Sirak's June 2016 Update!

My dear, wonderful partners and friends!

Summer has been flying by and we're prepping for a fantastic fall semester. Please be praying for our upcoming first-year student leaders who are going to be leading core groups for the first time. I remember my first year leading core and the feelings of fear, discomfort, and insecurity that plagued my mind. The Lord was faithful that year at growing and stretching me, however, I couldn't have done it without the people that he placed in my life. Pray that our students leading would be in a support system that they are vulnerable, gracious and loving with!

This Saturday evening I'm hosting an event at my house called "Songs & Stories". If you're available for it I'd love for you to make it. It will be this Saturday, July 9th from 7:00pm - 9:00pm @ 3013 Parkside Dr. Plano, TX 75075. We have many students in our ministry who are artists at heart and create songs, poetry, and/or short stories. This will be an evening of having them share what they've written and how it inspires them to think deeply about God. I love summer because it is an opportunity to host events like this and do some creative things that a busy school year may not offer!

John (far right), a campus pastor for CRU @ UTD, hosted me and our Richland FOCUS group at his house in June. It was so thoughtful and sweet of him to do that. He cooked noodles for us and we hung out all afternoon. The students in our Richland FOCUS ministry live all across the DFW metroplex and this was such a great opportunity for us all to get together and fellowship. 

Jarvis (right), is one of our members at Northeast Church. All of our FOCUS ministries are partnered with a local church for our students to be a part of and serve with. 

(From left to right) Austin, Kale and Stephen all came down to UTD and we played some basketball outside. These are all guys who have led in our ministry so it was great to see them and spend some time with them. 

June Student Testimony Below!:

Thank you all so much for your partnership and support! I am going to be in touch with you all soon. Until then, please don't hesitate to contact me with anything that I can be in prayer for you about!

Your Campus Missionary,

Sirak

Sirak's May Update!

My Friends!

I hope that this blog entry finds you well-rested and encouraged. Well-rested because of the rainfall we've been having down in Texas and encouraged in God's faithfulness. I can't believe that it's already June and that almost half of 2016 is behind us! The school year has finished and we couldn't have asked for a better year with our students. Thank you for your prayers and partnership over the years, I couldn't think of a better team of partners and supporters.

We are having our Summer FOCUS meetings at 7:30pm on Thursdays and I'd love to see you there if you can make it. We are meeting at Richardson East Church of Christ in Richardson, TX. I'd be happy to introduce you to our students and show you what we've got planned this summer. I hope that my monthly posts & pictures have been consistent reminders pointing to what your support has accomplished and I would personally love to show what we're doing first-hand. If you're interested in coming, please don't hesitate to contact me! My phone number is (214) 802-7262.

This week at Summer FOCUS, Matt Clark, our UNT campus pastor, delivered a message on God's love and pursuit of his children. In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells the story of "The Prodigal Son". This is a well-known parable teaching on the recklessness in which the younger brother squanders his share of the father's wealth and the love he is shown when he is welcomed back home. I have always read this story and looked at it as a reminder of God's faithfulness and love. Last night, Matt led the group in an activity to imagine ourselves as parents. He asked us to close our eyes and imagine the work, joy, sacrifice, love, fear, investment, discipline, and commitment associated with being a parent. I would like to be a parent one day and this activity helped me relate and empathize with what a father or mother would go through - more specifically, what they would go through if their child decided to leave.

This opened up my mind and heart to what God experiences when his children decide to leave him. As Christians, we believe that God loves us - but do we really know the true depth and gravity of this love? I am fully aware of my inability to love others and pursue them in the way God does, but when I think of God's love for me I have never thought about the distance and space will travel to pursue me even in those moments when I reject him or choose to ignore him. This thought encouraged me to embrace this idea of God's unending love and strive to love others in the same way.

Enjoy the photos below!

Our Richland FOCUS students at the End-of-the-year party! So thankful to have had these students in my life.

I got to meet Stephen (right) and study the bible with him during freshman year in 2012. He was a student-leader in our ministry and became a close friend of mine. He recently graduated in May with a degree in Information Technology Management. He accepted a position in Houston and will be working full-time. We are going to miss Stephen!

Daniel (left) and I flying to Washington state for our week-long SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministries) conference!

Me (left) and some of our future student-leaders!

When we were in Washington for SICM, we got to attend CCF (Campus Christian Fellowship). This was such a powerful experience. God is working in campus ministries all across our nation and we are so thankful to be partnered one like CCF.

I got to meet one of my favorite authors, J.I. Packer. A few years ago I read "Knowing God", and this book thoroughly influenced how I think and talk about God. He was such a sweet man to meet.

(From left to right) Caleb, me, Aaron, and Manny were all hosted by a wonderful family in Bellingham, WA during SICM. These guys were a blast to stay with and get to know during SICM. 

Nicki (left) was such a great intern this year. She and I worked with each other at Richland College and I couldn't have done it this year without her. She is responsible, caring, funny and loves the Lord. I am blown away at her heart and dedication to the gospel. She will be transitioning off of staff this fall and will be pursuing other career opportunities. We're going to miss you, Nicki!

Jake (right), is one of the CCF staff in Bellingham, WA. During the week we led worship together and he's one of the most thoughtful, spiritual, and loving people I've met.   

Front row at the CCF fellowship gathering.  

Thank you all so much for your partnership and vision for being a part of what God is doing on his campuses. I will be touching base with all of you this summer to catch up, share stories, and minister to one another. If you have anything you'd like prayer for please don't hesitate to contact me! 

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

Sirak's April Update!

My Friends!

I hope that April was a month that was well-rested and was a time of personal growth and sanctification. If you wouldn't be able to describe April in such a way then I pray that May would be a month that we all set goals and make the necessary decisions to follow Christ better. I thank you all for your consistent prayers and partnership in the gospel. There are many tough days in campus ministry but God is constantly reminding me to be faithful as I am encouraged by your faithfulness.

Last night we had our end-of-the-year party for UTD FOCUS. It was a celebration of what God has done this year and we honored the many students who were a part of it. I am consistently blown away at the level of commitment and consistency that our student leaders possess. These are men and women who are in class full-time, many of them work part-time and have other obligations but still decide to lead a small group and make disciples on campus. I never want to take for granted how God has blessed our campus ministry through these students and last night was a celebration of their commitment and the work they can look back on and say, "God did that."

I've got a lot of pictures to update you with what's gone on in April and I hope that if you have any questions, prayer requests, comments, or concerns that you wouldn't hesitate to contact me! (See pictures below)

Our UTD 2015-16 UTD/Richland FOCUS Staff! It's been such a pleasure to lead our campus with such bright ministers. From left to right: Nicki, Dani, Brandon, Carmen, Mandy, Victoria, Laurence, Peter, and me (Sirak)

Daniel (left) and I got to meet weekly to lead a group of our small group leaders as they led our community small groups. Daniel is a Ph.D student studying Neuroscience. He's been one of my favorite people to be around this year, love that guy!

I didn't get to be in this photo because I was serving punch in the cake line, however, this is the men's core that I got to lead this year with Karlo (middle of photo, purple button-down shirt).

During the evening, we sang worship songs and celebrated what God has done this year through his people and campus!

Our Richland FOCUS group!

We took a selfie right after the above photo. Why not right? I love these students!

Kale (right), one of our small group leaders and I. Kale and I met weekly to minister to one another and pray for our campus. The students in his core group were impacted greatly through his leadership!

Our Richland FOCUS' men's bible study! We have met every Wednesday this year and these guys have become some of my closest friends. 

It wouldn't be a men's bible study without a selfie, would it? I'm so thankful for these dudes. 

John, one of our male small-group leaders shared on why it's important to give & invest in the vision.

Our group that has been showing up to our Richland FOCUS combined group.

Our Friday Night Fellowship gatherings at UTD have grown so much this year. These students really love getting together to worship and they've welcomed our Richland FOCUS students with open arms!

Sagar (middle), one of our FOCUS Alumni was on campus last week and we all got to catch up with one another. Rhett (left) was in Sagar's bible study his freshman year and Sagar (middle) was in my bible study his freshman year. The circle of life is complete. Rhett has done such a great job meeting and discipling students this year!

At our end-of-the-year party, the Richland FOCUS group took a selfie together! I love these students so much. I am beyond thankful to call myself their campus pastor! We have one more meeting this Wednesday and then the year is a wrap :) 

Please be praying for our students as they enter summer. We have our summer FOCUS that is going to be meeting on Thursday nights this summer, however, we have a few weeks in-between before we begin. Pray that our students would spend their time wisely and that those going back home to their families would be a light to them.

Thank you all for your support and friendship over the years. I'm blown away that I get to spread the name of Jesus on his college campuses and call you all my partners. I love you all and will be in touch soon!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

Sirak's March Ministry Update!

My friends! My people! My team!

I hope this message finds you well-rested and that your month of March was encouraging and re-energizing. So much has happened in March but before we go into the details I wanted to share a scripture with you all:

"Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation'. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain." Philippians 2:14-16 (NIV)

As busy as the month of March was for many of us, I found myself challenged not to complain or boast of the wrong reasons. It is important to know that while we do the work of God people are watching us. As I have led the Richland ministry this year I have seen that many students 'know' who I am without me ever introducing myself. People watch and see what we are up to and it's important for us to stay a light even when we are most comfortable. We are not immune to the attacks of the evil one nor do we live outside of the flesh. I am also reminded of another scripture:

"Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7:24-25 (NIV)

I just wanted to encourage you all with this so we can look back soon on the month of April and be confident that we were a light to those around us! Okay, so now on to what happened in March...

We had a group of students from Western Washington University visit us during their spring break to help us with our week-long evangelism initiative (see pictures below). It was such a blessing to have them and so many great spiritual conversations came out of that week. I posted some pictures of our displays that we used to engage students in spiritual conversations.

"If you could ask God any question what would it be?"

"Should we believe in something that can't be scientifically proven?"

After outreach at Richland, our students all gathered to play some board games and hang out during the afternoon. 

We did outreach at UTD and our displays were such a great tool to help spark spiritual conversations. 

"When you die you rot! But does the real you disappear?"

Our Friday Night Fellowship gathering! Victoria (one of our interns) preached that evening and did such a great job.

To kick off our outreach week we had an all-campus worship event! It was so cool to see the many different campus ministries come together and worship together as a united group.

We did outreach at Richland College and our displays attracted many individuals to come and engage us in spiritual conversations. 

Pictures of our outreach at Richland College.

(From left to right: Brandon, Andrew, Dylan and me (Sirak)) Our good friend & FOCUS Alum, Dylan, is going to be moving to San Diego to pursue his dentistry career and we all went out to top golf to reflect on past years and pray over Dylan.

We are wrapping up the year here pretty soon and please be praying as we strive to finish the year well and push our students to continue their growth in Christ. I am so thankful to have you all as my partners in ministry and please don't hesitate to let me know how I can be praying for you!

You all should be personally hearing from me as we get closer to summer so I can encourage you with stories of how your support has contributed to the Kingdom growing on God's campuses :)

Your campus missionary,

Sirak

Our February Update!

My friends!

I hope that February was a restful month for you all and that you had a great Valentine's day! It's so bizarre to think that it's already March and we've only got a little over two months left before the students are out for summer. Our 2016 has been full of so many spirit-filled events where students are hearing the gospel and responding to the presence of Christ on campus but don't be fooled, we're definitely not going to be slowing down at all as we finish well this school year.

When I was studying sociology at UT Dallas I got to take several classes taught by Professor Sheryl Skaggs. She was a very impactful professor who taught from her heart and cared deeply for her students. Over the year she has become a good friend of mine and our ministry at UT Dallas. She came to one of our Friday night services and shared how follow Christ shapes and influences how she teaches and how she interacts with students. Our students were impacted deeply through her words and left our large-group confident that they, too, can impact and build relationships with their instructors (see photos below!).

One of our small-group leaders, Karlo (Richland College), was invited to our week-long campus ministry training week, SICM, and hosted a pancake dinner to raise funds. He had a great turnout and raised over $300.00 to go to SICM! It was so encouraging to see our Richland guys working together and helping Karlo make this event a success! Karlo has given so much to our Richland ministry and it was such a cool thing to watch the students give back to him.

Thank you so much for your support and enduring partnership in campus missions. So much of this wouldn't be possible without you by our side as we meet students and reach them for the gospel. Keep our student leaders in your prayers as we finish the year strong and head into summer with new and renewed minds focused on Jesus.

Professor Skaggs, instructor of sociology at UT Dallas, came to one of our Friday Night FOCUS services to share what it means to follow Jesus while being a professor.

Epiphany Episcopal Church opened up their doors to our students to attend one of their traditional episcopal services on a Saturday night. They wanted to host our ministry and tell us that they're so thankful for what we're doing on campus and to find ways for us to partner with them.

Another shot of our time at Epiphany Episcopal Church!

The students at Karlo's pancake fundraiser! We had such a great turnout and the students really loved being helping Karlo raise funds for SICM.

Our Richland students! From left to right: Miles, Kah, Catherine, Chad, Karlo, Edwin, and Henry.

More of our students at Karlo's fundraiser playing Avalon. Have you all heard of this board game? It has sort-of taken over our ministry :) Our students love it!

Thank you so much for your support and partnership - I hope that the Lord fills you with a deep sense of his presence and abiding love. I want you to know if you need prayer for anything don't hesitate at all to let me know. You all are alongside me every time I set foot on campus and I couldn't be doing this without you. I love you all!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak Asfaw

Sirak's January Update!

My friends!

I can't believe it's already February! First off, I have so much to tell you all - FOCUS winter camp, Richland FOCUS beginning, baptisms, new 1 on 1 bible studies beginning, and birthdays! The Lord has been the rich provider of 2015 and I am so excited to see what he has planned for 2016 :)

Thank you all so much for your partnership and believing in the vision of reaching college students for the gospel. Almost 5 years ago I invited many of you on this journey with me to see what God had planned and it is so crazy to see just how much God has done through your partnership and faithfulness. Please be praying for us as we enter the spring semester with momentum and energy from our FOCUS winter camp. Our students had a great experience at camp but we know that much of what was learned and experienced can be pointless if we don't translate it into real life on our campuses with the students in our spheres of influence.

Many of the students at Richland College come from lower socioeconomic conditions and need to work part-time, are on government aid for tuition, or work full-time. This presents challenges but God answered a huge prayer this year and Richland College paid for our entire camp! We put in a request to the Office of Student Life and we are blown away at how generous the college was in helping our students all pay for camp.

Our Richland FOCUS group on the way to Winter Camp! God is so good in helping us get these students to camp. Richland College even let us use their campus vans to transport the students to and from camp!

A picture from the back of the auditorium at winter camp. We brought over 500 students from across our FOCUS campuses to camp!

I had the opportunity to lead our community in worship during our Saturday evening service. It's always such a great experience getting to sing songs to our Lord in a room full of his children.

Chad (left), Edwin (center), and me before one of our sessions. I love getting to hang out with these Richland students and show Jesus to them.

Our students got to know one another real well at camp - it was something that our group really needed to start off the spring semester strong!

A pictures of all of the FOCUS campuses together. This was our largest camp to date and I feel it was so impactful and encouraging to the students who came.

After our first meeting of the year our students planned a board-game day in the Richland cafeteria - it always encourages me to see them love and serve each other. 

I got to help with worship on the Sunday night set with some of the other students. It was wonderful to help serve in this way.

One of our UTD students, Simi, committed her life to Jesus and was baptized in the UT Dallas pool. 

I am so excited to see what God has planned for 2016! It has been a joy to have you alongside me as the mission of Christ is furthered everyday on God's college campuses. I hope that these pictures and stories encourage you to continue in your partnership and pursuit of Christ to chase after his plans for you this year :) Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any prayer requests or questions/comments!

I love you all so much and am forever grateful to have you on my team!

Your campus missionary,

Sirak Asfaw