The River Is Coming... 💦

I wanted to share with you all a story.

In 2021, as campuses begun to open (post-lockdown), a student in our ministry text messaged me and said: "Pastor Sirak, God gave me a dream last night and He wanted me to share it with you. Can we meet today so I can share my dream with you?" 

"Most definitely," I said. 

When we met, he shared with me (I am paraphrasing & working from memory - but the basic structure is still the same): 

"In my dream last night, God showed me the image of a flowing river. It was a river that had animals and wildlife of all kind(s) coming to drink and enjoy the refreshing water that sprung from it. God wanted me to tell you that the River is coming to Dallas College." 

"Awesome!" I said ✌🏾

The student continued... "God also wanted me to let you know that there will be years ahead of digging up dirt, pulling up weeds, and excavating the soil in order to make way for the River. When the river shows up, no one ever says, 'Hey, where did this river come from?' - they simply enjoy the water and life that springs from the river. There are difficult years coming ahead, Sirak, but God wants you to stay firm and hang in there. Do not give up and do not lose hope. The River is coming..." 

I remember then asking him: "And God wanted you to tell me this?" - "Yes," he quickly replied, "God said to tell you this as soon as possible." 

It has been around 5 years since my conversation with this student and in those 5 years I can definitely say that there have been seasons of digging up dirty, pulling up weeds, and excavating the soil - but what has kept me moving forward in moments of difficulty are those haunting (but beautiful) words: The river is coming...

I share this experience with you all because this upcoming year at Dallas College will feel very different. We have a new team, a bigger team, new welcome-week strategies, and a lot of moving parts to help us reach the students of Dallas College. 

I do want to share, however: Even if we still have 20 more years of "pulling up weeds" - that is still valuable work and meaningful ministry. God is, after all, the ultimate gardener and he prepares the way and "...Goes ahead of you..." (Isaiah 45:2) - so - maybe God loves pulling up weeds & excavating the soil to make a way for...the River 👍🏾 🤷🏾‍♂️

I'm so pumped for this year! 

Thank you for your ministry support & for believing in our mission to love college students. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

See some photos below for my July update! 

Our 2026-27 Dallas College FOCUS team! from left to right: me (Sirak), Becca, Alex, Jessica, Casey, Lailah, and Nahom. 

I had the privilege of speaking at our FOCUS staff commitments ceremony. We had several FOCUS pastors re-committing to serve on the college campus and it was a special night.  

Becca's mom snapped a picture of us praying together! I'm so so pumped to be on this team! 

Stian (College College Pastor) and I got to speak to a group of students at our Activate Conference. This conference is for group of students who are hoping to learn & engage more with the practicals and "how-to's" of ministry once the year begins. It was so fun & encouraging to get to connect with these students. 

Happy birthday, Anaya! (she turned 3!) 

Our 2026-27 FOCUS Pastors (all of us - across all of our campuses) - we had a great staff retreat and feel energized and prepare for the school year! 

Another picture of staff retreat! 

2026 Summer FOCUS was such a blast. The students we have coming up through our ministries are excited, full of energy, and passionated about Jesus! Please pray for them as we connect with a new group of students this fall. 

Dallas College has hosted a number of freshman student orientation(s). We've been able to connect with new students this summer - please pray for us as we go into the year with an excited group of students to connect with ❤️

Dallas FOCUS retreat staff team pic #1

Dallas FOCUS retreat staff team pic #2

Last but not least...Anaya turned 3! ❤️

When Anaya was born, there were several parents who told me: Enjoy it! It goes by quick... - I'm just now beginning to feel what they meant by that. 

She is no longer a baby...she's a little girl now. I feel so blessed. She loves to play, go on walks, ride her mini-bike, and eat Ice Cream! lol. I feel so blessed to have the life I have - thank you for your support and for believing in our mission to love college students. God is just getting started! "The River is Coming!" 

Let's gooo!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak 

What does it take to start a church?

I have noticed a trend among college students & young people in the faith...

I have noticed that they show a strong desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves. This desire is also coupled with a suspicion of authority and an urge for self-expression & creativity. 

Someone asked me recently, "What are your goals & strategies for Richland college this fall?" As soon as they asked me this I was at a loss regarding what I should say. Each year, Richland FOCUS has felt completely different from the last. 

Depending on the students we meet, the available rooms, meeting time(s), exam schedule(s), administrative policies, and a host of other variables - I do not know, as of right now, what this fall will look like & feel like. 

