Thursday, July 9, 2020

A New Reality Has Set In

My friends & team!

Thank you so much for your time reading this :)

7 months ago, our Richland FOCUS ministry was gearing up for our January 2020 winter camp and a great semester. We had a vision for the community throughout the spring and the amazing momentum from a great fall semester.

It's amazing how quickly plans can change and visions adapt to our given circumstances. I'm sure some of you can relate. Have you ever had things not quite go your way? This is a rhythm that our entire world is presently in and we are no different. I have come to a place where I am actively trying to accept this reality and am now anxiously curious about what this upcoming fall semester will look like.

We have gotten word from Richland College that all classes will 100% be online this fall semester and, to be honest, as a staff we are trying to take it all in with positivity and optimism.

Please be praying for us. Many of our Richland FOCUS students do not have cars so it is difficult for them to be mobile during this time. We are trying our best to stay in constant communication with them, but, it has been difficult at times.

As of right now, we do not fully know what our working plan is for this Fall 2020 - but, we are excited and anticipating that God will continue to be faithful!

As a college pastor - the work we do requires us to be around students; influencing them, getting to know them, and serving them. Even if we are not physically able to be around our students - please pray that God would continue to open doors for the influence, friendship, and service to still take place. Please be praying for the thousands of graduating high school seniors who will be starting college this fall. I hope that our ministry will be a place that welcomes and communicates: you are welcomed here!

Thank you so much for your support and partnership over the years - I am grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for walking alongside me over the years - and even now.

Enjoy the photos!


Found these photo of me and my beautiful mother! 

Zoom meetings are definitely the norm now - I'm sure even many of you have participated in your fair share of them. One of the questions I have been asking myself is: How can we make zoom meetings more engaging? Fun? - maybe there's some innovation out there to be done...

Dayo & Sandra! I'm so thankful that we got time with each other for our summer leadership training! 

Our 2019-20 Richland Staff! Josh has fully transitioned off of FOCUS staff and is working for Kipp Academy in Dallas. We will be adding Bridgett (from UNT) and Ashley (also from UNT, and just finished her apprenticeship at UT Dallas). We are excited to be adding Ashley & Bridgett! 

It's crazy to think that it's already been 2 years of marriage. Time truly does walk, then run, then fly by! 

Our good friends Kelsea and Griffin got married last weekend and it was awesome to get to be with them. It was a socially-distanced wedding for the attendees. Even though the wedding felt different than a 'typical' wedding given the current circumstances, it was still awesome to get to be with them!


Thank you so much for your support and partnership over the years! I'm honored to get to have you on my support team and more importantly - to call you my friends :)

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak