2022-23 Was a Year To Remember! :) Thank you!

 Wow, what a powerful year :) 

Time is a strange thing. Not that twitter is my main go-to source for commentary on life, but, I saw a tweet a few days ago that said: 

Once you get past 25 years old, you've experienced over 85% of your 'subjective time' life experience.

I believe that what the tweet was attempting to communicate was before the age of 25, the majority of our life experiences are new & exciting but there comes a time that we fall into a routine and life becomes procedural to a degree. 

This isn't necessarily bad, it happens to all of us. We feel as if life can become predictable and unsurprising. Maybe God designs life this way to show that he, too, is in the routine of life. I can confidently say that it feels like time is moving quicker. Campus ministry at 35 feels different than it did at 25. I am less rocked by the waves and currents of the modern-day college student. College ministry is anything but predictable, however, there are aspects of the work that we do that I have noticed are cyclical and seasonal. 

This does not make the work bad or inferior. I feel like God has been establishing me and growing me into more of a rock so that I can be a consistent presence in the lives of the students around me. 

In fact, in the midst of the routine I find that I love the work I am doing. I love the routine of seeing 18 year old freshmen have their world open-up as they encounter students from all walks of life and all backgrounds receive & respond to the message of Jesus. If that ever gets old to me, then we have a problem. 

There were, however, a few difficult years. Years of drought and pain. Wondering if the work I was doing was making any kind of difference in the lives of those around me. Years of unlearning habits, fears, and lies that I, at some point along the way, took on and became friends with. 

But, I suppose that with any career path, there are certain 'mini-deaths' that God invites us to. Campus ministry has been mine (so far) - what has yours been? 

As each year passes, maybe there are 'mini-deaths' that are leading us toward the (not-mini) death we all face that will eventually bring us face to face with our Lord. These 'mini-deaths', however, are (if I can remember in the moment) mini-celebrations - moments of mini-trust that are shaping us into who we are becoming each and every day. 

I love that I get to be a part of the lives of the students who enter my life & get to walk alongside them as they learn to die to self and let Christ take over. What a joy! 

I pray that these pictures are encouraging and are a reminder of God's faithfulness to you! 

Our 2022-23 Richland FOCUS Student leader team! 

Each week, I've had the privilege to lead worship with our student worship team (here you can see Kris hold her dog, Champ, as we pray)

Our Richland FOCUS students hosted an fundraiser after-event for UTD FOCUS and we made breakfast tacos for them! We had a great time serving & helping our students raise money for SICM!

After the breakfast taco event, our Richland students hosted another fundraiser at church the next day!

We went to IHOP for one of our after-events and it was probably one of my favorite 

This year I led core w/ a student named Yoni. He is a sophomore studying Business and it was a true pleasure to get to lead with him each day. 

I feel so honored & grateful to get to serve the Richland campus with these great people! 

Each year we invite a group of students who are not officially student leaders but who show leadership potential to our leader meetings to further their growth & development. They have been such a great addition to our team! 

Claire & Sandra have been two amazing ministers to get to work alongside this year! Grateful for another year with them. 

Thank you again for all of your support & for believing in our mission to love college students :) I'm grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for walking with me and being on my team!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak

March is Over & We're At The Final Stretch!

 My friends & team!

March is officially over and we have 6 weeks left of school. Wow. If I could sum up this entire year with one word it would be: new beginnings. Well, that's two words, but, you get the point.

One of my favorite aspects of serving in campus ministry is watching these students meet in August, apprehensively decide to attend fall camp in October, come back from fall camp excited to have new community and by January they are comfortably & confidently praising the Lord together as he moves and works among them! This spring 2023 semester has seen the fruit of disciple-making and long term friendships being formed. 

Our students have a genuine love for one another that is open-hearted, vulnerable, and fun! Our students LOVE to have fun with each other (as the photos below can hopefully convey!). 

Our daughter is officially at the 24 week mark and we are almost..or maybe past the halfway point. All I know is that this baby girl is due July 29th and I'm so excited to meet her :) 

I've had a few people ask me if I feel ready to be a father. I tell them that there is the part of me that openly acknowledges that I have no utter idea what it is that I am doing or will do and yet, there is another part of me that feels God continually remind me: it's okay my son, you're ready. I suppose both parts of me will learn to coexist with one another :) 

As always, thank you for your support and for believing in our mission to love college students. I am blown away that I get to walk on our campuses & love the students that God has placed in front of us. He is always faithful & good. 

I hope that the pictures below encourage you all :) We couldn't do what we do without you!

   

Our students planned a park day with each other and it was a blast!

Ricky (right) brought his baby daughter to Thursday Night FOCUS and let me hold her for much of the night. I'm currently learning as many baby-holding techniques as I possibly can before our daughter arrives :) 

It's been such an awesome privilege to get to lead worship every week with our students. They are engaged and excited week to week. I love getting to see them use their talents & abilities to serve our community and grow closer together!

A bunch of our students got together during spring break to go for a hike together and grab lunch afterward.

baby girl is growing! Can't wait to meet you!

Sloan and I closed on a home! We'll be moving in during the first week of April! Please be praying for a safe & easy move! 

Our Wednesday 12:30pm core has been such a blessing to get to serve with. they show up each week ready to pray with one another, read scripture, and engage with what is going on in one another's lives. Awesome stuff!

One of our students, Juan, did a great job leading Investing In The Vision! 

Thank you all so much for your support & for believing in our mission to serve & love college students! Year after year I'm touched by the generations that God sends our way onto his campuses. He entrusts us to love them with the same love he loves us with. 

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

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak 

At The Halfway Point of the Spring!

My friends & team! 

We're here in March and we're almost at the halfway point of the spring semester! I'm blown away at all of the wonderful things God is doing on campus at Dallas College Richland Campus. He has given us probably the sweetest group of students that we have ever had in Richland FOCUS. They are genuine, kind, and all excited to be around each other week to week. 

I hope the pictures below encourage you regarding the work we get to do on campus as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. I'm grateful for all of our students that we have met, befriended, and welcomed into our lives for this short & unique time in their lives. God truly loves his college campuses and desires to see young people come to know & experience him!

For the last three years we have had our large-group fellowship meetings on Thursdays at 7pm on campus, but, after many discussions and prayer - we have decided to shift our large group fellowship time(s) to Wednesdays at 6pm on campus!

This is a big shift and we are hoping that moving it earlier & on a day that has a higher volume of students present on campus, we can reach more students while still having Thursdays open for 1 on 1 bible studies and group hangouts. Please pray for us!

Thank you so much for your continued support & ministry partnership! If you ever need prayer for something in your life, do not hesitate to reach out. Enjoy the pictures!

Our 2022-23 Richland FOCUS Leader Team! 

Our BLISS/Release event - led by Lailah, one of our FOCUS staff at UT Dallas! She did a great job creating an event that celebrated Black & African culture!

I loved getting to co-MC the event with Lailah - It was a joy and an honor!

On Thursday nights I have gotten the opportunity to help with leading worship with our worship band, "Post-Pandemic Praise" - it's been a great opportunity! 

Great news - my wife & I closed on a house recently and are very excited to move in! Thank you for your prayers and for being a part of our journey!

Our Wednesday 12:30pm Men's Bible Study! I've been honored to get to spend time talking about God with these guys each week and sharing how God is calling us deeper! 

Our weekly Thursday Night FOCUS meeting! (Soon to be Wednesday Night FOCUS!)

Thank you again for your support and for believing in our mission to love college students! I am honored to get to love & serve these students each and every day.

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak 

Sirak's December/January Update! (Lots of pictures!)

 My friends & team! 

The year is off to a great start and I'm honored to tell you all about it. Our student leaders have been hard at work loving & serving our campus and it's been so encouraging to see life changes happen in real-time!

In December we had our end-of-the-year Christmas party and rested up in preparation for our Annual Winter Retreat. Winter Retreat is one of my favorite events that we do each year because it gives the students a vision for what their time in college can look like if they begin to surrender their plans & desires to Jesus. 

I do believe that going to college is a good thing. However, many students have a small vision of what their education can be used for. Instead of getting a degree to "make more money" or "create a comfortable life" - we begin asking: What if God has placed you here in college to be a blessing to others? After all, globally, less than 1% of the world even gets the opportunity to go to college. 

Winter Retreat creates a type of synergy that invites students into a space of considering what their time in college can look like as they begin re-forming their opinions & ideas surrounding what college is and how this time can be used to love and impact others and not just receive information to get a degree and make more money. 

After all, gaining information is important - but, in the Kingdom of God - we are all IN-formation. We are actively being formed as we seek the heart of God. And where do we do that? Right where we are. 

It is a privilege to get to love these college students and invite them to receive & respond to the message of Jesus. To seek the Lord and let him form you! 

Our Richland FOCUS group! Thank you so much for your support & partnership. Each one of these students has been impacted by your love & generosity! 

All 14 of our FOCUS campuses! Winter Retreat was a huge success :) 

Sandra & Carlos! 

Our Richland Students getting ready to leave for Winter Retreat! 

During worship on one of the nights our students locked arms and sang with one another. It was a special moment that I loved they got to share with one another.

I'm sure many of you know by now - but we are so excited to be expecting! The due date is July 29th so everything is definitely happening fast!  

Our worship team(s) did a great job leading us at Winter Retreat! 

It's been a while since I got to help with electric guitar at winter retreat, so it was fun to get to be up there serving our ministry on the band.

Thank you so much for your support and believing in our mission to love college students! We are grateful and honored that we get to walk alongside you all on campus as God brings the right students in our path to love & invite to receive & respond to the message of the Gospel.

My wife & I do have a prayer request: 

• Over the last two years we have been in the market looking for a house and, in many ways, it has been stressful and has stretched us to have faith and trust that the right housing situation will open up when the time is right. 
• Would you pray for us that as we enter the spring season that God would open the right doors for us to find a home that is affordable and can be a natural extension of our ministry? A home that we can welcome college students into and that we can raise our family in? 
• God is faithful! We just wanted to invite you all to join us in prayer :) 

Thank you all for believing in us!

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak 

 

Sirak's November & December Update!

My friends & team!

We're almost at the end of a WONDERFUL fall semester. God has been so good providing our Richland FOCUS ministry with a group of students that are engaging and continually open to one another and what God is doing on our campus :)

Every one of our students is so unique and they each have played a unique role to make our ministry what it is. This fall semester I began to realize that God has been actively at work not just in the lives of our students, but in the local community we are strategically placed as well. 

As of right now, FOCUS is one of two campus ministries on Richland College. There are over 15,000 students who are enrolled in classes and we feel so privileged to get to be in touch with the students who are on campus with us. 

Please pray for us as we prepare for the spring semester. Pray that God would continue to open up doors for new spiritual friendships & connections with the campus! 

We feel extremely grateful since our relationship this year with the Office of Student Life is the strongest that it has ever been! Dallas College has hired a fun, upbeat, and warm-hearted group of staff that we get to serve the campus with. Yes!!!

Me & the Richland FOCUS fellas at our end-of-the-semester party! 

Our Wednesday Noon Men's Core - it has been such a great experience to get to learn & grow with these students.

Grateful for our Thursday Night Fellowship Meeting times!

Joey sharing with us at our end-of-the-semester party! 

For our last core of the semester, me & the guys went to get Ethiopian food! I've loved leading with Yoni (far right) this semester and I am grateful we get to share in our Ethiopian culture with each other! 

Joey planned & coordinated a Thanksgiving potluck with our students! It was a blast to get to eat and share the great things God has been doing this semester within our ministry. 

We are grateful for Tom and his heart! He loves our students so much and we are always honored when he gets to share on Thursday nights!

We had our Fall Pizza Theology in November and it was a blast :) We talked a

bout the book of Revelation - our students were attentive and engaged with what our speakers had to share!

Grateful for our Thursday night gatherings - it has been a great place to connect with other students and remember God's faithfulness from week to week!

Our 2022-23 FOCUS Staff! 

Thank you so much for your support and continued partnership. I'm honored to have each and every one of you on my support team. I'm excited to see what the spring semester brings. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you need prayer for anything in your life.

Have a Merry Christmas! 

Your brother & campus missionary,

Sirak