Hello, friends!
First of all, Happy Independence Day! Isn't it great that we live in a country where a guy can blog about random thoughts and ministry happenings without worries or persecution or oppression? God Bless America. =0).
As you are reading this, there is a good chance that we are on our way to Chicago so we can catch our flight to Cambodia! After months and months of planning, recruiting, preparing, and praying, the trip is finally here!
I don't know that I'll be able to blog much while we are in Cambodia so I wanted to ask one more time for your prayers. We are going to need a lot of it and you can never have too much of it, right? Here are a few specifics:
Journey's mercies. There area a lot of moving parts here. We are driving to Chicago to catch a flight to San Francisco. 12 hours later we fly from SFO to Taipei where we catch a flight to Phnom Penh. We leave 1pm on Saturday and arrive @ 1pm on Monday. Our trip back includes stops in Taipei, LA, Cincinnati, and Chicago. That doesn't even include the traveling we'll be doing by foot, motorbike and bicycle carriage (called "tuk-tuks"). Pray for safety and that the logistics will be on our side.
Team cohesion. Pray for Megan, Megan, Ellen, Julia, Alanah, Grace, Nathan, Colter, and myself as we work together for an entire month. I know that conflicts will arrive. My prayer is that we will resolve them in a way that shows Christ's love. Also be praying for Megan and me as we lead the team. It should be a blast.
Spirit movement. None of this matters if Jesus does not go before us to prepare the way. Please pray that God will be moving in our hearts as well as the hearts of the college students we will be encountering. I know that we won't come in and save the whole county in just a month but if we can help start a student movement that will eventually win back Cambodia for the Kingdom, then that will be pretty sweet.
Have an excellent month! =0).
~Adam
Friday, July 4, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Happy New Year!
Hello, friends!
It's July, which means it is the beginning of the InterVarsity year. This will be my 8th year working for Intervarsity, which means not only have I lived in Columbia just about twice as long as I lived in St. Louis, but it also means that we are getting closer to my 10 year college reunion. Time sure flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?
Since it is the beginning of a new year, I thought it would be fun to lay out a few New Year's resolutions for 2014-2015. God totally blessed me vocationally, relationally, communally, and in a whole bunch of other ways during the past year. Still, as I like to say, there is still much work to be done.
My New Year's Resolutions for 2014-2015:
1) Spend at least an hour a week interceding and listening for students. For as long as I can remember, an area for growth for me has been to pray more. I remember my second year on staff when my planting coach asked me what my goals were for the year. I told her that my goals were 40 regular attenders and 12 conversions. She looked me dead in the eye and said, "You don't pray enough for that to happen." Instead of just making my resolution to be to "pray more," I decided to be more specific. I want to spend significant time each week interceding on behalf of students but also listening to see if Jesus has a word for them.
2) Be more intentional about building up leaders. Every year the goal is to have more leaders rising than leaders leaving. A lot of this is happens through intentional investment. I think in the past few years as I have tried to step back from my ACF responsibilities in order to take on more responsibilities as a Team Leader for Columbia, I have spent more time intentionally looking for and developing leaders and left it up more to the students to recruit one another. While there is value in that, I think this year I need to make sure that I am setting the tone of developing followers of Jesus.
3) Plant something. It's been a long time since I've planted anything that stuck. 3 years ago I tried planting a Black Campus Ministry at Mizzou that didn't quite gain traction. 2 years ago the same thing happened at Florissant Valley Community College in St. Louis. This year I spent the first semester scouting before as a team we decided that Megan would be planting an ISM chapter at Mizzou. This year, I want to plant something and have it stick. We'll see what it turns out to be. =0).
4) Get fully funded. The past 2 years, because of new responsibilities, a number of transitions, and just general lack of diligence, our funding hasn't put us in dire straits but it has taken a hit. Just like anything that isn't checked on regularly, eventually deterioration happens. This year our budget will be increasing yet again to $125,000 and I believe that God will provide for us.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
It's July, which means it is the beginning of the InterVarsity year. This will be my 8th year working for Intervarsity, which means not only have I lived in Columbia just about twice as long as I lived in St. Louis, but it also means that we are getting closer to my 10 year college reunion. Time sure flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?
Since it is the beginning of a new year, I thought it would be fun to lay out a few New Year's resolutions for 2014-2015. God totally blessed me vocationally, relationally, communally, and in a whole bunch of other ways during the past year. Still, as I like to say, there is still much work to be done.
My New Year's Resolutions for 2014-2015:
1) Spend at least an hour a week interceding and listening for students. For as long as I can remember, an area for growth for me has been to pray more. I remember my second year on staff when my planting coach asked me what my goals were for the year. I told her that my goals were 40 regular attenders and 12 conversions. She looked me dead in the eye and said, "You don't pray enough for that to happen." Instead of just making my resolution to be to "pray more," I decided to be more specific. I want to spend significant time each week interceding on behalf of students but also listening to see if Jesus has a word for them.
2) Be more intentional about building up leaders. Every year the goal is to have more leaders rising than leaders leaving. A lot of this is happens through intentional investment. I think in the past few years as I have tried to step back from my ACF responsibilities in order to take on more responsibilities as a Team Leader for Columbia, I have spent more time intentionally looking for and developing leaders and left it up more to the students to recruit one another. While there is value in that, I think this year I need to make sure that I am setting the tone of developing followers of Jesus.
3) Plant something. It's been a long time since I've planted anything that stuck. 3 years ago I tried planting a Black Campus Ministry at Mizzou that didn't quite gain traction. 2 years ago the same thing happened at Florissant Valley Community College in St. Louis. This year I spent the first semester scouting before as a team we decided that Megan would be planting an ISM chapter at Mizzou. This year, I want to plant something and have it stick. We'll see what it turns out to be. =0).
4) Get fully funded. The past 2 years, because of new responsibilities, a number of transitions, and just general lack of diligence, our funding hasn't put us in dire straits but it has taken a hit. Just like anything that isn't checked on regularly, eventually deterioration happens. This year our budget will be increasing yet again to $125,000 and I believe that God will provide for us.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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