What A Great Semester!

My friends!

November was a wonderful month full of celebrations and seeing God at work. I'm so taken aback at how many students are being loved on and discipled at this point in the year. If you're unaware, traditionally, our Richland FOCUS ministry has been anywhere from 5-10 students strong on a year to year basis. This year, our Christmas party brought over 35 students to it! We have traditionally had 2 core small group bible studies, but this year we have 5! God has been so good and faithful to continually build us in size as he grows us from the inside out.

Something that I feel that I have been learning has been the idea of being present - in the moment. I remember a couple of years ago, praying for a moment like this: students who are taking Jesus seriously on campus, different core times & availability for bible studies, and solid faculty relationships were all a part of our November. Now that God has provided richly, I feel challenged to be present to the moment and respond with worship and thanksgiving. As a campus pastor, life is fast paced and I can often find myself longing for the past or feeling anxious about the future. Being present has been a prayer of mine as we enter into the break and seek God as our refuge and comfort.

Thank you so much for your support over the years! 2018 has been wonderful and I'm grateful for all of you and your partnership :) I hope that the photos below encourage you as to what God is doing on his campuses! See photos below:

Our Friday Night fellowship gatherings! We had our last one on Friday and our students did great this semester serving and blessing one another :)

For our Richland FOCUS times, we have been having lots of student sharing. One of our corefas, Evan, is sharing with our students what God has been teaching him.

Our Richland FOCUS students! They are doing such a great job this year :)

A shot from up top of our Friday Night FOCUS gatherings!

One of our Friday nights, we shared about phileo love for one another and how to develop the type of love between good friends. Afterward, our students sang "We Are One In The Spirit" - such a great time!

For thanksgiving, Valentine, one of our Richland FOCUS student leaders joined me and my family for Thanksgiving!

Our Richland FOCUS Christmas party!

Our theme was "Christmas Morning" and the student-led small groups each performed to win the prize of a VISA gift card toward a core party!

At the end of the evening, our judges decided on a winner...

Evan & Jesse's core won!

Our Richland FOCUS ministry @ the Christmas party! So grateful for these students :)

Our 2018 Richland FOCUS leaders! So thankful for them :)

We had an end-of-the-year lunch with all of our students and we each got to share with the group, "How have you seen those around you go 'all in' for God this semester?" It was a joy to hear from them!

Another shot of our end-of-the-year lunch!

Thank you all so much for your love and support of campus missions :) We are blown away at what God is doing on our campuses and we are grateful that through your support, we get to be side-by-side with our students as God continues to shape and mold his next generation of disciples.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you'd like prayer for anything going on in your life! I hope that you're also encouraged by our November student testimony below :)

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak

Our December student testimony! (see below)