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Hello, friends! 

Happy Thursday to you all.  I am writing from here in Saint Louis, just like I normally do on Thursdays.  I woke up this morning, and as I was reflecting on Large Group last night, I was struck by how much life has changed for me in the past month. 

To break it down, last night, my good friend and fellow InterVarsity staff, Chioma Chukwu came in as a guest speaker for Large Group.  If you know Chioma, you know that she is a terribly fun person to be around, pretty much all the time.  What you may not know about her is that she is a Mizzou ACF celebrity.  When the leaders found out she was coming to speak, everyone immediately tried to schedule some "Chioma Time" with her.  I don't think it's a coincidence that we had one of our largest groups in a while in attendance last night. 

Chioma spoke on persecution, namely about how it is not actually a bad thing and that God can, and does, use times of us being put down for our faith to further His kingdom and grow us.  It was a great message and we had a good time of prayer and reflection afterwards. 

The part that really struck me as evidence of how much things have changed in the last month is what happened after Large Group.  One of my big vvalues for ACF is the community aspect.  I love seeing ACFers hang out with one another after the programming is done and oftentimes I measure how "well" ACF is doing by what time I finally get to leave the building for the night. 

Last night, things were definitely rocking in the after party.  Our new students were hanging out with our veterans.  Our international students were hanging out with our Americans.  Chioma was hanging out with everyone, even learning a few new moves in the process.  By all accounts, ACF was doing "well" when everything ended.  We could have easily gone on having conversations and such until 10 or so. 

But, once we broke for the night, as much as I loved seeing folk connecting to one another, I only had one thought on my mind: I need to get home to see my wife.  I miss her. 

Of course, I'm not going to completely shut down a party.  That would be selfish.  But, I did start to shuffle groups of people to the exit so they could continue their conversations elsewhere.  I don't think anyone minded (well, except maybe Chioma).  =0). 

So, there you have it.  We are almost 4 weeks into marriage (hooray!) and I am still very much in love with my wife as well as loving my job with ACF.  I am so glad that we have students who love being around one another and desire community.  To me, it is proof that we are making an impact, sharing Christ's love with the Asian and Asian Americans on campus. 

Prayer points:
- Tomorrow, Meg and I leave for Fall Retreat.  Praise Jesus, there are 21 students from UMSL going!  Please pray for a great time of community and that the Spirit will move in a big way. 
- Praise Jesus, October is almost over and I have been relatively migraine free!  Please pray for continued good health, especially this weekend. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam