January 2021 Campus Missionary Update!

 My friends & team!

I hope you're all doing well today - It's hard to believe that we're in February 2021!

Around this time one year ago our ministry was coming back from Winter Camp, excited and anticipating a new semester, new friendships were being formed and we were moving full steam ahead into a great semester. 

I began seeing more & more news articles surrounding COVID-19 but, at the time, it didn't mean much to me - I was focused on our students & the success of having an awesome year!

In early-March 2020 we were making preparations for a groups of students from Seattle to come down and help us with outreach during their spring break. We call it SSI week and it is one of the most exciting weeks of the year. As COVID news stories began to rise and the uncertain nature of the future began to break - we ended up cancelling SSI week. 

We were moving forward until one Thursday afternoon I got an email from the college that said, "All large group meetings of 20+ people will not be allowed to meet moving forward." It was then that I began to grasp how different our lives & ministry were to become. 

One year later I still am unsure what the future holds - will we get to do outreach on a busy, vibrant campus again? Will I be able to walk around campus meeting new students? Will campus be closed for another year? 

Ministry at the community college level is always a challenge because students transfer quickly. They in your ministry for a short amount of time and they leave. Now that campus is closed we have struggled with meeting new students and developing a presence on campus. 

Please pray that campus would be 100% opened or, at least, operating at a hybrid-level format for this fall. God is faithful and he will continue to provide for our campus ministry @ Richland, but, we are struggling with trying to paint a passionate picture of the future. 

Thank you so much for your support and for believing in our mission!

From left to right: Dayo, Brian, Ricky, and me! This is our Wednesday, 2pm Men's core Bible study! It has been going well and I'm so grateful these dudes!

Even though this year has looked different and campus is closed - I am grateful for these students and their desire to be a part of our mission :)

We make some decisions on a week-to-week basis regarding meeting place/time/etc. - and, when all else fails, we usually meet on Zoom. Even though Zoom is 100% NOT the same as meeting in-person...it still is a gift to get to connect with each other :)

This year, we had an in-person staff retreat and a Zoom staff retreat. Even though I streamed in to our staff retreat, it was still a great experience :)

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you need prayer for anything in your lives!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak