Hello, friends!
In case I haven't said it enough already, happy 2016! The year has already been full of many fun (and not so fun) and exciting things! Apparently, it's going to be kind of a big year. =0).
Like I'd said a few weeks ago, I wanted to blog about Urbana but I knew that it was going to take more than just one blog post. Not only is Urbana itself a really complex conference but this year was especially complex and my role was equally so. One post wouldn't do it justice, so I've decided to break out the Super Blog!
Below you can find the titles of the various blog posts with my thoughts about Urbana15. Some posts are lighter than others. Some posts are longer than others. You can take them in all at once or peruse at your own pace. It's all good. My hope is that through these various posts, you'll be able to see the scope of the Urbana15 experience from my perspective, get a little bit more of a sense of what it is that I do, and see "behind the curtain" in terms of how InterVarsity functions.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Staff But Not...
Solutions...
Monday Night...
Rocking the Mic...
Ezra and Urbana...
Ringing in the New Year...
So, What's Next...
Friday, January 22, 2016
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Looking Back at 30...
Hello, friends!
First of all, thanks so much to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. It has been a pretty great day. I got up early to get some work done, Meg and I had lunch, she made an AMAZING ice cream cake, and Ezra and I got to play.
As today was approaching, I got to thinking about how big of a year 30 was for me. Here are some highlights:
- I became a father! If that isn't a huge life change, I really don't know what is.
- I left the help of Mizzou ACF. After 8 years of being in charge, this past year was the first that I wasn't running the show.
- I started something new at Lincoln University. It's been a wild semester and I'm looking forward to another new adventure there this Spring.
- I had some breakthroughs in my ethnic identity journey. The #BlackLivesMatter issue really made me ask myself some tough questions, make some real decisions, and take some serious risks. Through it all, God has shown me a lot about myself, including how I see myself as a Chinese American, my voice in the greater issue of systemic racism, and how I can bring the Gospel to those who are different from me.
I don't know what 31 will hold for me. I know that it's going to be the year of faithfulness. I know that there will be joys and there will be trials. I know that God will be good. I know that I'll keep blogging. I know that a few of you will keep reading and I know that I'll be grateful for your support. =0).
Here's to (at least) 31 more years!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
First of all, thanks so much to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. It has been a pretty great day. I got up early to get some work done, Meg and I had lunch, she made an AMAZING ice cream cake, and Ezra and I got to play.
As today was approaching, I got to thinking about how big of a year 30 was for me. Here are some highlights:
- I became a father! If that isn't a huge life change, I really don't know what is.
- I left the help of Mizzou ACF. After 8 years of being in charge, this past year was the first that I wasn't running the show.
- I started something new at Lincoln University. It's been a wild semester and I'm looking forward to another new adventure there this Spring.
- I had some breakthroughs in my ethnic identity journey. The #BlackLivesMatter issue really made me ask myself some tough questions, make some real decisions, and take some serious risks. Through it all, God has shown me a lot about myself, including how I see myself as a Chinese American, my voice in the greater issue of systemic racism, and how I can bring the Gospel to those who are different from me.
I don't know what 31 will hold for me. I know that it's going to be the year of faithfulness. I know that there will be joys and there will be trials. I know that God will be good. I know that I'll keep blogging. I know that a few of you will keep reading and I know that I'll be grateful for your support. =0).
Here's to (at least) 31 more years!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Friday, January 8, 2016
Urbana Appetizer...
Hello, friends!
Right now I'm working on a Superblog for the Urbana conference (spoiler alert: it was amazing!) but given all the attention and publicity that InterVarsity has received in the past few weeks since Urbana, I figured that I should at least address the question on everybody's mind: What happened with Michelle Higgins?!
I'm definitely going to have a lot of thoughts about what happened December 28 as well as everything that has happened since then but before we can get into that, there's some work that needs to be done.
A lot of speculation and assumption has been made about what she said or didn't say. Headlines and secondhand reports tend to blow things out of proportion because the media is in the business of selling clicks and controversy gets clicks. So, while I have plenty to say about what went down, the most important thing I can do is say this: Watch the video. Actually listen to her words. Hear what she says and what she doesn't say. Without this context, everything is just noise.
Here's the video of just Michelle:
If you have the time, please check out the entire night's session for even more context.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Right now I'm working on a Superblog for the Urbana conference (spoiler alert: it was amazing!) but given all the attention and publicity that InterVarsity has received in the past few weeks since Urbana, I figured that I should at least address the question on everybody's mind: What happened with Michelle Higgins?!
I'm definitely going to have a lot of thoughts about what happened December 28 as well as everything that has happened since then but before we can get into that, there's some work that needs to be done.
A lot of speculation and assumption has been made about what she said or didn't say. Headlines and secondhand reports tend to blow things out of proportion because the media is in the business of selling clicks and controversy gets clicks. So, while I have plenty to say about what went down, the most important thing I can do is say this: Watch the video. Actually listen to her words. Hear what she says and what she doesn't say. Without this context, everything is just noise.
Here's the video of just Michelle:
If you have the time, please check out the entire night's session for even more context.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Friday, January 1, 2016
So What's Next...
Hello, friends!
The big question after every conference is always, "So, what's next?" I think this is the right question on multiple levels.
On one hand, I think it's a good question to ask to get us thinking about how to take what we've learned and experienced and bring it back to the campus. I mean this on the staff as well as the student level. Conferences don't do us any good if they don't fundamentally change who we see ourselves as in Christ and how we bring the Gospel back to the campus. Not every student will have an earth shattering, mind blowing, paradigm shifting experience at every conference but we should be striving towards change and Urbana is no different.
On the other hand, I think "So, what's next?" is a good question to ask because it's important to be moving forward. Reliving the good times, the great worship, the powerful speakers, and the thought provoking seminars is a good thing. Reflection is always a good thing. But we can't live in the past. We can't go home, look around us and say, "man, I wish I was still at Urbana." That leads to disengagement, not engagement, which is a problem.
So, what's next for me. A few things, actually! A student from Missouri State in Springfield and a black student from Mizzou both attended Urbana as their first forays into the InterVarsity world. Both came home wanting to start a bible study among their friends and I'll have the pleasure of coaching them through the endeavor. I don't know if we'll get new chapters started from these bible studies but it's worth a shot, right? =0).
Friends, please be praying for us as we get further and further away from Urbana and deeper and deeper into the semester. This is the time when vision leaks, students get busy, and momentum is lost. Please pray that the good work that began in St. Louis will continue through the semester in Columbia (and Springfield) and go beyond to Jefferson City, Moberly, Fulton, and beyond.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
BACK TO HOME
The big question after every conference is always, "So, what's next?" I think this is the right question on multiple levels.
On one hand, I think it's a good question to ask to get us thinking about how to take what we've learned and experienced and bring it back to the campus. I mean this on the staff as well as the student level. Conferences don't do us any good if they don't fundamentally change who we see ourselves as in Christ and how we bring the Gospel back to the campus. Not every student will have an earth shattering, mind blowing, paradigm shifting experience at every conference but we should be striving towards change and Urbana is no different.
On the other hand, I think "So, what's next?" is a good question to ask because it's important to be moving forward. Reliving the good times, the great worship, the powerful speakers, and the thought provoking seminars is a good thing. Reflection is always a good thing. But we can't live in the past. We can't go home, look around us and say, "man, I wish I was still at Urbana." That leads to disengagement, not engagement, which is a problem.
So, what's next for me. A few things, actually! A student from Missouri State in Springfield and a black student from Mizzou both attended Urbana as their first forays into the InterVarsity world. Both came home wanting to start a bible study among their friends and I'll have the pleasure of coaching them through the endeavor. I don't know if we'll get new chapters started from these bible studies but it's worth a shot, right? =0).
Friends, please be praying for us as we get further and further away from Urbana and deeper and deeper into the semester. This is the time when vision leaks, students get busy, and momentum is lost. Please pray that the good work that began in St. Louis will continue through the semester in Columbia (and Springfield) and go beyond to Jefferson City, Moberly, Fulton, and beyond.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
BACK TO HOME
Ringing in the New Year...
Hello, friends!
One of my favorite things about Urbana is the ending. I don't mean that I like Urbana being over. Rather, I think that the last night of Urbana, December 31, is one of the coolest ways to ring in the new year.
Allow me to set the stage for you. The final night of Urbana actually has 2 acts. The first act is the normal plenary session. There's the amazing worship, great speakers, wonderful arts ministries, and the like. The crazy part about the first session is communion. Have you ever seen 16,000 people all partake of communion at the same time? Think about the logistics it takes to get something like that done. And they do it in less than 30 minutes! It's pretty amazing.
What gets even more amazing is the second session though. After the first session ends around 9:30 or so, there's a 45 minute intermission followed by a worship set that goes until the midnight. I can't think of a better way to end the year than with 90+ minutes of praising Jesus after being in his presence for 5 days. It's always an amazing spectacle to see.
This was my fourth Urbana and as I was thinking back, I actually realized that for as great as the last night is, I don't think I've ever had a care free experience ringing in the New Year Urbana style. Let's run though the recap:
- 2006: My girlfriend at the time broke up with me 3 times during Urbana. The final time came right in between the first and second set on the 31st. Needless to say, I was less than excited.
- 2009: The worship leader lost track of time and actually did the countdown 2 or 3 minutes after midnight. Everyone in my section of seats knew it so it was a bit of a downer.
- 2012: The night itself went great! The problem was the phone call I got in the middle of the night because a car of ACFers had skidded on some ice and the car spun. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured but I was less than pleased when I heard that not everyone was wearing a seat belt. I didn't sleep really well that night, which is kind of amazing given how tired I probably was.
- 2015: This year we decided to skip the second set altogether. Ezra was at Aunt Judi's, Megan and I were both exhausted, and my parents had come in for the early session so we had a ride ready to go. Instead of getting up early in the morning to check out and do all that stuff, we decided to spend the second set packing and heading out. We made it to Aunt Judi's in just enough time to see the clock strike midnight and Ezra get up for a midnight snack. =0).
Do I regret any of my New Year's Eve escapades? Nope! They are each memorable in their own way. This past year in particular felt like the right call. I'm getting older, and New Year's Eve doesn't have the same meaning it used to... well, except for watching Casablanca at midnight, which I've done every year since I was 10. =0).
