Sirak's May 2018 Campus Missions Update!

My friends! Thank you so much for your prayers & support! It's crazy to think that this school year has come to a close and that we're already kicking off our summer season of campus ministry.

Thank you for being there with me from the very beginning of my campus ministry journey. I'm thankful that I get to serve alongside all of you as your campus missionary to UT Dallas and Richland College. May was such a fantastic month full of stories of God working on his college campuses.

We took a group 100+ students across our FOCUS campuses to SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry) in Bellingham, Washington. We partner with a college ministry there, CCF (Campus Christian Fellowship), that has been around since the 1970s and we send our bright and upcoming student leaders there for a week of campus missions training! The week was a HUGE success and so many of our students got wisdom and insight for the coming fall. Many of the students will be considering being a core-facilitator (student leader) with our ministry and our week @ SICM really helped them gain a vision for themselves as campus ministers!

Enjoy the pictures below! Thank you so much for your support and belief in our mission to reach college students - we couldn't do this without you! (see photos below!)

At SICM, we had a couple of students decide to commit their lives to Jesus through Baptism! At our final end-of-the-week ceremony they decided to show their commitment to Jesus in front of everyone. Praise God!

Austin Gage (UT Arlington FOCUS Staff) baptized one of his students at SICM!

Brandon shared a little bit with our students before another baptism.

At our end-of-the-week ceremony, we prayed for our campuses and sent the students off back home for the summer in preparation for a great school year! 

A picture of one of our last Friday Night Fellowship meetings. One of our Richland FOCUS alum, Henry Pham, did some scripture reading and it was really meaningful!

Each week we have a student-sharing time with our community but we had a special treat with one of UTD's Accounting professors joining us for Friday Night Fellowship. He shared with our students his testimony and encouraged them to be a light and a resource to the professors and staff at UT Dallas!

Another picture of Friday Night Fellowship! Towards the end of the year we did it outside and it was great :)

For the FOCUS Podcast, we got to interview Eddie Traughber. He is a licensed Christian Counselor and we interviewed him on Anxiety and Depression. Anxiety is affecting more and more college students and it was good to talk through all of the issues regarding such a complex issue.

(From left to right) Me (Sirak), Michael Murphy, Josh Soto, Dave Hawks, Sandra, and David Colina. This picture was taken at our FOCUS end-of-the-year party and our students absolutely loved it. It's been such a joy to serve alongside these students and be a friend to them. They are some of my favorite people to be around and they are a light to their campuses :)

Our Richland FOCUS crew! It's been such a joy to serve with them and love them. They are some great students and really have a heart for Richland College!

For the FOCUS Podcast we got to interview Professor Rikk Watts. He is a New Testament scholar and has been a consistent resource for our ministry and students.

While we were at SICM, I got to stop off in Seattle and have lunch with my favorite aunt and cousin, Martha & Amy! They've known me for all my life and they are some of my biggest fans - love them!

At SICM, we got to kick off our first section on "Jesus-Style Friendship". Brady Bobbink led the session and he has been a campus minister since the 1970s. He is full of wisdom and our students loved getting to listen to him.

It's an honor getting to serve Richland College w/ Sandra. She has been such a great minister with to our women and they really look up to her and love her. Thankful to serve with her!

Behind the scenes of our FOCUS Podcast - our students have loved getting to listen to the great minds that our ministry has access to. Stay tuned for who we've got lined up to interview soon!

At SICM we get to attend the Friday Night Fellowship in Bellingham, WA. This is a picture of CCF's (Campus Christian Fellowship's) Friday night fellowship gathering. They were so welcoming and loving toward us!

From left to right: Me (Sirak), Manny, Drew, Josh, and Ricardo. All of these guys have been big lights in our ministry. They were small group leaders this year and impacted dozens of students. They had a great year and it was an honor getting to meet with them weekly and menor them.

Our 2018-19 SICM group! 

Thank you so much for your support! It means so much to me to know that you believe in our mission to make disciples on God's college campuses. These students are madly in love with Jesus and we appreciate all of your support and partnership. This summer, please don't hesitate to contact me if you'd like prayer for anything in your life. I hope that you're all encouraged by these photos and what your support is going towards :)

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak