My friends!
I can't believe it's already February! First off, I have so much to tell you all - FOCUS winter camp, Richland FOCUS beginning, baptisms, new 1 on 1 bible studies beginning, and birthdays! The Lord has been the rich provider of 2015 and I am so excited to see what he has planned for 2016 :)
Thank you all so much for your partnership and believing in the vision of reaching college students for the gospel. Almost 5 years ago I invited many of you on this journey with me to see what God had planned and it is so crazy to see just how much God has done through your partnership and faithfulness. Please be praying for us as we enter the spring semester with momentum and energy from our FOCUS winter camp. Our students had a great experience at camp but we know that much of what was learned and experienced can be pointless if we don't translate it into real life on our campuses with the students in our spheres of influence.
Many of the students at Richland College come from lower socioeconomic conditions and need to work part-time, are on government aid for tuition, or work full-time. This presents challenges but God answered a huge prayer this year and Richland College paid for our entire camp! We put in a request to the Office of Student Life and we are blown away at how generous the college was in helping our students all pay for camp.
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| Our Richland FOCUS group on the way to Winter Camp! God is so good in helping us get these students to camp. Richland College even let us use their campus vans to transport the students to and from camp! |
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| A picture from the back of the auditorium at winter camp. We brought over 500 students from across our FOCUS campuses to camp! |
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| I had the opportunity to lead our community in worship during our Saturday evening service. It's always such a great experience getting to sing songs to our Lord in a room full of his children. |
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| Chad (left), Edwin (center), and me before one of our sessions. I love getting to hang out with these Richland students and show Jesus to them. |
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| Our students got to know one another real well at camp - it was something that our group really needed to start off the spring semester strong! |
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| A pictures of all of the FOCUS campuses together. This was our largest camp to date and I feel it was so impactful and encouraging to the students who came. |
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| After our first meeting of the year our students planned a board-game day in the Richland cafeteria - it always encourages me to see them love and serve each other. |
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| I got to help with worship on the Sunday night set with some of the other students. It was wonderful to help serve in this way. |
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| One of our UTD students, Simi, committed her life to Jesus and was baptized in the UT Dallas pool. |
I am so excited to see what God has planned for 2016! It has been a joy to have you alongside me as the mission of Christ is furthered everyday on God's college campuses. I hope that these pictures and stories encourage you to continue in your partnership and pursuit of Christ to chase after his plans for you this year :) Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any prayer requests or questions/comments!
I love you all so much and am forever grateful to have you on my team!
Your campus missionary,
Sirak Asfaw