Have an excellent day!
Ezra and Urbana
Hello, friends!
OK, so when I said that I had two jobs at Urbana, I forgot that I actually had a third one: being Ezra's dad. =0). This was my first year staffing Urbana as a father and boy did I learn a few things.
For all the things that Urbana does well, it really isn't a kid friendly place. Children weren't actually allowed in the America's Center where everything was taking place. I'm guessing it's for safety reasons and I ultimately don't have a problem with it. However, those policies, along with our Urbana jobs, along with Ezra still breastfeeding, made for some very interesting scheduling.
Things started with the hotel situation. The Pan Asian North American Student Lounge (where I was working) was at the Holiday Inn close to the America's Center. The International Student Lounge (where Megan was working) was at the Hyatt, about a half mile from the America's Center. Given that Ezra was going to need to eat regularly, we wanted to stay at the Hyatt for easy access. Of course, we got put in the Holiday Inn. Thankfully, there was another staff in the Hyatt who wanted to switch to the Holiday Inn so we were able to take care of that.
Another huge blessing was that my parents were in town. Actually, my brother and sister came into town too. This year we were supposed to do Christmas with my side of the family in California (my older sister was going to be in Australia visiting relatives her husband's side of the family). However, that would have meant that I would have needed to fly out on Christmas because my Urbana registration job started @ 9am on the 26th. Instead of that silliness, Mama, Papa, Phuzz, and the Kid came to St. Louis to spend Christmas with us and my Aunt Judi's family who lives in St. Louis. Mama and Papa then stayed to watch Ezra during Urbana when we couldn't. Hooray for family!
Schedule-wise, things went like this:
- In the morning, Megan took care of Ezra while I worked, mostly checking in folk who had gotten day passes from us to check out Urbana for a day.
- In the late morning/early afternoon, my parents came to take care of Ezra. 2 of the days Mama just stayed in the hotel and 3 of the days they took him back to Aunt Judi's house.
- In the afternoon, Megan and I worked in our respective lounges while Ezra probably took a lot of selfie's with his cousins.
- In the evening, I would watch Ezra at the hotel room while Meg went with her students to the evening session.
Friends, it worked but it was pretty exhausting. We are so thankful for the logistics working out with the hotel, jobs that were synced up well, and family that was willing to come and help. We're pretty sure we won't do it that way again though. InterVarsity has a nursing exception for mothers with small children. We didn't take it think year because we didn't know how much work it was going to be to coordinate everything. You'd better believe that if we have another little one come Urbana18, Megan will definitely take it. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
BACK TO HOME
OK, so when I said that I had two jobs at Urbana, I forgot that I actually had a third one: being Ezra's dad. =0). This was my first year staffing Urbana as a father and boy did I learn a few things.
For all the things that Urbana does well, it really isn't a kid friendly place. Children weren't actually allowed in the America's Center where everything was taking place. I'm guessing it's for safety reasons and I ultimately don't have a problem with it. However, those policies, along with our Urbana jobs, along with Ezra still breastfeeding, made for some very interesting scheduling.
Things started with the hotel situation. The Pan Asian North American Student Lounge (where I was working) was at the Holiday Inn close to the America's Center. The International Student Lounge (where Megan was working) was at the Hyatt, about a half mile from the America's Center. Given that Ezra was going to need to eat regularly, we wanted to stay at the Hyatt for easy access. Of course, we got put in the Holiday Inn. Thankfully, there was another staff in the Hyatt who wanted to switch to the Holiday Inn so we were able to take care of that.
Another huge blessing was that my parents were in town. Actually, my brother and sister came into town too. This year we were supposed to do Christmas with my side of the family in California (my older sister was going to be in Australia visiting relatives her husband's side of the family). However, that would have meant that I would have needed to fly out on Christmas because my Urbana registration job started @ 9am on the 26th. Instead of that silliness, Mama, Papa, Phuzz, and the Kid came to St. Louis to spend Christmas with us and my Aunt Judi's family who lives in St. Louis. Mama and Papa then stayed to watch Ezra during Urbana when we couldn't. Hooray for family!
Schedule-wise, things went like this:
- In the morning, Megan took care of Ezra while I worked, mostly checking in folk who had gotten day passes from us to check out Urbana for a day.
- In the late morning/early afternoon, my parents came to take care of Ezra. 2 of the days Mama just stayed in the hotel and 3 of the days they took him back to Aunt Judi's house.
- In the afternoon, Megan and I worked in our respective lounges while Ezra probably took a lot of selfie's with his cousins.
- In the evening, I would watch Ezra at the hotel room while Meg went with her students to the evening session.
Friends, it worked but it was pretty exhausting. We are so thankful for the logistics working out with the hotel, jobs that were synced up well, and family that was willing to come and help. We're pretty sure we won't do it that way again though. InterVarsity has a nursing exception for mothers with small children. We didn't take it think year because we didn't know how much work it was going to be to coordinate everything. You'd better believe that if we have another little one come Urbana18, Megan will definitely take it. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
BACK TO HOME
Rocking the Mic...
Hello, friends!
Like I'd said in a previous post, I had 2 official Urbana jobs. One was working in Solutions, which was a lot of fun. The second job was also tons of fun. I was working in the Pan Asian North American Student Lounge as a host and eventually as the MC for the week.
First, let's talk about the name. It's a long name for sure but each piece is important. Let's start from the back and work our way forward:
- Student Lounge: Well, this should be pretty self explanatory. Urbana is a conference for students so the lounge should be for students too. With all the hustle and bustle of Urbana, we wanted to provide a place where students could relax and connect.
- North American: Urbana is not just a US student conference but had students literally from all over the world. The two biggest sending countries were the US and Canada. We wanted to make sure that our friends to the north knew that they were welcome. In the US we use the term Asian American. In Canada, they use the term Asian Canadian. Making sure students knew that all of North America was included was important. (Note: There was also a lounge for international students that Megan led so everyone was covered.)
- Pan Asian: When you think of the term "Asian American" what comes to mind? Probably you're thinking of East Asians; Chinese, Korean, Japanese. There's nothing inherently wrong with that but Asia is actually a pretty diverse continent. There as South Asians (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanaka, etc.), South East Asians (Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, etc.) and even different ethnic groups inside of those countries (like the Hmong in China). We wanted to make sure that everyone knew they were welcome.
OK, so what actually happened in the lounge? There were 3 main parts to it. Part One was the relaxing. We had snacks, music, games to play, a selfie station, and all sorts of good stuff. We wanted students to be able to take a break from the intensity of the conference if they needed. Part Two was the mentoring and Special Guests. Each day we had a different theme (STEM, Law and Politics, the Arts, and Vocational Ministry) and special guests who were in those fields. Students could have conversations with these folk and receive a little mentoring. We also had my man Jason Chu perform a few numbers for us, which was pretty great.
Part 3 may have been my favorite part though. Each day in the lounge we had special gatherings for students to connect to one another and see the diversity and togetherness of Asian America. We had special gatherings for Southeast Asian students, for Filipino students (also Southeast Asian but there were so many of them they had a separate gathering too), for South Asian students, for adopted children, and for Korean students. At each of the gatherings we had special food to speak to their hearts and our staff were able to cast vision for the students as a whole to reach their corners of their campuses. Even inside our Asian American chapters, we need more diversity.
What about me? What was my job specifically? Well, the general staff job for the lounge was to be around, connect with students, make sure there were enough snacks, and generally have a good time. Since I was the closest staff to St. Louis, my other job was to procure a sound system for us to use so we could play music and make announcements. As we were setting up on Day 1, the director of the lounge asked me and another woman if we had any MC experience. Y'all know that I do so suddenly, she and I were the hosts and MC's for the lounge, making announcements, introducing the special guests, and taking care of the music.
Y'all know me. You know I loved that job. It's a no brainer right? All I have to do is be up in front of folk, give instructions, tell a few jokes and put on some tunes? Sign me up for that everyday of the week and twice on Sunday. The only part that I didn't like was the travel. See, the lounge was right by the Dome where everything was happening but my hotel, where all the A/V equipment was, was about a half mile away. Forgetting a cable then having to run back and forth to get it was not my idea of a grand old time. =0).
So, that was me at Urbana. I would absolutely do it again in a heartbeat. I ate good food, hung out with students, put my skills on the mic to good use, and didn't have to be out in the cold. All said and done, I'd say it was a pretty good Urbana job.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
BACK TO HOME
Like I'd said in a previous post, I had 2 official Urbana jobs. One was working in Solutions, which was a lot of fun. The second job was also tons of fun. I was working in the Pan Asian North American Student Lounge as a host and eventually as the MC for the week.
First, let's talk about the name. It's a long name for sure but each piece is important. Let's start from the back and work our way forward:
- Student Lounge: Well, this should be pretty self explanatory. Urbana is a conference for students so the lounge should be for students too. With all the hustle and bustle of Urbana, we wanted to provide a place where students could relax and connect.
- North American: Urbana is not just a US student conference but had students literally from all over the world. The two biggest sending countries were the US and Canada. We wanted to make sure that our friends to the north knew that they were welcome. In the US we use the term Asian American. In Canada, they use the term Asian Canadian. Making sure students knew that all of North America was included was important. (Note: There was also a lounge for international students that Megan led so everyone was covered.)
- Pan Asian: When you think of the term "Asian American" what comes to mind? Probably you're thinking of East Asians; Chinese, Korean, Japanese. There's nothing inherently wrong with that but Asia is actually a pretty diverse continent. There as South Asians (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanaka, etc.), South East Asians (Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, etc.) and even different ethnic groups inside of those countries (like the Hmong in China). We wanted to make sure that everyone knew they were welcome.
OK, so what actually happened in the lounge? There were 3 main parts to it. Part One was the relaxing. We had snacks, music, games to play, a selfie station, and all sorts of good stuff. We wanted students to be able to take a break from the intensity of the conference if they needed. Part Two was the mentoring and Special Guests. Each day we had a different theme (STEM, Law and Politics, the Arts, and Vocational Ministry) and special guests who were in those fields. Students could have conversations with these folk and receive a little mentoring. We also had my man Jason Chu perform a few numbers for us, which was pretty great.
Part 3 may have been my favorite part though. Each day in the lounge we had special gatherings for students to connect to one another and see the diversity and togetherness of Asian America. We had special gatherings for Southeast Asian students, for Filipino students (also Southeast Asian but there were so many of them they had a separate gathering too), for South Asian students, for adopted children, and for Korean students. At each of the gatherings we had special food to speak to their hearts and our staff were able to cast vision for the students as a whole to reach their corners of their campuses. Even inside our Asian American chapters, we need more diversity.
What about me? What was my job specifically? Well, the general staff job for the lounge was to be around, connect with students, make sure there were enough snacks, and generally have a good time. Since I was the closest staff to St. Louis, my other job was to procure a sound system for us to use so we could play music and make announcements. As we were setting up on Day 1, the director of the lounge asked me and another woman if we had any MC experience. Y'all know that I do so suddenly, she and I were the hosts and MC's for the lounge, making announcements, introducing the special guests, and taking care of the music.
Y'all know me. You know I loved that job. It's a no brainer right? All I have to do is be up in front of folk, give instructions, tell a few jokes and put on some tunes? Sign me up for that everyday of the week and twice on Sunday. The only part that I didn't like was the travel. See, the lounge was right by the Dome where everything was happening but my hotel, where all the A/V equipment was, was about a half mile away. Forgetting a cable then having to run back and forth to get it was not my idea of a grand old time. =0).
So, that was me at Urbana. I would absolutely do it again in a heartbeat. I ate good food, hung out with students, put my skills on the mic to good use, and didn't have to be out in the cold. All said and done, I'd say it was a pretty good Urbana job.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
BACK TO HOME
Monday Night...
Hello, friends!
I previewed this blog postthis blog post a few weeks ago about Monday night at Urbana and everything that went down in terms of InterVarsity's support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. If you haven't seen my other blog or watched the video posted, please head over there and do that. It'll make everything I say below make much more sense.
OK, first of all, a confession. I actually missed the session live. I was watching Ezra and he was having some trouble getting to sleep so I decided to limit as many distractions as possible by not streaming the session as it was happening live. Megan was there though and she was giving me a play by play via text messages. She told me that something big was happening and when she got back to the hotel room, she gave me the rundown. Two things that I knew going to bed that night: There was going to be some backlash and I needed to watch the talk so I could engage with folk in conversation.
Let me get this out of the way right now: I am a huge fan of Michelle Higgins. She spoke at our Fall Conference and I knew that she was an amazing speaker as well as someone who knew what she was talking about when it came to racial reconciliation. She is a black woman leading a predominantly white congregation as a worship leader at a church in South St. Louis, which is a highly segregated city. I also heard her speak on a panel on Race and Jesus in Columbia a few weeks after stuff went down at Mizzou and she absolutely nailed it. It's been my pleasure to work with her the times that we have.
Second disclaimer: I believe that #Blacklivesmatter. Ever since Michael Brown was shot in 2014, I've been on my own ethnic identity journey or sorts. I've had to come to terms with my own biases and repent of my own prejudices. I have been blessed with opportunities to serve the Black community at Mizzou while also talking with my White friends about how the affirmation of the value and dignity of Black lives does not mean that White lives are less important. I've been to rallies and bought a lot of Chinese food and pizza for students who were protesting. I am very firmly on this side of an issue that I do not believe should be an issue at all because all Christians should care about this.
That takes me to the gist of Michelle's talk. Her message was not that Christians should be pro-choice or anti-pro-life. Her message was not that Black people should be given a free pass to do whatever they want because of slavery. Her message was not that White people should feel guilty about their lives and be in a constant state of penance. Her message was this: In the United States, the current system of power is unjust towards the Black community and we as followers of Jesus, cannot be OK with that.
I former ministry partner of mine was concerned that I was spending too much time talking about the "Black People Thing" and not enough time spreading the Gospel. The concern was that I was not fulfilling my duty as a missionary because I was supporting #BlackLivesMatter and that was taking away time from the Gospel. I must humbly but forcefully disagree.
Friends, this is a Gospel issue. The Gospel message is that we are a broken people living in a broken world but God, in his infinite love, sent his son down to act as a sacrifice so that we can be redeemed do "even greater things that [Jesus]" (John 17), reaching more of the lost, righting more of the wrongs, and bringing more justice to the world. We cannot reach students with the Gospel unless we are willing to enter into their pain. I cannot be a minister of the Gospel to the Black community at Mizzou, Lincoln University, or anywhere, without first affirming that they are hurting, that they feel undervalued, and the God sees them and wants something more for them. I cannot enter with the message of hope that the Gospel brings unless I acknowledge that many Black students are feeling hopeless and angry. As an Asian American man, I cannot speak the truth of the Gospel into the Black community until they trust that I want to learn of their experiences and mourn with them. #BlackLivesMatter is a Gospel issue.
