Onward to Urbana!!!

Hello, friends! 

First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! I am very excited for 2026 as it will include a 6 month Sabbatical as well as starting a new position with InterVarsity as the Area Ministry Director for Nebraska. 2026 is going to have a lot of changes but I'm sure it'll turn out just great. Besides, it can't be too much more wild than 2025, right? 

RIGHT?! =0). 

Before we turn the calendar towards the new year, we have one last BIG thing happening in 2025. 2025 is an Urbana year! 

Urbana, InterVarsity's tri-annual global missions conference is one of the most iconic things that we do as an organization. Christian leaders from Billy Graham and Tom Skinner to Francis Chan and Michelle Higgins have brought the word from the Urbana stage over the years. We've seen hundreds (if not thousands) of students give their lives to Jesus and thousands more say "yes" to God's calling of being a missionary wherever they end up in life. Megan and I both had significant experiences at an Urbana in the past (one even included an angel!) and we know that we're not alone. 

This will be Urbana number 7 for me and this has easily the hardest Urbana ever. Urbana was first housed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (thus the name) before moving to St. Louis for a few cycles (oh man, those were the days...). Urbana 22 was in Indianapolis and this year we'll be heading to Phoenix. Since all those other locations were relatively close, this was the first Urbana where we in the Central Region had to consider flights as part of the Urbana travel experience. 

In 2022, I started the Urbana Together program for the Central Region. The premise was simple enough: ask our students to write letters to their friends and family, asking them to help send those students to Urbana. Essentially, it was treating Urbana like a short-term mission trip. We had 40 students sign up for the Urbana Together program and raised exactly what we needed for our students to attend Urbana and it was great! 

Our goal for Urbana 25 was to have 77 students attend Urbana and partake in the Urbana Together program, essentially doubling the number of participants. Praise the LORD, we had 80 students sign up! 

Now comes the hard part. In 2022, I just covered the Urbana Together program while 3 of my coworkers in the Regional Office covered the housing, registration, and travel accommodations. This year, 2 of those coworkers moved out of the Central Region for New Zealand and the third member was coming off of her own Sabbatical. Which means that every part of the Urbana process came down to me. Friends, we're making it but it has been a bit of a struggle. There are a LOT of logistics to cover, and it probably needed to be a full-time job for a staff, not just part of an already full portfolio for me. Alas, we're making it work. 

What I know is that God is good and that Urbana will be awesome. There will almost certainly something that will go wrong. A flight will get delayed or a student will drop at the last minute. There will be some sort of mini-crisis that we'll navigate and the students will all have a good time. I also know that as soon as Urbana is over, you can count on me taking a nice long nap on the plane home... =0). 

There are two big ways that you can be part of the Urbana process. The first is to be praying for us. Please pray for those logistics. Pray for God to be preparing the hearts of the students as they prepare to head to Phoenix. Pray for me as I try to juggle all these final details. 

A second way that you can be part of Urbana 25 is by giving! Like I said, we're trying to send our students to Urbana with limited financial liability on their part. If you'd like to give to a scholarship, you can do so by following this link.

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam