Only 2 months left of 2019? Scary to think about but, it is true.
I remember the cold of January - April - the months that we began having Thursday Night Thunder and meeting a new (and amazing!) group of students. I remember April through July - the months of preparing for SICM (our leadership training conference), fundraising through the summer, and preparing for the school year. I remember August - September - the craziness of welcome week, inviting (it seemed) more students than we ever have before to FOCUS @ Richland, and as I reflect now on October/November - I see one thing: God's kingdom being built on campus.
I'm no architect or civil engineer but, I've heard from many different sources that when you want to build something that lasts, it's important to start off with a solid foundation. The foundation is very important to the overall structure of the building.
There are times when I wish our ministry was already 'there' or already 'arrived' (whatever that even means, hah!) - but, I know that the 'there' or 'arrivedness' (is that even a word?) of right now may just be this: to lay a foundation. Reflecting on the previous months, I see that God was doing just that: building a foundation. Students that have shown up over the last couple of weeks are only aware of what they have experienced in the last 2 weeks. But, the truth is: what they've experienced over the last 2 weeks is thanks to what we've done in the past: laid the foundation.
I suppose that is what most of ministry is: laying a foundation for more people to stand on. Building a stream for more people to drink from. Laying a path that more people can walk on. And finally - helping build a kingdom that more people can be invited into.
Thank you so much for your support and for the way that you've believed in me over the years. I am grateful and filled with joy every time I think of you and how your partnership has pushed our campus ministry deeper into his presence :)
Enjoy the photos!
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| Elson, a student who has shown up to Richland FOCUS in the past few weeks has been consistent and great to have in our group. He found us through our google calendar that we post our events on! Thank God for technology! |
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| Josh Soto, my ministry apprentice that I have been supervising has done an awesome job this year with helping @ Richland. He has been leading worship, leading our Wednesday 1:30pm Men's core and has done an amazing job serving the students :) Thankful for this dude! |
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| Our Wednesday, 1:30pm core! |
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| Our Thursday 4:30pm core! |
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| Thankful for all of the students who show up on Thursday nights! |
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| Tom Miller, a good friend of our ministry, preached a couple of weeks ago on the Love of God. The students greatly appreciated what he had to say and he has been such a light to our group :) Thankful for Tom! |
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| This is a picture for MONTHS ago of me praying for Sandra before she preached :) Thankful for her! |
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| Our campus is very ethnically diverse and after our Halloween party, several students from Nigeria began playing music from their homeland :) Let me tell you: they.can.dance. It was fun and - I'm pretty sure that they could've kept dancing until 2 or 3am. Who knew? |
Thank you so much for your time and partnership :) I'm so grateful for your friendship and financial support! The fall semester is coming to a close but we've still got a lot of great things planned :)
If you have any prayer requests, please don't hesitate to let me know!
Your brother & campus missionary,
Sirak