Now, I should note a few things: 1) Like InterVarsity said in its official statement, I do not condone everything that has every been done in the name of #BlackLivesMatter. I do not want to kill every cop or burn down anything. In the same way that it is possible to be Pro-Life while not condoning the bombing of buildings, one can support #BlackLivesMatter while not condoning every action. 2) Some of these thoughts have been stirring around in my brain for quite some time, not just because of Michelle's sermon at Urbana. I'd be more than happy to talk to anyone about my process and dialogue about the state of race relations in America. You can comment below or shoot me an email so we can set up a conversation. I'd like all conversations to be "live" and not via Facebook, email, or any other text based medium, so be prepared for that.
Michelle Higgins rocked it on Monday night. Anytime you have Francis Chan speaking and he's the SECOND most talked about thing of the night, you know something big happened. I'm proud to be a member of InterVarsity. I'm proud to affirm that #BlackLivesMatter. I'm proud to bring the Gospel to the broken places on campus. And I'm proud to be a follower of Jesus. Monday night reaffirmed all of those things for me.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
BACK TO HOME
I previewed this blog postthis blog post a few weeks ago about Monday night at Urbana and everything that went down in terms of InterVarsity's support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. If you haven't seen my other blog or watched the video posted, please head over there and do that. It'll make everything I say below make much more sense.
OK, first of all, a confession. I actually missed the session live. I was watching Ezra and he was having some trouble getting to sleep so I decided to limit as many distractions as possible by not streaming the session as it was happening live. Megan was there though and she was giving me a play by play via text messages. She told me that something big was happening and when she got back to the hotel room, she gave me the rundown. Two things that I knew going to bed that night: There was going to be some backlash and I needed to watch the talk so I could engage with folk in conversation.
Let me get this out of the way right now: I am a huge fan of Michelle Higgins. She spoke at our Fall Conference and I knew that she was an amazing speaker as well as someone who knew what she was talking about when it came to racial reconciliation. She is a black woman leading a predominantly white congregation as a worship leader at a church in South St. Louis, which is a highly segregated city. I also heard her speak on a panel on Race and Jesus in Columbia a few weeks after stuff went down at Mizzou and she absolutely nailed it. It's been my pleasure to work with her the times that we have.
Second disclaimer: I believe that #Blacklivesmatter. Ever since Michael Brown was shot in 2014, I've been on my own ethnic identity journey or sorts. I've had to come to terms with my own biases and repent of my own prejudices. I have been blessed with opportunities to serve the Black community at Mizzou while also talking with my White friends about how the affirmation of the value and dignity of Black lives does not mean that White lives are less important. I've been to rallies and bought a lot of Chinese food and pizza for students who were protesting. I am very firmly on this side of an issue that I do not believe should be an issue at all because all Christians should care about this.
That takes me to the gist of Michelle's talk. Her message was not that Christians should be pro-choice or anti-pro-life. Her message was not that Black people should be given a free pass to do whatever they want because of slavery. Her message was not that White people should feel guilty about their lives and be in a constant state of penance. Her message was this: In the United States, the current system of power is unjust towards the Black community and we as followers of Jesus, cannot be OK with that.
I former ministry partner of mine was concerned that I was spending too much time talking about the "Black People Thing" and not enough time spreading the Gospel. The concern was that I was not fulfilling my duty as a missionary because I was supporting #BlackLivesMatter and that was taking away time from the Gospel. I must humbly but forcefully disagree.
Friends, this is a Gospel issue. The Gospel message is that we are a broken people living in a broken world but God, in his infinite love, sent his son down to act as a sacrifice so that we can be redeemed do "even greater things that [Jesus]" (John 17), reaching more of the lost, righting more of the wrongs, and bringing more justice to the world. We cannot reach students with the Gospel unless we are willing to enter into their pain. I cannot be a minister of the Gospel to the Black community at Mizzou, Lincoln University, or anywhere, without first affirming that they are hurting, that they feel undervalued, and the God sees them and wants something more for them. I cannot enter with the message of hope that the Gospel brings unless I acknowledge that many Black students are feeling hopeless and angry. As an Asian American man, I cannot speak the truth of the Gospel into the Black community until they trust that I want to learn of their experiences and mourn with them. #BlackLivesMatter is a Gospel issue.
Now, I should note a few things: 1) Like InterVarsity said in its official statement, I do not condone everything that has every been done in the name of #BlackLivesMatter. I do not want to kill every cop or burn down anything. In the same way that it is possible to be Pro-Life while not condoning the bombing of buildings, one can support #BlackLivesMatter while not condoning every action. 2) Some of these thoughts have been stirring around in my brain for quite some time, not just because of Michelle's sermon at Urbana. I'd be more than happy to talk to anyone about my process and dialogue about the state of race relations in America. You can comment below or shoot me an email so we can set up a conversation. I'd like all conversations to be "live" and not via Facebook, email, or any other text based medium, so be prepared for that.
Michelle Higgins rocked it on Monday night. Anytime you have Francis Chan speaking and he's the SECOND most talked about thing of the night, you know something big happened. I'm proud to be a member of InterVarsity. I'm proud to affirm that #BlackLivesMatter. I'm proud to bring the Gospel to the broken places on campus. And I'm proud to be a follower of Jesus. Monday night reaffirmed all of those things for me.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
BACK TO HOME
Solutions...
Hello, friends!
Like I'd said in a previous post, one of the interesting things about Urbana as a staff is that you actually have 2 jobs. One of those jobs is taking care of your students if you have any there. The other job is your Urbana job, which is what you actually do for the conference. Staff are required to average working 8 hours a day for 5 days, meaning if your primary job doesn't have enough hours in it (i.e., working in the Pan Asian North American Student Lounge from 12-6 for 4 days), they give you another job to make sure you have enough hours. My second job actually started first, which was working Solutions for Urbana Registration.
Like I'd said in a previous post, one of the interesting things about Urbana as a staff is that you actually have 2 jobs. One of those jobs is taking care of your students if you have any there. The other job is your Urbana job, which is what you actually do for the conference. Staff are required to average working 8 hours a day for 5 days, meaning if your primary job doesn't have enough hours in it (i.e., working in the Pan Asian North American Student Lounge from 12-6 for 4 days), they give you another job to make sure you have enough hours. My second job actually started first, which was working Solutions for Urbana Registration.
Solutions is an interesting place. The term seems pleasant but really what happens is that anytime something goes wrong with someone's registration, they come to us to hope that we can provide a "solution" to their problem. Some times the job was simple, nametags were printed incorrectly or someone's name wasn't in the system because they hadn't completed their registration. Usually, the solution provided was that they still owed some money and they didn't know it. I joked with some of my coworkers that we had a tough job because everyone comes to us frazzled from travel but at least it's better than working Housing Solutions; with us, they just owe money. With them, they don't have a place to stay.
Honestly, I really enjoyed working Solutions. The team was great, the job was easy enough (once you got the hang of the computer system) and I really enjoyed solving problems for people. Folk were usually a little frazzled coming in, like we'd anticipated, but by the end of their time with us, their problems had been solved and everything was good. Just in case, I also had a bag of candy in front of my station so folk could snack while we fixed their stuff. I even got to be a part of a really cool Urbana registration story.
The first night of registration it was raining like crazy so everyone was coming in wet and a little tense. Someone donated their overcharge to Urbana, meaning we could use it if a participant came in dire need of some scholarship. About an hour later, two missionaries to China came to solutions not sure what to do. Someone told them Urbana was great so they signed up and paid the deposit when they registered but didn't know how much the conference as a whole cost. It was going to run them $360 EACH to come. I could tell that if we didn't do something, they were probably going to leave. Thankfully, we had that overcharge and were able to give one of them a full scholarship! Praise Jesus for his provision!
In conclusion, Solutions really was a lot of fun. I put my name in next year to have it as my Urbana job again. Here's hoping we get to solve more of the world's (or at least the conference's) problems. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
The Year of Faithfulness
Hello, friends!
First of all, happy 2016 to you all! Here's hoping that it kicks 2015's butt for you in every possible way.
2015 was definitely an eventful year. We had a baby, got intimately involved in the #blacklivesmatter movement at Mizzou, learned how to staff while also be parents, staff and Urbana (more on that later), and generally kept ourselves as busy as possible for most of the year. It was full, it was fun, and God was good (as he always is).
Many of you know that every year, I decide to create a theme for the year ahead. I had a coworker who would ask folk around their birthdays what their theme of the year was going to be. Since my birthday is early in the year, I usually start thinking about my new theme to kick in when the ball drops.
Last year was a year of thankfulness as I did my best to remember God's goodness on a regular basis. The year before that was the year of dependence and the year before that was the year of "Go big or go home."
As I was reflecting and praying over the past few weeks, the theme that kept coming to me was one of faithfulness. The more time I spent praying at thinking about it, the more this made sense. Even if you just look at my blog from the past few months, there have been many times where I've written about all the hats that I've been wearing and how it's been difficult to balance everything since I've taken on new responsibilities. I get the sense that this year, God is asking me to be faithful in the things that he has given me, which means being willing to let go of things that aren't mine. I like to tell students, "Own what's yours and not what isn't." It appears as though God is asking me to take my own advice. =0).
One interesting addition to this theme that's come up more recently is that I've found myself asking God to increase my faith. I'm not sure exactly how an increase in faith is connected to faithfulness but I'm sure they are related and I'm excited to see how it all comes together.
So friends, Happy 2016 to you all. May you experience more of God's goodness and be faithful to the things that he has called you to do.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
First of all, happy 2016 to you all! Here's hoping that it kicks 2015's butt for you in every possible way.
2015 was definitely an eventful year. We had a baby, got intimately involved in the #blacklivesmatter movement at Mizzou, learned how to staff while also be parents, staff and Urbana (more on that later), and generally kept ourselves as busy as possible for most of the year. It was full, it was fun, and God was good (as he always is).
Many of you know that every year, I decide to create a theme for the year ahead. I had a coworker who would ask folk around their birthdays what their theme of the year was going to be. Since my birthday is early in the year, I usually start thinking about my new theme to kick in when the ball drops.
Last year was a year of thankfulness as I did my best to remember God's goodness on a regular basis. The year before that was the year of dependence and the year before that was the year of "Go big or go home."
