Preparing For Another Great Year!

Wow, I can't believe that we're already a few weeks away from another amazing school year! We've been hard at work this summer with new student orientations and preparing our student leaders for the most important two weeks of the school year: welcome week! Thousands upon thousands of freshmen, transfer, and international students will be walking on our college campuses for the first time here in a couple weeks and our student leaders are going to rush to be the first students that meet them :)

This fall is the beginning of my fourth year on staff with FOCUS. I want to thank you for partnering with me on this missionary journey. God has opened my eyes year after year to how faithful he is and that he calls on his faithful saints to join him in his work. I thank you for joining in his work through your support of the mission. Your prayers and donations have really helped build God's kingdom here on earth.

Please be praying for all of the students walking onto campus for the first time and that there would be doors opened for spiritual friendships to be built. It amazes me the enrollment numbers of each university's students (see below):

Student Enrollment Population:

UTD: 23,095 (2014)

UTA: 34,870 (2014)

Collin College: 52,812 (2011)

UNT : 36,168 (2013)

Richland College: 19,201 (2010)

Some of these numbers are from a few years ago and it's only probably increased with time. Please pray that every one of these students would encounter Jesus in meaningful way and have their lives shaped and changed for the gospel.

A panorama shot of our UTD/Richland/TWU student leader team! These students spent all day Saturday and the afternoon on Sunday hearing from our campus pastors on how to make the first couple weeks of school the most effective for Christ. They are ready for what God has planned this year!

During our student-leader training day we performed "Welcome-Week" themed musicals for the other leaders :) It was pretty entertaining to say the least!

(From left to right) Austin (UTA), Albert (Collin College - Preston Ridge), Brandon (UTD), Laurence (UTD), and myself taking a quick selfie before our staff group photo!

This is a picture of the staff team that will be leading FOCUS @ UTD/Richland/TWU. 

Our staff has grown! These are all the faithful saints who will be serving students all across the DFW metroplex on God's campuses. (I am back row, last on the right!)

Jack Hunt (middle) a student that has completed his time in FOCUS as a student/leader is off to medical school! I took him out to breakfast before his drive down to U. of Houston Medical School. Jack is a dear friend of mine. I have known him since my time as a student and it is so encouraging to see that God isn't finished with him yet. Jack is going to bless many as a doctor.

Your support means everything to me - I am so thankful to have you side-by-side with me on campus this year. I can't say it enough, but: thank you thank you thank you for your partnership! It feels like these years are flying by one after the other, but I know that through Christ we can confidently join in on the work being done and know that we're a part of an eternal kingdom!

Please let me know if there is anything going on in your lives that I can pray for you about. I am always here as a support and brother to you :)

God's will be done on campus this year!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

June Update!

My fellow brothers and sisters,

The summer is already flying by and I've been so excited to share how God's been working so far! Our UTD staff is hard at work meeting with students and being attentive to conversations we need to have as we build our leader team for the 2015-16 school year! I've been so encouraged by the many different students interested in leadership.

FOCUS has grown every year and it's fantastic to see that disciples are being made even with more and more students showing up to our ministry events. Growth is something that many ministries want, however, we as a staff hope that growth is always accompanied with discipleship and spiritual friendships. My prayer is that this continues with the fall semester and beyond :)

I'm in the process of getting in contact with you all and touching base - until you hear from me, enjoy the pictures below!

Our new FOCUS website is up! (www.anyfocus.org) It's all be revamped and has a new design to it. Check it out and get to know what's going on at our other FOCUS ministries and see the updates from the other staff!

We've been having Summer FOCUS every Thursday night for our students who are in still town but we've had a great turnout meeting students and building community as we prep for the beginning of the year!

(From left to right): Matt, Brandon, Mandy, Sirak (myself), and Bob Tiede at a fundraising seminar. Bob has worked in Josh Mcdowel ministries for over 20 years and has been a huge blessing to our staff providing materials and training on how to fundraise in a Christ-like way!

Father Craig Reed of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Farmers Branch, TX has been extremely gracious opening up his facilities for our 2015-16 interns to meet in for their weekly class. God has opened up some great doors through friendships and other campus ministries at UT Dallas that are engaged in the mission.

This summer has been a time of rest, encouragement, and refinement. I hope that you all are finding your rest fully and wholly in Christ. I want to encourage you all with what Paul wrote the Galatians in Chapter 3 verses 26 & 27: "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." I encourage you all to clothe yourselves with Jesus this summer break. Study him, pursue him, imitate him and let him have his way.

Thank you for your support and belief in the mission - your prayers and donations have given students a renewed sense of God's presence and a vision for his kingdom on his college campuses.

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

May Update!! Rest and Release :)

My Friends!

The month of May has been crazy! When I say 'crazy' - I don't mean hectic, I mean fully inspired by the heart and mind of Christ! In the month of may our students finished up the spring semester of classes, headed to SICM in Washington state, and were released to be campus missionaries on their college campuses :) I can't stress just how important SICM is to our ministry and I want to start by saying thank you to you who all who have prayed for our students leading into this week.

The official school year is over so many of our students have headed back home to be with their families for the summer. We have a lot of local students stay in the DFW area so we put on Summer FOCUS on Thursday nights @ 7:00pm at Lifepoint Church in Plano, TX. I want to invite any of you who are interested to come on down, I'd love to see you!

Throughout every school year our student leaders disciple and build spiritual friendships with the students that attend their small groups. We have a week-long campus ministry training event called SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry) in Bellingham, WA that is put on my CCF (Campus Christian Fellowship). God has built such a strong relationship between our two campus ministries that when we go up there it's like seeing old friends :)

My peer-team for the year. All of these guys were student leaders in our ministry this year and were faithful servants of the Gospel! Front row: Charles, me (Sirak), JD, and Austin. Back row: Morgan, Stephen, Ryan, and Marcus. (photo taken at our end-of-the-year party)

James Junior (middle) is one of the main worship pastors at CCF in Bellingham, WA. Whenever we go up to SICM he and I try to set up time to share our ministries with one another and hear what God has been up to in each other's lives.

All of our UTD students we sent up to SICM this May! Many of these students will end up being small group leaders beginning in the fall 

At the end of the week our students attended the SICM graduation ceremony. You can see them all out relaxing on the grass enjoying their weeks.

I got the opportunity to attend Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. (Canada) for two weeks (May. 24th - June. 6th) to take theology classes with several of the other FOCUS staff. This has been such an enriching experience and joy to learn from some of the most wise minds in their respective studies. God has been teaching me how important it is to read and hear what some of the most brilliant minds of our faith have to offer in regards to scripture and God's creation. (see pictures below)

Every Monday/Thursday we have been attending the chapel services that Regent college offers to the students. They have been leading the congregation in open corporate prayers and I took a quick picture of one called "Prayer of Commitment". I hope it finds you well and it is an encouragement to you wherever you are.

I took a course called More Than Music: Reimagining Worship and here is a group of the students we had together. Our instructor, Christine Longhurst (back row, third from the right), did such a great job 

I went for a walk around my neighborhood and was in awe at God's creation. Enjoy!

Summer is here and I'm so happy to get in contact with you all :) Thank you so much for your continual support and belief in the mission. It is always an encouragement to know you're all behind me through the power of the holy spirit. Your support this year has paved the way for spiritual friendships, baptisms, and lifelong changes through God's holy spirit.

You'll be hearing from me soon!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

The End of a Great Year!

Wow, I can't believe that we have arrived at finals week on campus - which means - the end of the semester is near. I had lunch with a couple of our student leaders this week and asked them what they've learned from God through their leadership experience, and one said that he learned not to have confidence in himself but to put all of his confidence in Christ. What a powerful lesson to learn! I think that as disciples, God teaches us this same lesson on and on throughout our entire life and I have been honored to have been a part of the journey with our students.

This is now my third year of campus ministry and each year God has blown my expectations out of the water regarding what to expect out of myself and others. When we place our confidence and trust fully in Christ we make ourselves more available than we ever have before for him to work in and through - I have learned this firsthand throughout the year.

Top row: Ryan, myself, Austin, and Morgan; Bottom row: JD, Charles, Stephen, and Marcus.
I had the precious opportunity to meet with these students weekly and help them serve the students attending their small groups. They all grew tremendously in their faith and helped raise another generation of disciples!

During April we had a few of our last Friday Night FOCUS's of the year. Our attendance has traditionally dropped at the beginning of each spring semester, however, this semester our attendance has stayed strong!

Our last FOCUS leader meeting of the year!

I began playing the board game, Avalon. Have you heard of it? It's very intense and causes very heated discussions to happen, however, it's been a great way to spend time with students and laugh together. 

Our students during our last Friday Night FOCUS of the year!

The UTD FOCUS staff that worked together this year. Every year the team has changed a bit but nonetheless it has been a honor to work with such God pleasing men and women.

I wish you were all here to see first-hand what your support has contributed to this year. I am overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness as I look back on the last three years of serving in campus ministry because of the partnership I have received in you all :)

Last night at FOCUS we had an open-mic sharing time and the prompt was: how have you seen God work in yourself and others this year in our community? I was very encouraged by one of our freshmen students named Tim, who said that after transferring to UT Dallas from Florida he was so anxious and worried about not having any sort of a Christian community to get involved with on campus. However, God opened the door for him to get involved with FOCUS, study the bible with other students, get involved in the worship team, and now he's pumped for his Sophomore year this fall where he can be ready for all the upcoming freshmen walking onto campus that need discipleship - so encouraging!

Thank you again for all of your partnership and prayers - it's been a continued journey of praise and thanksgiving that I'm forever grateful for. I plan on getting in touch with all of you this summer to catch up and share how God has been working, you'll be hearing from me soon :)

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

March Campus Missions Update!

My friends, my people!

I had lunch today with a campus pastor who ministers to international students in a ministry called Bridges International. We were talking and encouraging one another when he stopped, looked at me, and said, "You know how to gain absolute confidence? In absolute surrender and trust in God." We were both sharing our challenges, successes and some of the things we could pray for one another in ministry when he said that. It encouraged me greatly to hear that and it is such an important reminder as we go through our days. When we are completely resolved to God's will and his direction - it fills us with confidence and boldness as we serve him - I hope this encouraged you! (see picture below)

I got to have lunch with a campus pastor with Bridges International named John. He is a man who is committed to reaching international students and sharing the love of Christ with them. His heart for students and UTD overflows into every conversation he has - I was so grateful to have met him and got to hear his experiences.

This month has been intense, but we had a lot going on that I'd love to share with you. First, we flew in students from Bellingham, WA who were willing to spend their entire spring break with us doing evangelism on our campuses (see group photo below). They were so sweet to be around and blessed our community tremendously. Second, we had our first ever Spring Showcase to raise money for students attending SICM, our week-long campus ministry training conference in Washington state (see photo below). And third, we had a student named Alphonse decide to commit his life to the Lord (see photo toward the end).

Group photo of our hosts and performers for the Spring Showcase! It was such a beautiful evening of showcasing the talents of our ministry all to raise money for students attending SICM. We had over 400 people show up to the event to support the showcase!

Our SSI students posing in front of UT Arlington, a campus that we will be planting this fall semester 2015. Please be in prayer that God would be preparing the minds and hearts of students who will walk onto that campus.

Laurence, showing our SSI students the evangelism boards/props that we will have set up for the day on campus. We had different conversation-starter boards set up throughout the campus for students walking by so we could engage them in conversation. 

Our evangelism board(s) set up on campus for students to see! We go to meet so many students this week and engage them with spiritual conversations; it is amazing what can be done through just asking people what their story is.

Alphonse, one of our students at UTD FOCUS, getting baptized by Grant. Alphonse is someone who is a light to all who meet him. He is the fruit of your support and prayers. This is an example of what campus ministry can do to change a life at UTD. Through friendship, discipleship, and the message of Jesus, Alphonse decided to commit his life to Jesus for the rest of his life.

During SSI week we had a student-led worship night and it was one of the most encouraging evenings for me - we even had a lot of students we met during the day through evangelism show up, eat s'mores, and worship together!

I can't thank you enough for your partnership and consistent prayers. God has been faithful all year long. Even though we've got a couple months left, I know that Satan will still be scheming to tempt our student leaders to slow down, give up, and be discouraged. Please pray that our students would finish well. I think that as we look to Jesus as our example, we see a God who finished in a way that empowered, encouraged, and equipped his disciples to carry on the mission. Please pray that our student leaders would do the same for those they are mentoring.

I wish you were all here next to me everyday I walk on campus, meet students, and partake in God's will at UTD - but I know that through your partnership that you are there every step of the way!

Please let me know if there's anything I could do to be praying for you as we move into the later part of spring!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

February Update!

My friends!

I hope our short month of February left you feeling blessed and in awe of the many blessings we receive from our Lord. March is officially here so you know what that means: spring break, SSI week (students from Washington state coming down for a week of evangelism!), SICM preparations, and mid-terms for our students.

This month I have had some time to really be thankful for how God has blessed the UTD FOCUS leader team. Our students who serve on our team are so servant-minded and in tune with the needs of our campus. I remember back when our ministry was much smaller and wondering: how are we going to reach this campus with only 20 leaders? Then God gave us 30 leaders...then 40...and now as SICM approaches we may have even more this fall.

The way we select leaders is based on our F.A.I.T.H acronym (Faithful Available Initiating Teachable & Heart for God and others). When we select student leaders each year we ask ourselves if these students possess the said qualities. God continues to use the student-leaders in our ministry to impact and raise up future generations of students ready to impact God's campus for his mission. Please pray for our current student leaders; that they (and the staff) finish the year well!

Glenn, me, Jalen, and Ryan. These are just some of our student leaders (Jalen & Ryan. Glenn is on staff) who help impact our campus as UTD. 

We have had a little bit of difficult reserving rooms on campus this semester but we build a friendship with a woman named Betsy, who is a priest at a local Episcopalian church down the street from UTD and they said that we would meet there whenever we'd like to! Praise God!

We have been reading scripture together as a community on a consistent basis. Here is a shot of one of our Friday Night FOCUS gatherings.

Last week at FOCUS I got to preach on dating! It's such an important topic to cover with college students in making sure that we are constantly asking ourselves what it looks like to be like Jesus when the world has so many messages for us.

"Feed My Starving Children" is an non-profit christian organization that packages and sends meals to hungry children in third-world countries. As a UTD community, we got to attend one of their Saturday morning packing sessions and serve our brothers and sisters across the globe.

None of this would be possible without your support through monthly donations and prayers. I am blown away that I wake up every morning and get to serve Jesus on his college campuses. I promise that I will never take it for granted. I wish that you were all here with me every day ministering with the students, however, I know that through your support you are right alongside me as we are co-missionaries with and through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Please pray that God would continue to raise up his student leaders moving forward into the summer and next year - he's got big things planned!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

2015, Winter Camp, and More!

My friends, my people -

We're already a month into 2015 and I cannot be more thankful for where God has us and the work he has us all involved in through his mission. We had our annual winter camp for all our FOCUS campus ministries and it was such an encouraging time to be with everyone. Iain Provan, a professor of the Old Testament from Regent College (Vancouver, BC), came to speak to us for the weekend.

It was our biggest winter camp yet and I am beginning to see how your support (along with the hundreds of other mission supporters) is making a difference on parts of our ministry that I don't even see. Students from small community colleges throughout the metroplex where there aren't any other campus ministries are hearing the gospel and experiencing spiritual friendships for the first time! Praise God!

In my next few blogs I'm going to add testimonies from students on our UTD FOCUS leader team. They are in the process of discipling countless students on campus and are having the time of their lives doing it, however, I think it's important to remember how they have been impacted by campus missions. Here, first, is Marcus:

"Having come from a church where I was the only college-aged member between a chasm of high schoolers and young married couples with kids, campus ministry has been my main community to serve God and make disciples. Godly men like JD and Sirak have poured into my life and have painted the vision for me and have been spiritual leaders in my life-setting young adult life. I have been equipped to go and teach and invest is others to show them the love and gift I have received from campus ministry and will continue to take what I have learned with me wherever God takes me." 

Marcus and I meet weekly with his small group partner and I think that it is awesome to think about how he has grown and been shaped my campus ministry. I met Marcus for the first time last year but he was a leader at one of our community colleges and had transferred to UT Dallas and jumped into leadership because the Lord called him to impact people. He's such a great guy - I hope his testimony encouraged you.

Enjoy all the pictures below!

Our first Friday Night FOCUS @ UTD after Winter Camp. Our students were so excited to get back together!

The view from the top balcony at winter camp - Brandon is seen on the stage delivering his talk on theology of vocation.

I had the privilege of leading worship on Saturday morning at camp, this was a picture of our students gathering inside and finding their seats.

Our UT Dallas FOCUS ministry! These are the students that I get to be with and serve on a daily basis - Thank you for your support and vision for what we're doing on God's college campuses - this camp experience really grew our students and ministry together!

I wish every one of you could've been with me at camp over MLK weekend to see what God is up to on his college campuses. It was a reminder that HE IS FAITHFUL. I am constantly trying to understand how to get into a good rhythm with life, work, and studies so I can be effective for the Lord but when I go to camp and see just how consistent and omnipotent God is I am blown away and can only respond in worship. He is capable of more than we can ever ask or imagine - may we meditate on this and remember that he is Lord!

Thank you for your belief in the mission and willingness to be active participants in the gospel with us!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak