End of the Year, Part 1

Hello, friends!

Below is our end of the year update, in case you haven't seen it already. God has blessed us in a number of ways this year and we wanted to share with you all. 

This is just Part 1 though. Part 2 will be coming in a few days, hopefully before the beginning of the new year. =0).

One piece you'll find in this update is that we are currently doing our end of the year donations push. If you'd like to make an end of the year tax deductible contribution to the work that Megan and I are doing in Missouri, you can do so here: 

Happy Boxing day! 

~Adam

The Year That Was...

Hello, friends!

Looking back on the last bunch of blog posts I've posted in the past few months, there have been 2 things that have jumped out to me. The first is that I haven't posted nearly as much as I would have liked. When I started working for InterVarsity, I said that I wanted to build my ministry on transparency. Since most of my support base was in California and I was in Missouri, I wanted to make sure that everyone knew what was happening as much as possible. In that way, I've blown it this semester. My bad.

The other thing that jumped out to me was how few of my posts were actually about what was happening on campus. I've had posts about MPD, a few posts about social justice, and some personal posts, but relatively few about what's been happening in terms of the actual ministry that's been happening here in Columbia. It hasn't been totally lacking but less than in previous semester.

I was hanging out with Jesus and trying to figure out why that was the case. The truth of the matter is that this semester has been one of the hardest in my 8 years of working for InterVarsity. There were a lot of things that definitely didn't go the way I wanted them to go this semester. ACF has had a down year with dwindling numbers and low levels of mission. I've been constantly feeling behind in my supervisory roles. Our funding is down. There has been conflict with students. Generally, it's been a pretty blah semester.

As I was looking back on the semester, the one thing that I heard really clearly from God was this: "Remember my goodness." From there, I started reflecting on all the things that went well this semester. Things like the growth of particular students and some of the completed projects. But I had to stop myself because that didn't feel quite right. God wasn't saying, "hey, remember that I've blessed you too" although that is definitely true. What God was saying was for me to remember his goodness.

No matter what, in the midst of good things and bad, God is good. It is his nature. He can be nothing but good. It is impossible for him to not be good. That is what I need to cling to, no matter what. When things are going well, praise Jesus. When it's been a tough day, week, or semester, praise Jesus. That's what we were made to do and that's what I'm going to try to do.

Everything could change next semester. I really have no idea. What I do know is that if the semester is better or worse than this current one, easier or harder, no matter what, God is good.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Happy Birthday!

Hello, friends!

In the Leong household, the new year doesn't start on January 1. It doesn't even start whenever it is that the Lunar New Year happens to fall in any given year. Nope, the new year starts on December 9, which is today!

Why does it start today? Because today is my sister, Chrissie's birthday! It goes like this. The sibs and I are spaced more or less 2 years apart. T and I are born in January, Phuzz is in May, and the Kid is in December. That means we have "even" years and "odd" years, which are always the opposite of the calendar year. For example, the year is 2014. T is 31, I am 29, Phuzz is 27, and the Kid is 25. Well, she was until today, which is why we start the new year today. Now she's 26 and we all start having "even" birthdays. Pretty neat, eh? =0).

There are a number of stories I could tell about "The Kid." I figure, if you've spent your entire life with somebody, you'll have a few stories. Whenever I think about my little sister though, there are always a few that always jump out to me.

Every kid goes through that phase when you play "slug bug" right? You see a VW beetle and whoever sees it first yells "slug bug" then gets to hit someone. I couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 but I remember seeing a beetle as we were getting into our car on the way somewhere. I yelled "slug bug!" and hit The Kid as hard as I possibly could, right on the shoulder. She... started... WAILING... I don't remember if if was Mama or Papa who said it but they said very clearly, "You NEVER hit your sister. You PROTECT your sister." I don't know if that's exactly when I started becoming super protective of her but that will always stick out in my mind.

One thing you most everybody knows about The Kid is that she's a cryer. There's no shame in it, she just cries more than average (or maybe I just don't cry at all so it seems above average to me). I've seen her cry in all sorts of situations; weddings, births, family meals, watching The Biggest Loser, etc. The one time I will always remember is at the movies. The Kid, Papa, and I went to a theater to watch Up. You know the scene I mean! I'm thinking to myself, "Man, this is really sad..." I look to my left, and Papa is asleep. I look one seat to my left and the Kid is literally sobbing. It's dark but you can easily make out the silhouette of my little sister crying uncontrollably. (Also, I laughed when I saw that, more proof that I may not have a soul...")

Harry Potter is totally a thing for the Kid. When HP7 came out, I made her a deal: I'd buy the book for her but she had to let me read it first. It took her 3 days to decide that it was worth it. On that fateful Saturday, the FedEx guy came to our door, she grabbed the book, threw it at me and said, "START READING!" For that entire day, and chore that Mama wanted me to do was immediately met with The Kid running down our hallway yelling, "I got it! I got it!" It was pretty sweet.

Above them all, I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to shake the memory of "Mony Mony" I don't know if it started during one of the car rides when I had to take her to dance, the kitchen of La Casa Leong, or somewhere else. All I know is that it's impossible for me to hear that song without thinking about rocking out with my little sister.

So, here's to you The Kid! A wonderful sister, aunt, and woman after God's own heart. May this year be filled with new adventures, more love for Jesus, and finally meeting Jeremy Lin.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

On Personal Responsibility...

Hello, friends!

The past few weeks have been a blur. They really have. Between the non-indictment of Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson earlier last week and non-indictment of Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner in Long Island yesterday, I have been having a lot of heart wrenching conversations and thoughtful conversations with a lot of different people in person and via Facebook. I have also been reading a lot of articles online as well as the comments; some helpful, most not. I attended a protest on Mizzou's campus on Tuesday and will be leading a prayer vigil tonight close to campus. My heart is heavy not just because my brothers and sisters in the Black community are hurting but also because of the apparent blindness or dismissive-ness to the issues of systematic injustice that many in the country feel.


One phrase that I have heard and read over and over again from a number of different people is the phrase "personal responsibility." From what I can gather, the phrase can be summed up by saying, "Don't do stuff that will get you in trouble and you won't get in trouble." This phrase has taken many different forms in different weeks. In the case of Mike Brown, it went something along the lines of either, "He shouldn't have resisted arrest," "well, that's what you get for robbing a store," or, "when will people learn to never resist the police?" In the case of Eric Garner, the idea of personal responsibility has taken the form of, "Well, he shouldn't have been selling cigarettes illegally," and "if only he hadn't started a confrontation with the police."

Disclaimer: Understand that I am entering this conversation not exactly fully a part of either the Black or White community. I have experienced both the hardships of being a minority but also the benefits of being considered the "model minority." I know that my experiences are imperfect but I'd like to think that my various conversations with lots of different people gives me a certain perspective.

Personal responsibility is a very powerful and important thing. Acting in a way that is "above reproach" and represents Christ, specifically for Christians, is an important value. There are consequences for our actions and we need to understand that sometimes there are repercussions. Oftentimes, those repercussions are fair and justly deserved. Each of us needs to be pursuing a live worthy of the calling we have received (again, especially Christians).

With that being said, there are two major problems that I have with the "personal responsibility" narrative. One is of fairness and the other is of empathy.

Here's the truth: White privilege and personal responsibility are inextricably tied to one another and the standard for "personal responsibility" is higher for Black folk (especially in regards to interactions with law enforcement) than White folk. The hashtag #CrimingWhileWhite highlights anecdotal evidence of White folk getting away with crimes that many Black folk would almost certainly be for in similar circumstances. Of course, anecdotal evidence will only get you so far but there are statistics too. Whites use drugs at a higher rate than Blacks but are incarcerated 50% less. A study by the US Department of Labor found that Whites are less likely to be pulled over than blacks but more likely to be given a warning as opposed to a ticket. Cars driven by Blacks were also more likely to be searched than cars driven by Whites.

The point I'm trying to make is that the personal responsibility narrative is ultimately an unfair one because the standards for "acting responsibly" are different for Black people than they are for White people. Should Black folk use drugs, speed, shoot people, etc.? Of course they shouldn't. The problem is that they are being disproportionately punished for their actions as opposed to their White counterparts. The narrative also breaks down because there are plenty of legal things that Black folk cannot do (like holding toy guns in the case of Tamir Rice and John Crawford) that get them killed. It's a matter of systematic injustice.

Secondly, the problem that I have with the "personal responsibility" is that it reeks of moral authority and lacks any sense of empathy. Let's try some hypothetical conversations:
Me: Why are you so angry?
You: The daughter of a friend of mine was sexually assaulted and there are going to be no charges pressed.
Me: Oh yeah! I heard about that. You should tell her to stop dressing like a slut.

Let's try another one:
Me: Hey, what's wrong?
You: I have lung cancer.
Me: That's what you get for smoking.

What would your reaction be towards me if that conversation actually happened? You'd want to kick me in the face, wouldn't you? You would call me callous and uncaring. You would question whether or not I really cared about your well-being, or if I really cared about you at all. In both of those cases, you could argue for "personal responsibility" but it is totally unhelpful and shows no compassion or empathy. THAT is the problem with the personal responsibility narrative. It does nothing to show our Black brothers and sisters that we grieve with them.

A friend asked me which is more helpful to talk to young black men about, white privilege or personal responsibility. I understand his point that spending too much time focusing on "blaming Whitey" doesn't actually uplift the community. However, I would like to pose the opposite question: Which is more helpful to talk to White folk about in order to bring reconciliation, white privilege or Black personal responsibility? I would argue the former more than the latter.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Suffering with the Body...

Friends,

As I'm sure all of you have heard, yesterday, a grand jury decided to not indict Officer Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown on August 9th of this year. While this was not unexpected, it doesn't hurt any less. My brothers and sisters in the black community are being continually reminded that in the United States, the killing of an unarmed black teenager by law enforcement is nothing new and will continue to be unchecked by the legal system that claims to protect all citizens.

Let me be clear here. I was not in the grand jury deliberations. I have not yet reviewed all the evidence. I was not present so I do not know what "really happened." My cause for suffering comes not just because Officer Wilson will be able to resume his life while Michael Brown will not. My suffering comes because my friends in the Black community are suffering. This wasn't just about this case. This was about 400 years of systematic injustice. Despite what many on Facebook want to say, this wasn't just a matter of open and shut, let's find all the facts, determine who is guilty, and move on with our lives. It was one part of America feeling like it has been kicked in the teeth one time too many and trying to say, enough is enough.

When I think about all my various networks, I am so thankful for how God has blessed me with such a diverse group of friends and family to which I can learn. There is the Chinese Christian community where I spent the first 18 years of my life. There are the Black fellow WashU Students (Go Bears!) who I have the pleasure of calling some of my best friends. There are the mid-western Asian Americans I have had the pleasure of working with for the past 8 years. There are my White friends who I have met in school, in church, and just by virtue of living in the Midwest for the past 12 years. When the Grand Jury decision was released, my mind went to all of those groups and how to be the best friend I could to each group.

There are a lot of temptations out there right now. The following messages are generalizations so I apologize if this does not apply to you. I mean no disrespect.

For my White friends, now is not the time to be posting articles about the "facts" of the case. Speaking as a minority, every article you post about the "facts of the case" comes off as gloating. Whether intended or not, it smacks of, "see, I TOLD you he deserved to die." Now is also not the time to move on, assuming that justice has been done. For every person who has said or thought something to the effect of, "well, of course I care about racial reconciliation but..." now is your chance to shine. This is where you say, "An indictment didn't happen. This case is closed in the eyes of the law, but I said I care about justice so I'm going to keep fighting for it on behalf of my brothers and sisters in the Black community." This is your time. Suffer with the body. Empathize. Do not disengage. Seek out your brothers and sisters in the Black community and see what you can do to suffer with them and stand united with them.

Speaking to my Asian American friends, here's what I wrote to an Asian American student who asked about what it means to suffer as the whole body suffers.

The short answer is to care. If your foot hurts, the whole body walks with a limp. The other foot takes on more weight. The eyes are extra careful to see things on the ground. Every part of the body is affected.

To suffer with them means to engage in conversation with them about how they are feeling. It means to advocate on their behalf. It means to walk alongside them add they suffer. It means to feel their pain as best you can.

How that looks for you may be different than me. It could mean going to a protest. It could mean taking a friend out to coffee and letting them vent. It could mean a lot of different things. But it does mean acting like you care and not letting excuses keeping you from engaging on some level.

Have fun suffering. I will be right there with you, as a member of the same body.

Last but not least, to my Black friends. I want you here. You have enriched my life in so many ways through your friendships. You've shown me a new way to see and preach the Gospel. You've accepted me as a friend and a brother. Words cannot begin to express how important each of you is to me. Right now it may feel like the US is not a place for you. It may feel unsafe. It may feel oppressive. It may feel unjust. I won't argue with you on any of those points. Just know that I want you here.

~Adam

Happy Early Thanksgiving!

Hello, friends!

First of all, thanks to everyone who was praying for Jordan's event last night. He texted me and said that things went really well. =0).

I mentioned this briefly in my last post that Saturday night, International Christian Fellowship (The InterVarsity Group that Megan is planting at Mizzou) had an international Thanksgiving dinner. Friends, it was a huge hit and a total blast!

By my count, we had over 50 international students in attendance, including a few kiddos. For many of these students, it was their first time experiencing an "American Thanksgiving," especially considering that many of the students have only been in the US for a few months. They got to meet Americans from our church, learn about the history of Thanksgiving, and eat all sorts of traditional Thanksgiving foods. The cranberry sauce was particularly popular.

Speaking of delicious food, we couldn't have done it without the help of our friends from Chrisitan Fellowship Church. Members of the church not only brought all sorts of delicious food, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn casserole, and the like, but many of them stayed and ate with us. It's so amazing to be part of a great community that loves and supports what we do. The good people of CF have even organized other folk from the church to host students who have nowhere to go for Thanksgiving day!

Can I stop a moment and dote on my wife, by the way? Megan did an amazing job putting all this together. She recruited students to attend as well as folk from the church to cook and stay for dinner. She coordinated the program and the rides. She handled the set up and the cleanup. She also socialized with students and made everyone feel welcome. She pretty much nailed it.

Here's a photo from our group. Here's hoping that everyone in attendance had a good time and were blessed by the meal.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Big Day Today!

Hello, friends!

Today, or tomorrow (depending on when you are reading this) is a big day. Not just because Mizzou will be taking on Texas A&M with the SEC East in the balance (Mizzou is going to win, in case you were wondering). Not just because I am leading a seminar about crossing cultures for Asian American students from all over the Midwest (either it will go great or it went great depending on if you are seeing this before or after noon). Not even because tonight ICF is hosting a thanksgiving dinner for 50 international students (although that is HUGE and you should definitely be praying for that). No, friends, this is a big day for another reason.

I've had the pleasure of supervising an intern this past year and a half by the name of Jordan Tiu. Jordan is an ACF alum with a huge heart for Jesus and a desire to see college students reached with the Gospel. Today, Jordan will be presenting for over 100 people in the Kansas City area the work he is doing with InterVarsity and the work that God is doing on Mizzou's campus through ACF.

So, friends, please say a quick prayer (long prayers are OK too) for Jordan as he prepares for tonight. Pray that people will be receptive to the work that he is doing. Pray that the weather (there's a chance of snow) will not deter people from coming. Pray that the kingdom will be glorified through the event.

Oh, and if you're in the Kansas City area, stop by North Point Church tonight @ 6 to say hello!  =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Survival Mode

Hello, friends!

We've entered the interesting part of the year where we're out of the New Student Outreach period but not quite into the craziness of finals. It's been forever since students have had anything that resembled a break and Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away, meaning we've entered the dog days of the semester. Everyone, staff included, are in "survival mode," which isn't a great place to be but is the reality of the situation.

Survival mode for me looks like this:
- Keeping students accountable to their commitments, weighing whether or not I press in or let slide folk not showing up to stuff because of studying.
- Prepping bible studies and talks a few days in advance instead of weeks ahead like is always the plan.
- Trying to balance time spent between reaching new students and making sure the students who are around feel cared for
- Balancing time spent visioning for next semester with finishing out the things that still need to be done this semester, knowing that too much time visioning means I am not fully present but not enough time means we start next semester behind.
- Looking for more hours in the day to get done the funding push that Megan and I need to do so we don't finish the year in the red.

I'm not saying this as a way of complaining. I still love my job and this is a part of the job that I have come to expect. I'm still sleeping enough and eating plenty, so my health is fine (save for a few migraines). I'm saying this because I wonder if there is a better way.

Planning more and planning earlier doesn't seem to be the answer. The truth is that this job is too fluid and too unpredictable to be able to plan completely for what is to come. This semester we've seen a change in ACF dynamics as well as new work in the nursing school, neither of which I would have anticipated coming into the year. Every year something new happens that wasn't expected, which puts everything out of sync and puts everything into "survival mode."

What this season reminds me is that this is not a job where you can "fake it 'til you make it." Surviving and thriving means complete dependence on Jesus. The more I try and play "catch up" the further behind I get. This job means first and foremost, Jesus is in charge.

Friends, there are so many points of prayer but I want to highlight a few.
- Students are STRESSED right now. Pray that they will not turn to their own strength but turn to Jesus.
- Pray for HEALTH for both Megan and me. Now is not the time to get sick.
- Pray for PROVISION as we continue to work on our funding.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Road Trip!

Hello, friends!

Happy November to you all. It's Thanksgiving season, or if you ask some of the radio stations around here, it's Christmas season already. =0).

We've been working hard out here in Mid-Missouri. ACF is doing well; our numbers are down but we have a really solid core of students who love Jesus and are learning how to lead. International Christian Fellowship (ICF) is doing well too; Megan has been having so much fun gathering students and building a core. On Halloween we had 20 or so students over to carve pumpkins. =0). I've also been having a blast working with the ladies of Nursing Christian Fellowship (NCF) at Mizzou. We've had about a dozen or so ladies at each of the bible studies and the leaders are definitely women who love Jesus and love nursing. As the son of a nurse it warms my heart to see the next generation in action. 

I could spend much more time talking about each of the campuses where work IS happening (including Columbia College, where Charis continues to do good work in planting the chapter there) but this weekend was kind of special becuase we got to spend time on campuses where there ISN'T any InterVaristy work.

Earlier this semester, our Area Director proposed what he called a "discipleship road trip." The goal was to get students from St. Louis and Columbia, where all of our student work in the state currently is, on the road and scouting new campuses to see if there was potential to start new InterVaristy work there. Our goals were 3 fold. 1) We wanted to scout new campuses, 2) We wanted to give students a chance to be included in our planting vision, and 3) We wanted to show potential staff candidates what it would look like for them to be a part of the team in Mid-Missouri.

Friends, we had ourselves a PACKED weekend. Students arrived in Columbia around 10am where we started with some vision casting and training. From there we spent the first part of the afternoon scouting Mizzou then we broke up into 3 teams and went to Lincoln University (Jefferson City), Westminster College (Fulton), and Central Methodist University (Fayette). We came home around 6 for debrief and more teaching before heading to La Casa Leong for games and fellowship. Sunday morning we went to church together then spent our last chunk of time scouting Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, MO.

Looking back, I'm still not sure of what to make of our time together. On the one hand, we did get to scout some colleges and it feels like there may be some momentum at Lincoln University to potentially explore more. Students did get to see more of Mid-Missouri and in general, I think students had a good time. However, I'm not sure how well we were able to cast vision for what is happening outside of St. Louis and get potential staff excited about the possibility of moving out here to be a part of the team. Still, I'm glad it happened and I'm glad that students were able to partner with us to scout some campuses that we may not have gotten to this semester otherwise.

One last thought about scouting is that as I've scouted more and more campuses, I've learned more about what constitutes "success" and "failure" in terms of scouting. Early in my staff career, I though a successful scouting trip was only one that led to a chapter plant. If I didn't find students who wanted to start a group or administrators who felt like we were absolutely needed on campus, it felt like that scouting trip was a failure. Now I see that God speaks both in the affirmative as well as the negative. There are something like a dozen campuses within an hour of Mizzou (Columbia College, Stephens College, 2 Moberly Area Community Colleges, Central Methodist, State Fair Community College, Central Missouri University, Westminster College, William Woods, Lincoln University, etc.). Our team would potentially kill ourselves trying to get to all those campuses at once. Sometimes when we scout, the best thing we can hear is a "no, not yet" from God, which is a really freeing thing.

So friends, please be praying for us as we continue the discernment of where to plant next. There are a lot of options but we want to be seeking out Jesus in how we are planting.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Conviction and Resolution

Hello, friends!

I was having lunch with a few of my friends Saturday and a thought came to mind so I asked them both this question:

Have either of your churches made any reference, or even mention, of the racial tensions happening in St. Louis and what the role of the Church (Capital "C") is supposed to be in the midst of the tragedy?

Both men thought about it for a bit then both agreed that neither of their churches have made any mention of the incident in the 2 months since it has happened. My church hasn't either.

We're going through a series at church about the Church (with a capital "C") and its role in the Kingdom of God. Our pastor made the points that the Church is supposed to reflect God's power and majesty. I couldn't help but get the feeling that reflecting God's power and majesty also means making note of issues that are happening just down the road from us that are issues of injustice and racial tension. I can't speak for other churches in the community but I can't help but feel like we are letting the Church down by not making this a point of conversation.

Of course, that immediately made me think of my own ministry and sphere of influence. I've done my best to make mention of Ferguson in the teachings that we have on Wednesday nights but I'm sure there is more that could be done. In some ways, I feel paralyzed by ignorance; I don't know what to do from 120 miles west of where everything happened. But, I'm sure there's something I can be doing and I'm sure it could be more.

A few weeks ago I was talking to some of our ACF students, right after Michael Brown was shot, and they actually had no idea of what had happened. These are students who live in St. Louis County but still hadn't heard about the situation just a few miles east. It breaks my heart to think that there may be more that I can do to get students to think about justice and racial reconciliation.

So, my friends, my hope is that you'll join me. Regardless of where you are in the country, join me in praying for wisdom in how to be a bridge builder for St. Louis. I'm not sure what conclusions we will reach or what God will call us to do. What I do know is that it will almost certainly be more than what I am doing now.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

What Did We Do to Deserve This?

Hello, friends!

I'm writing to you from the basement of one of the student centers here at Mizzou, getting a bunch of admin done before the start of a new week and new craziness that always seems to come with working with college students.

As I sit here preparing for the week ahead, setting up meetings, trying to put my week together, and working on what needs to get done, I was struck by how much Megan and I have been blessed by God in the past few weeks. In all phases of life and ministry, God has continued to be faithful, in ways both large and small.

Campus wise, things can always be better, but honestly, I can't help but feel blessed. The International Student Ministry that Megan has been planting continues to grow. I've been having fun working with a small group in the School of Nursing and I've also felt a lot of peace about the fact that ACF is not as big as it was last year in terms of students participating.

There are other parts to ministry as well. I mentioned last week that I'm spending much more of my time working on our funding, getting it to a healthy level so that both Megan and I can continue to do what we do. Just in the past few weeks we've seen our deficit drop from $20,000 to just under $16,000 in unsolicited partnership.

We were also blessed this past week by having Megan's sister, brother-in-law, and nephew come to visit us for a few days. I'm so thankful that we have family that loves us and wants to spend time with us.

Friends, this season is always a busy one during the semester, when things are constantly happening and usually something is going differently than we plan. I'm encouraged that my attitude at this point is one of optimism. My body and mind are definitely tired but my spirit is upbeat and strong. My prayer is that this will continue as more craziness comes.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

On Conferences, Roles, and Other Things of Interest...

Hello, friends!

I hope this blog finds you well. I have to confess, in the midst of all the craziness that has happened these past few weeks, being diligent in my blogging has not been a strength of mine. I sincerely apologize.

Friends, this is my 8th year working for InterVaristy and I can say with all honesty that this year is the busiest I have ever found myself. Normally, as I enter a new school year, my mind is focused on only one thing: How do we start off the ACF year strong. However, this year, the number of things on my plate and hats I has put me in unknown territory. Here are my roles for this semester:

- Staff for Mizzou Nurses Christian Fellowship. One pleasant surprise from the summer was learning that there was a Nurses Christian Fellowship (NCF) at Mizzou! At the beginning of the year I was able to connect with the students and faculty who lead the group and am now resourcing them with all the goodies that InterVaristy has to offer. Two students even joined us for Fall Conference!

- Fall Conference Director. Speaking of Fall Conference, this past weekend, 150 students from Columbia and St. Louis came together at Re:Act, Missouri's Fall Conference, to hear the Word, be in community, and reconnect with Jesus. Our speaker was Elizabeth English, whom I affectionately call "La Capitana" from back in the day when she was my supervisor. La Cap taught on Acts 1-2, talking about what it means to hear God's voice and how to then follow Jesus into mission. 18 Mizzou students came for the weekend, and of the 150, one student gave her life to Jesus for the first time and another 7 made re commitments! I had the honor of directing the conference, which meant tons of preparations as my team and I planned each session, seminars, rec time, hospitality, and registration. I'm not saying it was exhausting, I'm just saying that last week I put in close to 70 hours of work.

- Cambodia GP Director: It's hard to fathom that it was over 2 months ago that we returned from Cambodia. Still, it's something that still has an impact in a number of ways, one of which is that the first month of this year (The InterVarsity year starts July 1), I spent time in Cambodia instead of preparing for the school year. You can learn more about my trip by checking out the super blog.

- Supervising Staff. This is the second year I am supervising staff for InterVarsity. There is one full time staff, one intern, and one volunteer who all have different needs, personalities, and growth edges. It is such a pleasure to be able to supervise staff and help then through these first few years of staff life. 

- Fundraiser. Through a combination of events, including Megan moving to Columbia, an increased budget to take into account our new roles as team leaders, and the general craziness that comes from transition, Megan and I find ourselves a bit behind in our fundraising. I do not doubt that God will provide but I know that $20,000 is no small number and I am going to have to put my best foot forward to make sure we are fully funded come the end of the year. 

- Area Leadership Team. A new role that I have this year is as a member of the Area Leadership Team. This role includes shaping the vision and direction of the Area, making sure that we are all moving in the same direction as a movement, and not just a collection of individual campuses. 

- Staff for Mizzou ACF. I intentionally put this last because in many ways it is the role that has suffered the most this year. With so many other responsibilities, the fact of the matter is that I can't devote the same time to ACF that I was once able to devote, nor should I. It has been a hard transition, not spending most every hour of my day thinking about ACF, but I believe it is a necessary one. 

So, friends, please be praying for Megan and me. Pray for our funding. Pray for the students and staff that we are influencing. Pray for rest for us and for good boundaries to be set. Pray that we will be filled with the Spirit as we pour out into others. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Convictions

Hello, friends!

I missions trip wouldn’t be a good trip unless I could recount some ways that I saw Jesus work in me as well as in the rest of the team, yeah? I mean, a missions trip without Jesus slapping me upside the head would just be a vacation, wouldn’t it? =0). As I look back on my month in Cambodia, I think there were 3 big convictions that Jesus had for me.

1.       I have spiritual authority. Coming into the trip, my role was to lead worship, take care of the accounting, and enforce risk management. Essentially, I had to play a guitar, make sure we didn’t lose the money, and keep everyone  from getting killed. I was more than happy to take on those roles as I figured that it would be easy enough to do and allow me to not have to get too much into the emotional aspect of the trip. Especially with as many “feelers” that we had on the team, I was looking forward to staying out of the fray while sticking with our accounting spreadsheet. Of course, God had something more in store. We were in San Francisco during our layover when I was hanging out with Jesus when I heard really clearly, “You are more than a director. I have something in Cambodia for you too.” It wasn’t more than 2 or 3 days into the trip before I was able to do prayer ministry for one of the folk on our team and later in the trip I was able to do prayer ministry for another teammate. Throughout the trip I found myself in situations where I needed to exert my spiritual authority. Looking back, I’m glad for those experiences, as difficult as they were, because it gave me more of a sense of purpose for the trip.

2.       Worship is about the heart. I’m pretty sure that my years of being a worship leader, while helpful in a number of ways, also ruined me in other ways, particularly in terms of the critical ear that I take to musical worship. While we were staying in the student center we met a Khmer student who absolutely had a heart for Jesus, especially for musical worship. He led worship for his church, was a great guitarist, and generally had a beautiful heart that loved Jesus. For the first week of the trip, I was bothered to no end because he was constantly singing worship songs but would miss a note here or there and miss it LOUDLY, without shame. I’m not sure if he knew he was missing the note or not but I noticed and it bothered me because the worship leader in me is always aware of missed notes, missed beats, and other things that may “take away from the worship experience. I was hanging out with Jesus one morning and my thoughts wandered to when Samuel anointed David to be the next king of Israel (1Samuel 16). Jesse paraded his sons in front of Samuel and even though Samuel thought that Jesse’s first son had the look of a king, God said that God “looks at the heart.” Bam. It was in that moment I was convicted to not look at the outward appearance (or in this case, the notes that came out of the student’s mouth) but to look at the student’s heart. When I did that, I was able to worship with him and not let something small like my ears get in the way.

3.       I would go back. The original plan was for me to go to Cambodia for a month, get “Did and overseas mission trip” checked off my IV staff bingo card, and then spend the rest of my life stateside, never to consider leaving North America again (except on vacation). Well, after spending a month in Cambodia, falling in love with the people, the culture, and the work that God is doing there, I can honestly say that I would go back. I don’t know if I will get the chance or if it will be Cambodia or some other country but I’m at least open to it, which is more than I can say from before I left in July.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

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The Cambodian Super Blog!

Hello, friends!

After a month of processing, planning, and trying to get back into the swing of things (link to blog post), it’s finally time for the Cambodia Blog!

My original plan was to write a “travel journal” of sorts, chronicling each day of the trip then just posting the journal when I returned. That lasted all of 5 minutes when I realized how jam packed the trip was going to be. I barely had enough time for my own thought, let alone time to form them into readable blog posts.

So instead, you get this. Each link below will take you to a different blog post about a different topic or part of the trip. I tried to be as comprehensive as possible while still being concise enough that it wouldn’t take a semester to read (or write). Of course, if you have any questions about the trip or want to hear more stories, feel free to drop me a line! (insert email address)

If you’re not into reading a bunch of blog posts all at once, I can give you the quick summary. Cambodia changed me. There, I saw the beauty of the Gospel going to places of deep poverty and brokenness. I fell in love with the country, its people, its culture, and its church. It changed how I see missions, how I see my life here in the US, and how I see Jesus, all in good ways. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Don’t Worry Guys, I Have a Plan

Preserving the Space-Time Continuum

Yeah, But It’s a Dry Heat… Oh Wait, No it Isn’t

Cambodia Team… Assemble!

Chom Reap Su-a!

Being a Tourist

Seconds please!

It’s kind of like a river

What is the Khmer Church?

English Camp

We’re All in This Together

The Dark Side
Oh, Did They Play Today?

Convictions

Don't Worry Guys, I Have A Plan

Hello, friends!

As you may well know, I am a planner. I like to have plans. I like to know what is going to happen, how it is going to happen, and when it is going to happen. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when it turned out that Steph, our on the ground director, had everything planned out. Then, of course, I was less than ecstatic when we got to Cambodia and I realized that plans are more like “general guidelines” and that many of the things we had planned were probably going to happen differently than we anticipated.  

Living Situation? Well, there are a few more rules and such we didn’t tell you about before you came.

English Camp? So, here’s the thing about that and we may have to change a few things. (More on that here) (POST LINK).

Schedule and Team Times? Yeah, those were up in the air from the jump though, weren’t they?

I won’t say that nothing went according to plan. In fact, one of the things that took me by surprise was how quickly I found a rhythm in Cambodia. It was nice being able to go to sleep around the same time every night and wake up around the same time. There were plenty of things that didn’t go according to plan but we came up with something quickly enough that it didn’t feel like a total loss.

Much of that is probably the culture. I’m sure much of it was the fact that this was our very first Global Project. It was also the first time InterVaristy had sent a team of students to Cambodia, so that probably played a factor too. The important thing is that we made it and I was able to preserve part of my sanity.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

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