As I was reflecting and praying over the past few weeks, the theme that kept coming to me was one of faithfulness. The more time I spent praying at thinking about it, the more this made sense. Even if you just look at my blog from the past few months, there have been many times where I've written about all the hats that I've been wearing and how it's been difficult to balance everything since I've taken on new responsibilities. I get the sense that this year, God is asking me to be faithful in the things that he has given me, which means being willing to let go of things that aren't mine. I like to tell students, "Own what's yours and not what isn't." It appears as though God is asking me to take my own advice. =0).
One interesting addition to this theme that's come up more recently is that I've found myself asking God to increase my faith. I'm not sure exactly how an increase in faith is connected to faithfulness but I'm sure they are related and I'm excited to see how it all comes together.
So friends, Happy 2016 to you all. May you experience more of God's goodness and be faithful to the things that he has called you to do.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Staff But Not...
Hello, friends!
One of the interesting things about Urbana is that there is always an interplay between a staff of students in general who are attending the conference and a staff of the specific students from your chapter or campus who are attending Urbana. Each staff is actually given 2 jobs at Urbana. There is your Urbana job (working the bookstore, leading a seminar, doing registration, etc.) and then there's your chapter job (checking in on your students, making sure everyone is doing OK, casting vision for going back to campus, etc.). This can make Urbana exhausting but also a little bit frustrating.
I'll give you an example. Last Urbana (Urbana12) my job was to work registration and then to be "on call" through the rest of the conference, filling in jobs as needed. I worked in the bookstore, ran posters to different parts of the conference, loaded luggage into buses, and I think at one point I may have driven to a copy center in St. Louis to print out something for a seminar. It was fast paced, fun, and unpredictable, which had it's benefits. However, it also meant that I couldn't really schedule any time to meet with students and see how they were doing because I didn't know if I was going to be "on the clock" or not. When I finally did get to see them on one of the last nights, all I could do was apologize for not being around more.
Understand, it's not the worst thing in the world for students to have to fend for themselves a little bit. My job as staff isn't to hold their hand through everything and tuck them in at night. They are adults and can pick seminars, go to main sessions, and find places to eat just fine. However, Urbana is a bit of a different beast. Since it happens only once every 3 years, you don't see nearly as many repeat conference goers, which means that it's new to everybody. Add the sheer size of the conference (16,000+ attendees) into the equation and you can see why I would want to be present for my students.
You can imagine my relief this year then when I realized that I actually only had one student as my primary charge! Matti was taking care of the ACFers (Actually, he was also working Urbana so he was in the same boat as me in previous years. Thankfully, we had a volunteer come in to help). Megan was in charge of the ICF students. There weren't any NCF or Lincoln University students there. My only student was a BCM student from Mizzou who came at the last minute. It's so much easier to text one student every day or so and check in than it is to try to do the same for 5 or ever 12 students. It was a huge blessing!
Looking back, this was probably one of the few conferences during my past 5 years on staff where I didn't feel like a total failure in terms of taking care of my students. I was working hard, that's for sure. But, I was able to focus on my Urbana job and know that there students weren't completely lost. It was a good feeling.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
BACK TO HOME
One of the interesting things about Urbana is that there is always an interplay between a staff of students in general who are attending the conference and a staff of the specific students from your chapter or campus who are attending Urbana. Each staff is actually given 2 jobs at Urbana. There is your Urbana job (working the bookstore, leading a seminar, doing registration, etc.) and then there's your chapter job (checking in on your students, making sure everyone is doing OK, casting vision for going back to campus, etc.). This can make Urbana exhausting but also a little bit frustrating.
I'll give you an example. Last Urbana (Urbana12) my job was to work registration and then to be "on call" through the rest of the conference, filling in jobs as needed. I worked in the bookstore, ran posters to different parts of the conference, loaded luggage into buses, and I think at one point I may have driven to a copy center in St. Louis to print out something for a seminar. It was fast paced, fun, and unpredictable, which had it's benefits. However, it also meant that I couldn't really schedule any time to meet with students and see how they were doing because I didn't know if I was going to be "on the clock" or not. When I finally did get to see them on one of the last nights, all I could do was apologize for not being around more.
Understand, it's not the worst thing in the world for students to have to fend for themselves a little bit. My job as staff isn't to hold their hand through everything and tuck them in at night. They are adults and can pick seminars, go to main sessions, and find places to eat just fine. However, Urbana is a bit of a different beast. Since it happens only once every 3 years, you don't see nearly as many repeat conference goers, which means that it's new to everybody. Add the sheer size of the conference (16,000+ attendees) into the equation and you can see why I would want to be present for my students.
You can imagine my relief this year then when I realized that I actually only had one student as my primary charge! Matti was taking care of the ACFers (Actually, he was also working Urbana so he was in the same boat as me in previous years. Thankfully, we had a volunteer come in to help). Megan was in charge of the ICF students. There weren't any NCF or Lincoln University students there. My only student was a BCM student from Mizzou who came at the last minute. It's so much easier to text one student every day or so and check in than it is to try to do the same for 5 or ever 12 students. It was a huge blessing!
Looking back, this was probably one of the few conferences during my past 5 years on staff where I didn't feel like a total failure in terms of taking care of my students. I was working hard, that's for sure. But, I was able to focus on my Urbana job and know that there students weren't completely lost. It was a good feeling.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
BACK TO HOME
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)