Despite the ever-changing variables, students still desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves, are looking for a place to feel at home, and desire to know who they are. Jesus offers all of this in relationship w/ Him and we get to be an instrument of that happening on campus this fall. 

I've always admired church-planters. Their entrepreneurial spirit, drivenness, adaptability, and relationship building capacity has has continually reminded me what year-to-year ministry at the community college feels like. 

My early years on the community college were marked by a desire to "build something", "establish something", "create a ministry-system-thing that keeps itself running", etc. In other words, I desired to crack the code of community-college ministry and then sit back, relax, and let the fruit unravel ✌🏾

God (ever so gently) has been revealing to me that what He has been focused on establishing and building is me and my heart. God has been and always will be the God who establishes and builds his people for the work He has called them to. The setting, location, variables, strategies, context(s), etc. are always going to change, but - the mission (ours & God's) stays the same ❤️

What are my goals & strategies for Richland FOCUS this fall? To start again. To be faithful again. To be present again. And let God do the rest! 

Enjoy the photos below! Grateful for your support. This has been a restful summer (Sloan, Anaya, and I did a weeklong beach trip down to Port Aransas, TX!) ❤️

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Sloan & I celebrated 8 years of marriage in June! 💍 Wow...what a ride it's been; so grateful to walk through life w/ her! 

CARE Church in Richardson, TX has been such a blessing to us. Allowing us to meet in their building each Thursday night has been exactly what we needed! Praise God! 

We got to do a family beach trip! The beach is very relaxing. Anaya and I played in the sand and enjoyed life! It was a blast! 

❤️

Anaya had a blast at the beach - I promise! 🤷🏾‍♂️

Anaya loved her time at Thursday Night FOCUS last week! 

Summer FOCUS has been a highlight for us week-to-week. Many of our students remain in town during the summer(s) so we have loved getting to see them & spend time with them every Thursday night! 

               

I had the privilege of preaching last week during Summer FOCUS. Our sermon series this summer is all about Maturity and I preached on "Maturity: Humility in Learning". I addressed the question: How can we learn in a way that is humble & resembles Christ in an information-saturated world?

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Thank you for your support and for believing in our mission to love college students. I'm excited for year #14 which begins here in a few weeks. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have anything in your life that you would like prayer for. 

God bless you!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak

SICM was 💯 :) - Thank you for your support!

Summer is here — and I genuinely don't know what's happening with time. It's moving fast.

I'll catch myself scrolling through old baby pictures of Anaya and think, "Okay, yes — I can confirm she was once a baby" — but I have zero personal memory of it. She just... is a toddler. I know she wasn't always 30 pounds and capable of executing mixed martial arts moves on me, but it genuinely feels like she's always been exactly this size and this dangerous.

On the ministry side — SICM was incredible! We sent 150+ students to Bellingham, WA for our annual leadership training conference, and they showed up engaged, excited, and hungry to learn. It was a joy to watch them catch a vision for what it looks like to follow Jesus and bring that back to their campuses.

Now we're in full-on fall planning mode — which, at the community college level, always feels a little like starting from scratch. Strategies that worked one year tend not to carry over, so this time around we're holding our plans loosely and staying open to experimenting. One idea we're trying: mobile block-party setups — basically popping up in different spots around campus at different times of day to meet as many students as possible where they already are.

Community college students are notorious for making the car-to-class-to-car loop without a single real human interaction. We want to interrupt that — in the best way possible.

Pray for us as we head into fall with open hands and open eyes for what God has in store. 🙏

her 1st day of school! (I can't remember if I've already shared this...my phone is mostly turning into solely anaya-pictures - see below for her last-day-of-school pic!)

Anaya had her official last day of school. So wild! 

Our end-of-the-year staff dinner was Renaissance/Medival Times themed. I have no idea what I'm wearing. Alex Caballero let me wear his costume. 

I got to help serve with worship @ SICM this year - it was a blast! 

One of our students @ SICM decided to get baptized - it was awesome & so encouraging to watch her make Jesus Lord her life.

Thank you for your support and for making SICM possible! We still have a couple of months left of summer & our first Summer FOCUS is tonight! 

God is moving among the lives of our students & I'm grateful to have you on my support team! 

Thank you so much & I'll be in touch!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak

2025-26 Is A Wrap! (A Gift, Too! 🎁)

And that's a wrap on the year! 

This upcoming August will mark 20 years since I walked onto campus as a freshman at Collin College (formerly Collin County Community College). It's difficult to describe what 20 years feels like in hindsight. In some ways, I still feel like the young, insecure, curious, and friendly 18-year old that walked into summer FOCUS for the first time. 

Back then (in 2006), FOCUS was only on 2 campuses (UT Dallas & Collin College), the first iPhone was just released, Bush Jr. was president, and I began growing out dreadlocks (for the 1st time). I remember feeling exhilarated to find other young men & women who were eager to seek God as college students. We read scripture together, moved in with one another, led small groups alongside each other, fought, argued, and forgave one another along the way as well. 

Those early years were messy, disorienting, hard, and an absolute blast! God was doing some clean-up work then (and now!) and I'm grateful that he has used me and my weaknesses to help reach students. 

I'm no longer 18 years old...I'll be 38 here in 2 months and I am asking God to lead me back into the messy, disorienting, and hard parts of ministry. Somewhere along the way I may have picked up the belief that life needs to be tidy, predictable, and clear. This belief has created numerous challenges in my personal life and ministry. 

Life is messy, disorienting, and hard. But it is a blast! God sent his only Son into the mess. Into the disorientating experience of being human. Into the hardship of sin itself. 

God has been so good to me in reminding me that the joy of the Lord is real and an integral part of our walk with Christ. It has to be. 18-year-old Sirak felt like he merely stumbled into the joy of the Lord - 38-year-old Sirak may need to do some reorienting to (re)discover the joy of the Lord hidden on His college campuses. It's there! Lord, give us eyes to see. 

I loved getting to work with these 3 amazing women this year (left to right: Sandra, Maria, and Becca)! 

Josh Soto (left), our 2018-19 FOCUS Apprentice, stopped by our end-of-the-year party to help serve food & (re) connect with our students! 

Any time we go for a walk in an opportunity for a photo shoot. She is so beautiful!

In case you do not know, this will be Sandra's final year on our Richland College team! She will be transitioning to our Collin College ministry team and we are sad to see her go! It's been a fun & wild ride working alongside Sandra for the past decade - she is a true gift! 

Our end-of-the-year party was amazing! We had an absolute blast and Becca had the amazing idea to bring confetti poppers! Our students loved it! 

After our end-of-the-year party, we threw streamers to celebrate the end of the year. Ricardo and I got a little carried away as we tried to spin our way out of the mess :) 

We may have gotten a little carried away with the confetti poppers (is that what they're called?)

fun times ❤️✌🏾

Thank you Lord for these amazing men who have been a part of our ministry this year! 

Grateful for these students! Thank you for making this an awesome year ❤️

Thank you for your support and for making this an awesome year! 

God bless each of you - thank you for believing in our mission to love college students and share the message of Jesus year to year at Dallas College Richland Campus. I'm excited for this summer & going into another amazing school year. Looking forward to updating each of you with what's going on next...

Your Brother & Campus Missionary,

Sirak

Facing the Distractions (and not turning away) 🙏🏾📕

 A certain quote has been on my mind (see below): 

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"The enemy often tries to make us attempt and start many projects so that we will be overwhelmed with too many tasks, and therefore achieve nothing and leave everything unfinished. 

Sometimes he even suggests the wish to undertake some excellent work that he foresees we will never accomplish. This is to distract us from the completion of some less excellent work that we would have easily completed. 

He does not care how many plans and beginnings we make, provided nothing is finished."

• St. Francis De Sales (1567 - 1622)

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    St. Francis De Sales (1567 - 1622) was a Catholic bishop who was known for his theology of gentle perseverance. He emphasized kindness, patience, and the slow transformation of heart over a long period of time. 

    Before the age of smartphones, technological integration into our everyday life, endless notifications, and mass exposure to the global world around us...St. Francis De Sales saw in human beings the endless striving for more...more...more. This "more-ness" ultimately kept them (and us) from what is right in front of us. 

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    I love discipleship. I love meeting students, talking about Jesus, helping them receive & respond to the message of Christ, and I love sending them off with a renewed sense of their purpose in God's kingdom. This fills me with energy and reminds me of how God met me in my college days. 

    I believe that growth, perseverance, curiosity, wonder, and friendship-building are all baked into the desires of college students. This is what makes campus ministry so fun! I have, however, noticed a growing trend of distraction, overwhelm, fatigue, dehydration, and "dabbling in interests" versus the singular commitment to a path of growth. 

