September Update!

My friends!

The month of September has been full of encouraging stories to tell! I included a couple below:

1. When I was a student at UT Dallas I was a server at Cheddars Casual Cafe in Garland, TX. While I was there I crossed paths with probably hundreds of different servers who were employed by the restaurant. There was one server in particular named Grant whom I interacted with off and on at work but nothing consistent. In mid-September I ran into Grant on campus and we began to catch up (we haven't seen each other in around 3 years). I learned that he had several life-shaping experiences and has begun to follow Jesus! We've talked more and more over the weeks and he is wanting to study the bible together - praise God! Please pray that our friendship and bible study would be enriching for Grant and that he would go on to make disciples in his life!

2. Campus ministry changes from year to year and as students graduate we pray that God would fill roles that they may have served in from year to year. We have been praying for students to step up and join our worship/praise/sound team(s) this year and God has answered in a big way! We have had over 50 students sign up to help with sound, moving equipment, playing instruments, singing, and doing creative things at our big group services. We are having a worship & sound training day/hang out on Oct. 11th and I'd invite you to pray that these students would impact the next generation of students here at UT Dallas!

I wish you all were on campus with me seeing what your support has been going to. We had our UTD FOCUS Fall Camp this past weekend and it was a blast! I included (lots of) pictures below for you to see. Thank you so much for all of your support - partnering with you is such a joy and encourages me in any situation I find myself in. Knowing that you believe in the mission and believe in me means the world.

IMPORTANT: One of our student leaders, Ryan, found out a few weeks ago that his kidneys are failing and that he will need to have a kidney transplant. He began dialysis today to begin filtering his blood as he waits on a transplant. He will be doing dialysis around 14 hours per week, leading a small group, taking classes, and meeting with students. It has been a challenging experience but he is trusting God and in good spirits. Please pray for peace and wisdom during this time. Also pray that a donor would come up quick in the lists so that we can have Ryan back quick! (see picture below)

Myself (left), Morgan (middle), and Ryan (right). Morgan and Ryan are both small group leaders in FOCUS. We went to visit Ryan during our weekly meeting. Please pray for Ryan!

Our UTD small group leaders meeting on Monday to discuss fall camp, how small groups are going, and to pray with one another. These students are off to a great start for the year!

This was our third FOCUS meeting for the year. I got to lead our community in worship and see how powerful God is in calling his students to praise his name together :)

During Fall Camp our students played LOTS of fun (and sometimes a little violent, haha) games with one another.

The group of UTD students who attended FOCUS Fall Camp! We are so thankful for your support and prayers - it was such a great weekend of discipleship and worship! (I am bottom right)

I am so honored to have you on my support team. Please pray that we would not stop working hard for the Lord and that no students would fall through the cracks and not be offered the opportunity to be a part of a 1 on 1 disciple-making relationship. I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

Moving Forward Into New Beginnings Our

My Friends!

At this point we are two weeks into the school year and I am so blown away at what God has been doing this early in the fall semester. Some of our student leaders have already met and befriended ten, twenty, even thirty students at UTD's welcome week events! Please pray that God would prepare the hearts of these students who have been invited to small groups and that our leaders would be well rested and organized to not let any of these students slip through the cracks. Pray that God would build lifelong friendships beginning here at UTD!

Warning (A lot of photos!): I wanted to just show you all what your support is going towards. This year is all about sharing the gospel with students and making the name of Christ known at UTD :) I wish you all were here working alongside us as we work each day on God's college campuses but through your support I view all of you as co-laborers in Christ with me!

We had our leader retreat just this last weekend (with the U. of North Texas, Texas Woman's University, Collin College, and Richland College campuses) and it was such a great time to meet with over 100 of our student leaders who are going to impact our college campuses. These student leaders are commiting 10+ hours/week of their busy college schedules to be vessels for God's word reaching students.

See encouraging pictures below of these first few weeks of school!

Our UTD FOCUS student leaders preparing for the school year. We have over 40 student leaders this year who are facilitating small groups, leadind 1 on 1 bible studies, and planning events for students on a weekly basis. 

I (sitting top middle) got to go out and eat authentic chinese food with some international and transfer students. It was delicous!

We had a combined worship night with many of the campus ministries at UTD before the school year began. It was a night of prayer, preparation, and encouragement as we go out into the year reaching this campus for Jesus!

Our first Friday Night FOCUS! We met in the Clark Center and we almost packed it out. God was so faithful with who attended, we had over 150 students sign up to be in small groups! Please pray for our students and leaders - that lifelong friendships would be made and the gospel would be spread throughout UTD :)

Another shot of our first FNF

Our student organization fair table - we've had hundreds of students sign up to be involved in small groups this year!

Meeting students in the comet cafe!

I can't begin to thank you enough for what your support has helped accomplish thus far by the grace of God :) I pray that you all would be strengthened and encouraged by these photos and updates to know that your support is going towards making Jesus' name known on God's campuses. 

Please pray that our staff would remain attentive to the needs of our community and that we'd be ready and able to respond to the spirit regarding the situations that arise in campus ministry. I love you all and wouldn't be able to do any of this without your support!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak Asfaw

A New Season Begins :)

My friends!

I hope you're all doing well & enjoying the rest of your summer :) The school year is fast approaching and towards the end of August there will be thousands of students walking onto God's college campuses for the first time & we're hoping to be the first ones they meet! I actually got to meet some today (see pictures below). The Indian Student Association was hosting rides for first-time graduate students at UTD & they needed to move their luggage back to campus - we got to meet a few of the organization's leaders and create some contacts there.

This summer flew by quick & it was so good to catch up with many of you - I'm so thankful God has put you in my life as a blessing to me & the students I meet daily at UTD.

Thank you again for believeing in the work we're doing here at UTD & his other campuses. We are praying for the hearts of all the students who are going to be met and befriended in these first few weeks during Welcome Week & the events we have planned as a ministry. Will you also pray for these students? See pictures below!

At our last Summer FOCUS meeting. So thankful to Lifepoint Church for letting us meet in their facilities :)

I got to move luggage for over 40 Indian international students stepping foot onto the USA for the first time!

I even got to teach them the UTD Woosh :)

One of the rooms on-campus we will be meeting in for our Friday Night Fellowship meetings. We're so thankful that the University lets us host our meetings here where students can hear the gospel, build friendships, and impact the University for years to come!

I wish you could all be side by side with me & the other staff as we reach God's campuses but I know that through your donations & prayer you are bigger partners than you or I both realize. God has blessed us all to be a blessing to others and I can promise you that none of what we are doing could be possible without people like you deciding to be a part of what God is doing :)

Please pray for:

• Wisdom and discernment for all of our student leaders moving into the fall.
• That all of our ministries would have a great relationship with the University they are a part of.
• That students' lives would be changed for the glory of God!

Love you all so much & thank you for your continual partnership!

Your missionary,

Sirak

June/Early July Update!

Greetings from Colorado my friends!

I am here for the week with Brandon, Peter, Laurence, Charles, & The Riddle family.  Jeff Riddle, a FOCUS supporter, invited me and some of the other UTD FOCUS staff to spend time with him, relax, and enjoy the weather out here in Colorado.  I turned 26 yesterday and we all went out to eat in Breckenridge. It was such a great time and God has blessed me with some great friends. See pictures below!

Our Thursay night FOCUS meetings have been going great! Lifepoint church in Plano has continued to shower us with hospitality and love as they continually open up their church facilities every week. Them allowing a couple hundred college students meet in their building has helped us build the kingdom and prepare for a great fall semester.

Me, Peter (UTD staff), Brandon (UTD staff), Laurence (UTD staff), and Charles (UTD Grad) in Breckenridge, CO for the week.

Picture of our upcoming leader team at UTD this fall! Be praying for their small groups and students that they are going to meet and reach out to in August for Welcome Week!

Thank you all for returning my text messages, phone calls, and emails & thank you for your willingness to hear what God has planned on his college campuses this fall. Support raising for the fall has been moving along and I have just a few more individuals to get in contact with.

 In just under six weeks there will be hundreds of thousands of incoming freshmen, international, and transfer students walking onto UT Dallas, U. of North Texas, Collin College, Richland College and Texas Womens University.  We want to be the first people these students meet and befriend as their lives are changed forever through this experience we call: college. :)

It's exciting and also nerve-racking because there is so much work to do this fall to reach our students for God's campuses. Please pray that God would right now be preparing the hearts and minds of all the students he wants to receive his gospel message - Also pray for us as a ministry team; that we would be ready and prepared to move in on any opportunity he provides!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

May Update! (Looking Back & Moving Forward)

My friends!

It's been a great year and I am so blown away at what the Lord has done through our committment to serve and spread the gospel on his college campuses.  As I enter this summer break (although I would hardly call it a break, hah) I am filled with joy reflecting on this year with you and remembering just how faithful of a God we serve!

We had our first summer FOCUS last Thursday and had around 200 students show up to large group gathering.  We are going to be meeting on Thursday nights at Lifepoint Church in Plano, TX.  This church has graciously opened their doors to us and let us use their facilities for free while providing us with AV/tech assistance.  It is such a blessing to know that there are local churches who are willing to partner with us in campus missions!

See pictures below of highlights of the year:

Matt, our U. of North Texas campus pastor and I at SICM, a week-long leadership training conference for our students.

We had an impromptu praise & worship time in the middle of campus at UT Dallas in March and it was such a joy to sing songs to our Lord in the middle of campus :)

This semester I go tto serve through the priase & worship ministry - next year we are raising up 3 more worship pastors at UT Dallas to help serve and lead our community in worship.

The FOCUS staff @ SICM!

In Washington, for our annual leadership conference we take our students we stopped to take a photo with the viking mascot for Western Washington University! 

I hope to touch base with all of you over the summer through a letter or phone call and hopefully we can set up some time to catch up.  I would love to personally thank all of you for your support and help throughout this year!

Thank you for your partnership this year and you'll be hearing from me soon!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

Reflecting On The Year :)

Wow, it's already May!

First off, let me just say thank you for being a part of this journey God has taken us on together.  This year has gone by so smoothly and God has had his hand in so many of the lives that were changed through our campus work together.  It is crazy to think that the academic school year has come to a close.  So many students graduating, others making lifelong committments, some getting married, and others traveling back home for summer.  Campus ministry has taught me so much about myself and the world around me - so thankful to have been a part of the journey with you this past year!  (See pictures below!)

Two our ministry's small group leaders: Mike & Mark - I got to meet up with these two weekly to help them plan and prepare for their Thursday night small group.

Students praying with one another for our end of the year worship night on campus :)

                                          

My group of student leaders I helped lead this year - these guys are awesome and are so excited to serve our campus!

Don't ask.  I need to lose a few lbs okay? :)  Jk but we like to have fun.

Our last UTD FOCUS leader mtg of the year! We reflected on the year and shared what went well, what were the challenges, and how we can improve next year.

I feel so overwhelmed and grateful to have you on my support team; to be a campus missionary is something that only by the grace of God I am able to do.  This year has been such a blessing to serve alongside God's finest and impact The University of Texas at Dallas.  Please pray for the upcoming freshmen, international, and transfer students that will be walking onto the campus for the first time this summer & fall.  Pray that we would be the first students that they meet and that lifelong disciple-making friendships would be formed.

I will be contacting you all soon about considering continuing your support for the 2014-15 academic school year :) God has got big plans I know it!

Thank you all again and God bless!

Sirak

So Much Happening! (Wish You All Could Be Here Seeing It All)

Greetings my friends!

I hope your spring has been off to a great start and that you have been enjoying this great weather that the Lord has blessed us with! :) It's been raining here the last few days (for my non-TX supporters) and we have definitely been thankful for it.

First off, so much has been happening (see the title) that it is going to be difficult to fit it all into one blog entry.  We had a group of students come down from Washington state for one week to do evangelism, we had a great event called "Banquet On The Bayou," to help raise funds for our students attending SICM (our campus ministry training trip), and our staff is prepping for a great summer of fundraising :)

Needless to say, we've been busy!  But it has all be for the kingdom and our students we serve.  I attached some pictures below to show the different things we have going on.

During SSI evangelism week we had displays set up to help us have spiritual conversations with students on campus!

This was one of our displays set up at UT Dallas but we also had evangelism displays set up at Collin College, U. of North Texas and Texas Women's University (see the other staff members' blogs for more pictures!)

One of our interns, Autumn, giving announcements during our Friday Night FOCUS service.  It was a great night!

We took a SSI Washingston student & FOCU staff selfie :) Just thought you'd all enjoy it.  (bottom right is where I am)

One of our students at UTD, Nikki, was baptized by Rachel Beckham, a student leader (and future 2014-15 FOCUS intern!).

Thank you all again for being a part of what God is doing on his college campuses.  Your support has opened up the doors to many conversations, experieneces, and relationships through campus ministry in my life.  I wish you all could be here to see everything your support is going towards but I hope that this blog is a resources to encourage you and remind you that gifts to the kingdom are never wasted!

Please pray for us as a staff as we move into the summer and continue meeting with our students and developing relationships with future donors!

Your fellow campus missionary,

Sirak!