Summer Is Off To A Great Start :)

My friends & team :) 

Summer is off to a wonderful start! Thank you all for letting me reconnect with you and share about the vision to love college students this year! 

This summer my goal is to re-connect with graduates, Richland FOCUS alum, and friends/family that have been instrumental in my ministry journey. I couldn't do any of this without you! 

Summer FOCUS is off to a get start (see photos below). There are many new students that I am meeting week to week who are excited about learning what it means to follow Jesus. Awesome stuff! I feel honored to get to be a part of their journeys this summer before we hit the ground running in August. 

Please be praying for our FOCUS staff as we support-raise in preparation for a great school year this fall :) 

There is so much to be grateful for :) THANK YOU for your support and for believing in me and the mission to love college students. I hope that the pictures below are encouraging and uplifting to you! 

I love getting to meet up with Yoni every week to study the Bible together. He will be a sophomore at Richland College this fall - he has been a true gift to our ministry! 

We spent some time honoring our FOCUS staff who are transitioning off of staff and into the workplace. (From left to right: Ashlyn, Amber, Taylor, Garrett, Alex, Austin N. Austin B. Cole, and Connor) We are going to miss them! 

Our first summer FOCUS meeting! :) It was a blast! 

My wife (Sloan) had an ankle surgery about 5 weeks ago. She is recovering great and it off to a great start! We're expecting a full recovery.

Our Richland FOCUS men!

Our Richland FOCUS women! 

God has been so good this past school year and I'm excited for what the summer holds! Please do not hesitate to email me if you need prayer for anything going on in your life!

Your brother & campus minister,

Sirak 

The End of a Beautiful Year!

My friends! My Team!

Thank you for your support and walking alongside me this year. I am blown away at how fast this year has flown by and at how faithful God was in creating a community on campus at Dallas College Richland Campus that loves & welcomes any student that shows up! 

Thank you for believing in our mission to love college students & help them receive & respond to the love that God offers :) I couldn't be doing this without any of you. I hope that these pictures remind you of what your support is going toward - lives that are being changed for God's kingdom! 

I know that lockdown/campus shut-down was 1.5-2 years ago, but, I can sense that things are starting to get to normal. Students are ready to re-engage, come out of their shells, and be a part of the community campus life that we are hoping to build on campus. Please be in prayer for us as we reflect on the past year, prepare through the summer, and hit the ground running come the fall! 

Enjoy the pictures below!

 

One of our students brought their nephew to our end-of-the-year party and he was hanging out & having a blast (see the little boy behind me...). He was so fun to have around!

I have been doing a 1-on-1 bible study w/ a student named Yoni. He has been a huge blessing to spend time with and get to know. I am grateful that God crossed our paths with one another. 

Tom Miller, a good ministry prayer & good friend of mine, has been coming to our Thursday Night FOCUS events and our students 100% love having him there. We spent a few minutes honoring & celebrating him! 

For our students that are transferring to a four-year university, we laid hands on them to pray for God's guidance and blessing over them! 

Connor Clements has served this year at Brookhaven Campus and has been such a faithful & reliable part of our ministry. We are going to miss him! 

For our end-of-the-year party, we did a meaningful sharing time where our students got to share & talk about how they've seen God move in their lives & the lives around them! It was great :) 

For our final core of the year, we decided to go out and get lunch together at a local Vietnamese restaurant. Bryan, Chris, Yoni and I had a great time sharing stories and talking about our summer plans! 

For some reason we all got interested in watching YouTube videos about the Universe. It would take 10-15 minutes to marvel at the Universe before we would begin our core discussion! 

I'm thankful for each and every one of these students! 

Sandra & Claire have done an amazing job this year loving & serving our students :) 

Thank you all so much for believing in me this year! I'm blown away that I get to serve these college students alongside you all. 

This summer, I'd love to connect or re-connect with you! Do not hesitate to reach out if you need anything from me. I'll be in touch!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak 

Spring Is Here and It's Lovely :)

My friends & my team :)

February & March have been amazing months full of spiritual friendships being formed, connecting with new students and being reminded of God's faithfulness. 

Today in core, we had a great conversation on how anger can impact the way we see others & ourselves. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul writes: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (verses 4 - 7)

We reflected on how our culture encourages us to be easily-angered and triggered by all of the pain we see in the world. Our culture encourages us to have our opinions read & on hand to throw at someone we disagree with. Our "opinions" are the truth we win with. 

Paul argues that the only thing to make ANY difference in the world is: Love. Loving one another. Patiently loving one another. Kindly loving one another. There is a freedom we have when we confidently decide to love & embrace our brother & sister as our own - especially in a world that is bent on dividing and judging. 

I know that I can be the chief when it comes to anger. I can be too quick to assume and lash out against those around me - especially the ones who are trying to love me! Oh, the irony. 

We have around 6-7 core meetings left. Please pray that as we engage with the scripture that the students hearts would be open to what God wants to share & press onto them. God's word is truly living and active! 

Thank you so much for believing in our mission, I'm honored to get to be alongside you all as we love & lead this next generation of college student. 

Enjoy the pictures below :) Your support is going a long way to connect students to the message of our living God! 

This June my wife and I will be celebrating our 4-year wedding anniversary. Wow! Time truly move so quick :) 

We had to cancel our staff retreat in January due to a small COVID outbreak. We ended up rescheduling our staff retreat to February and we had a great time!

Thankful for all of these wild crazy students :)

A few weeks ago it was just Bryan, Oliver and me in core. Even though the numbers were low, we had an amazing discussion! 

Haley, one of our Richland students, did an amazing job leading us through Investing In The Vision! 

Thursday Night Thunder has been such a blessing & a great time this year. It's hard to think that the school year is almost over. Please be praying that we finish the year well and that we have a great summer :) 

Our directors team making a decision about something important :) 

Spring Showcase was a blast! We got to raise a lot of money to help send students to SICM! It was a great experience and I got to remember how much I love playing guitar!

Thank you again for believing in me and our mission! I couldn't do this without you!

Do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have anything in your life that you'd like prayer for!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak

It's Been A While! (Much to share!)

 My friends & team! 

It's been a while and I have much to share but before I begin I want to say: Thank you! Thank you for believing in our mission to love college students and show them what a new life in Christ can look like. God has put so many brilliant, talented, and powerful students in our path and I am excited to be a part of their stories during their time at Richland. 

FOCUS Winter Camp was amazing (see pictures below)! We met so many wonderful students across our campuses who are living mission-filled lives during their time as students. I am touched by their openness and warmth towards one another. I'm grateful to get to be a part of the change happening in their lives. 

It is powerful to know that all it takes is one conversation to change the direction of someones story. We have been emphasizing and praying for outreach to be a core value in Richland FOCUS. Many of our students are afraid to meet new people and engage with them on a personal level. It is much easier to be glued to our phones and believe that all of our interpersonal connection should happen through technology. 

2020 taught many of us the limits of human connection via technology. We are relational beings who long for personal connection with one another. It is work to emphasize these things, but it is worth it! Pray for us as we lean into these topics and try to understand what God is calling us specifically to do as we love our students. 

I hope that you are all encouraged by these pictures. Your support has paved the way for so many students to be befriended and loved. Thank you so much for your support!

Our end-of-the-year Christmas service was great! It was so powerful to be a part of. 

I enjoy our Wednesday, 2pm core small group. The students are always willing to share & engage with one another. Bryan (2nd from the left) and I have been leading it together. I enjoy working with him so much! 

Our FOCUS Worship Class was powerful! I appreciated all of the students coming to engage and share with one another as we discover and discuss the history and tradition(s) of Christian worship.

Thursday Night Thunder is a gift because it creates a space for us to love and know one another. I am thankful for the students God has placed in our lives and I am thankful to be a part of this part of their Christian journey. It's a small part, but, college is such a unique and special time in our lives!

Our Richland FOCUS students at Winter Camp! It was a blast!

Winter Camp 2022 was such a beautiful experience. I am honored to have gotten to be a part of It! We have very special students in our ministry! 

A view from the back of one of our Winter Camp sessions! 

We brought in Rikk Watts, a retired New Testament professor who has taught at Regent College in Vancouver, BC. I appreciated the way he engaged and shared about the New Testament in an open & relational way. I picked him up from the airport and dropped him off so we got some time with each other to talk. I am grateful for him coming and speaking with our students! 

Our Richland FOCUS ministry; grateful for them and their hearts this year! They are a sweet & special group of students.

One of our Richland FOCUS alums, Josue Mulumba, recently graduated from UTD! I'm so proud of him. He was involved in Richland FOCUS in 2018-19. 

Thank you so much for your support and for believing in what we do! I am honored to get to serve alongside such brilliant other staff and students. Please pray for our Richland FOCUS ministry - that we would be attentive to the needs around us and LOVE our students in the way Jesus would!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak

A Restful Break & Re-Charge

 My friends & my team! 

I hope that you're all having a restful December. This has been a very restful month for me. God has been good and has been reminding me of his faithfulness and providence. 

About 3 weeks ago I began a 1.5 - 2 month sabbatical. I have absolutely loved getting to serve college students since 2012 and it has been intrinsically rewarding like nothing else I have ever done. I have seen so many lives impacted on the college campus and I'm always encouraged to reflect on God's faithfulness at the end of the semester.

Me & my directors decided that it was a good time to rest and take time to seek God in this season of ministry. 

It was a little stressful to begin with, but, I have been reminded that our Richland ministry is in good hands with our team: Sandra, Joey, Claire, and Connor! They are deeply connected with our students and have been doing an amazing job! I have missed getting to see them each week but I appreciate their diligence and faithfulness in the work that God has entrusted us with.

God has given us such a sweet group of students. They are committed, friendly, and consistent in building spiritual friendships on campus. I am currently in Eugene, Oregon visiting my friend, Daniel, and on my way out I ran into one of our Richland FOCUS students at the DFW airport at 6:30pm on Sunday! What a small world...

Thank you so much for your support & for believing in our mission. I'm blown away to get to serve this next generation of students as they grow and are formed into followers of Jesus.

I've loved getting to lead core w/ Bryan (to my right). He's been an awesome partner to get to serve students with. 

At our end-of-the-semester Christmas party, Joey did an awesome job sharing the Christmas story with our students and sharing his heart with us. Grateful to work with him!

Our Christmas party was a great time! The students were excited to share & celebrate what God has done all semester long. I am so encouraged by this group of young adults that have been showing up consistently all semester. I'm excited for what spring 2022 holds for us!

As always, thank you so much for believing in our mission to love college students. This has been a peaceful time of rest for me and I am encouraged knowing that you all have believed in me for so long. Thank you!

I hope that the rest of 2021 is restful and purposeful for you all. These years continue to fly by - my prayer for us (and myself) is that we are present & available for what God is doing in our hearts :)

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak

We're almost at the halfway point of the year!

 My friends & team!

Just over 50 days left until 2022 and ministry at Richland is in full swing. Thank you so much for your support and believing in us as we have loved & pursued the students that God has put in our path. 

This has been a tough year for some of our student leaders at Richland College FOCUS. A couple of them have stepped down from leadership due to personal reasons. We know that God is good and that he has his hand on every student that enters our ministry. God has provided awesome students that can potentially step up into leadership moving into the spring semester, so please be praying about that! 

Our ministry model is 100% rooted in getting students to minister to their peers as they are developed and shaped into students who do not just attend classes - but are missionaries in their classes! Leadership is hard but it is rewarding! We are so excited for what God is doing in the hearts & minds of the students in our group.

A photo from the back of one of our Thursday Night Thunder meetings! Thursday nights have been such a powerful experience for our community to worship and connect with each other. 

Every Wednesday Bryan (standing next to me) and I get to lead our Wednesday 2pm core. The guys have been consistent, faithful, and engaging with our time together. It's been a great experience getting to know them :) 

I attended SMU FOCUS last Thursday night to visit and check out what is going on at our other FOCUS ministry. Amber, Laurence, Sienna, Jacob, and Ashlyn all do an amazing job connecting with and loving those students. I felt touched by Jacob's sermon and the ideas he shared!

As the semester begins to come to a close please pray for: 

• Our FOCUS apprentices and their hearts - this has been a challenging semester for many of them and they are discerning a lot about work, vocation, and ministry.
• Our Student leaders - it is a challenge for many of them to balance so many aspects of their lives, but, I know that they are learning a lot about who they are and where God has them. Pray for them!

Thank you all so much for believing in me and for your support. I couldn't do this without you!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak

Sirak's October 2021 Update (LOTS OF PICS!)

My friends & my team! 

Can you believe that we're already halfway through October? God has been so good to us as a ministry and I just want to say: THANK YOU for your support & for believing in our mission to love college students. 

We made it through welcome week and our Thursday Night Thunder meetings, cores, 1-on-1s, and outreach days are all off to a great start! I'm blown away at how open & receptive students are now that we are back on campus and getting to meet with them face to face. 

We just finished our Fall Camp 2021 and it was a blast! Our students connected with each other and were so engaging during our sessions. Fall camp is always an encouraging time to be reminded that God is working in the hearts of our students even when we do not see it! 

Thank you all for believing in me and walking alongside me through the years. I love what I get to do with these students and I'm honored to have you all on my team :)

Thank you for your support and I hope you are encouraged with the pictures below in regards to what your support is helping build on God's college campuses: 

Fall Camp 2021 was a blast! Thank you for your support helping make this happen :) 

Connor, one of our apprentices this year, has been doing an amazing job helping pioneer Brookhaven Campus! 

Each year for the 1st week of school we set up a volleyball net on campus to meet & engage w/ students! This year we had an amazing time getting to engage with new people passing by :)

One of our first Thursday Night Thunder meetings of the year! These students have been great to get to know!

Joey, one of our apprentices, did a great job preaching on "Life To The Full: A Life of Outreach" - he has a heart for meeting new students and befriending them! 

At Fall Camp, we did a devotional sharing time and then took communion with each other! It was encouraging to hear how our students each remember Jesus in their own personal way.

Thank you so much for your support and for believing in our mission. The lives of students are being changed & shaped every day on campus thanks to supporters like you who partner through prayer & monthly donations!

I'm honored to have you on my team but I'm even more honored to call you my friends!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak