamers to celebrate the end of the year. Ricardo and I got a little carried away as we tried to spin our way out of the mess :) 

We may have gotten a little carried away with the confetti poppers (is that what they're called?)

fun times ❤️✌🏾

Thank you Lord for these amazing men who have been a part of our ministry this year! 

Grateful for these students! Thank you for making this an awesome year ❤️

Thank you for your support and for making this an awesome year! 

God bless each of you - thank you for believing in our mission to love college students and share the message of Jesus year to year at Dallas College Richland Campus. I'm excited for this summer & going into another amazing school year. Looking forward to updating each of you with what's going on next...

Your Brother & Campus Missionary,

Sirak