    This isn't news to anyone. I believe we are scratching the surface on how technology is reshaping communication, relationships, and our capacity for presence. 

    When I was young, I was told to go to college so that I can "discover who I want to be!". This inspired me and motivated me to explore my interests and consider what made me come alive. I sense a sentiment among young people today that communicates: "you should be everything you want to be" - "you can be everything you want to be" - and - "you have access to whoever you want to be - instantaneously". 

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    Back to the original quote: The enemy doesn't merely desire you to sin - but just needs you to stay busy enough so that nothing takes root.

    I've lost count of the number of students who have told me: "I'm in a season of working on myself." I'm unsure what that even means anymore. 

    I sense that there is now a young generation who has been told that they can be anything which has resulted in response of committing to nothing. 

    The problem isn't laziness...it's a combination of exhausted openness + infinite options + instant access + frantic information overload...

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    I still believe in the work we do. I believe in it because I know that God is not surprised by this generation of young people nor is He surprised by any of the generations that have come before. 

    In a sea of distractions I hope to be a pastor that remains present - with whoever is in front of me. I am committed to these students and that commitment refines and strengthens me. That is what commitment does - it builds and strengthens your sense of self. I hope our students can see the strength that comes through following the way of Christ. 

    Please pray for our students with me as we wrap up the next 5 weeks of school and head into the summer. God is up to some big things!

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We played some double-dutch outside after WNF last week. It was awesome! We all felt like kids again. And by the way, double-dutch is hard! 

Our Wednesday lunch-bunch meeting time(s) have been a consistent highlight for me. We've had over 30 physical Bible's donated and we have loved getting off of our phones and into the (physical) Word of God. 

Happy Easter! 

She is growing...and growing...it's a blast! Her energy is unending ❤️

Tom led one of our Lunch-Bunch discussions and he led us in a creative exploration of what it feels like to be blind (see the blindfolded students at the white board). We loved it! 

Thank you for your support and for believing in us. This year has been a fun year! 

We've got 5 weeks left before the end of the school year. I'm looking forward to connecting with you this summer - thank you for your support!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak 

    

Awakening To God's Love ❤️

"I'm realizing that God has bigger plans for me than I do..."

"I'm learning how to speak up for myself around my friends..."

"How do I figure out what it is that I want?" 

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Do these statements sound familiar to your own story/testimony? These kinds of things (along with many others) are what students are saying as they begin to wake up to the reality that God loves them. 

In 2006, I began my freshman year of college. If somehow God would have pulled back the veil of my life and showed me what the next 20 years of my life would've looked like...I would've run 100mph in the opposite direction. 

I sense in those early years of college, God was not primarily concerned with me knowing my purpose, calling, or vocation...it seems He was deeply interested in me settling into the lived reality that: He loves me! Me! Me! He has chosen me! He has created me! 

I have lived most of my Christian life aiming to live out a faith that is not self-centered. However, what if God wanted me all along to live a self-centered faith? A faith that is centered on who our selves are created to be? Jesus says that his "purpose is to give them (and us) a rich and satisfying life!" A full life that is full of highs-lows, ups-downs, and challenges-triumphs. All of this happens within the context of...us! Our own lived experiences playing out in God's story. 

I am playing with words a bit here, but, I hope that my point is coming across well. These days I meet too many students who haven't yet awakened to the agency and self-hood and birthright that God has invited them into. Many are 'asleep' to these foundational realities. It's not uncommon to find students who have never had a true friend...a true advocate...someone who truly let them know that yes - their story is important because God says it is! God loves you! God created you! God has chosen you! 

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It is a foundational truth that we truly must return to over & over again. It never gets old! Pray for us & our community-college team as we facilitate a space where students can receive & respond to this beautiful message! 

Enjoy the pictures; thank you for your support & partnership! 

Anaya & I have been experiencing slow-mornings together. She asks to hold my hand as we enjoy the beautiful spring-mornings together.

some fun family pics during the snow-day! 

Our Richland FOCUS men's core! 

Our Richland FOCUS Men! I'm so grateful for each of these guys - I love having them a part of our group week-to-week! 

Every Wednesday I get to study Focus on Jesus w/ Ricardo (center) and Moses (right). I always enjoy our conversations and the questions/stories that these 2 bring. God is good! 

Another picture of our Richland FOCUS men's core! 

Thank you for believing in our mission to love college students. We are learning a ton as we move toward the halfway point of the semester & beyond. Thank you for your support! God is good!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak