My friends! My team!
Happy new year :) I can't believe that 2017 is already behind us and 2018 is before us. I hope that you all had a restful and love-filled December and spent lots of time with the people that you love. As I get older, the more I realize that those times with the ones that we love are so important. Each year brings about a new season - some things stay the same while others change. We begin to see our little cousins and grow up and develop personalities, we begin to see our parents in a clearer light and we begin to see just how short life is. In the midst of all of this change, we serve a God who remains constant and faithful. He is the one who brings us through seasons of change and calls us to grow. He loves us too much to leave us where we are.
Campus ministry has change embedded within it. Each year brings a new group of students, meetings, events, and stories to be told. As campus pastors, much of this change is out of our control and if we aren't careful we just find ourselves reacting to the craziness around us. 2017 has taught me a lot about being patient and being content where the Lord has me. With my ACL reconstruction surgery in October, I was reminded not to grow confident in the things that I
do on my own strength. For two weeks I was on my bed, unable to be as mobile as I previously had been. For those two weeks, I spent a lot of time reading and in prayer. It was forced rest and I began to see just how fragile all of the
things we do can be.
Please pray that we wouldn't get ahead of ourselves and become confident in what we do - but that we would consistently stop and remember that we are only here because God is good. Thank you so much for your support and constant partnership. I'm blown away that I get to do what I do because of supporters like you. Thank you for your friendship and prayers - 2017 was great and I'm thankful that you were a part of it with me.
Please pray for us as we prepare for our 2018 FOCUS Winter Camp! We have many students preparing to go and it's always one of our biggest events of the year. Pray for safe travels and impactful relationships to be made and conversations to be had! Also please pray for a strong, powerful move of the holy spirit at our camp!
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| I got to have dinner w/ a group of pastors with CRU! They were gracious in welcoming me and we go to share in what the Lord is doing in our lives. |
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| Our end of the semester lunch/encouragement time with Richland FOCUS! So thankful for these students and their hearts. They are all so sweet and we're preparing for a great winter camp together! |
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| We had a great time at our FOCUS Christmas Party! Our students had performances prepared and they were all so special and funny. |
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| One of the core performances from the Christmas Party! |
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| For our last FOCUS of the year, we met outside @ UTD and had sang Christmas songs with each other. We had students share about how to have a purposeful break and be a servant with your families. It was a great way to end a wonderful school year! |
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| Another picture of our CRU Christmas Dinner! |
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| Me, Dr. Bill Watson, and Sarah King got to sit down and have a conversation for our next episode of the FOCUS Podcast (coming soon!). Dr. Watson came and spoke at our Fall Pizza Theology and he did such a great job sharing his heart on the Sermon on the Mount. |
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| Garrett Davis (our Collin College Campus Pastor) planned a men's camping evening and it was fun to get to hang out with all of the male staff from our campuses. |
Thank you so much for your support and for believing in our mission to make disciples on God's college campuses. I hope that these photos encouraged you and reminded you of what your support and partnership is going towards. Let's have a great 2018!
Your brother & campus missionary,
Sirak
