On Flourishing...

Hello, friends!

Greetings from beautiful Anaheim, California. I've been here the past few days at InterVarsity's Asian American Ministries Staff Conference. Since Tuesday, over 200 Asian American staff and staff reaching Asian Americans from InterVarsity have been gathered here to reconnect with one another, gain tools to help us in our work, and see what God has in store for us as part of the Asian American community. It's been an absolute blast on so many levels. AAM SC only happens every 3 years so it's a special treat to go every time it comes around. Here's are a few highlights of things that I've learned from my time here:


I'm getting to be an old man (Part 1)! On Wednesday, we had a commissioning and time of sending staff. Joe, the director of AAM, had us form concentric circles around the room, with the younger staff on the outside to be blessed by more veteran staff, who would then be blessed by more veteran staff, all the way to staff who have been serving for more than 25 years with InterVarsity. It was a really powerful time of sending and seeing generations of staff be sent by those who have gone before. What was so interesting for me was seeing that I've served longer than over half of our staff team. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but somewhere along the way, I moved away from being rookie and into being an elder statesmen.


I'm getting to be an old man (Part 2)! Last night there was a dance party... I LOVE dance parties. It was a karaoke dance party. I LOVE me some karaoke too! When I first joined full time staff, at one training we had a 4 hour dance party where about 20 of us never left the floor. We finished around 2am and felt great. Last night? after about an hour or so, I had to call it quits and head to bed. I got dragged back in when someone started singing Kelly Clarkson, but I was dead tired and in bed at a reasonable hour. I guess that's how it goes...


Being a staff director changes the job. This AAM SC was interesting in that it was my first AAM SC as someone who supervised staff and as a staff who isn't caring for an AAM chapter. I had big concerns entering about how I would be able to apply the learning I received here to my job. It really is about a change of perspective. Now, instead of thinking about how I can bring these tools back to campus, I'm thinking about how I can coach the staff I supervise to bring these tools back on campus. It's a different mind set, that's for sure, but one that I think I like. I'm still learning how to do it well, so here's hoping this works as a good training ground for me.


Flourishing is about abundance. Our theme this year was "Flourish" talking about how we want to flourish as AAM and how we want our students to flourish as well. The big takeaway for me personally is how in order to flourish, it requires a mentality of abundance. I have to believe that as an Asian American, God has given me an abundance of gifts to bring to the table and that he has even more in store. It's ok to risk because God will provide. It's not an easy mentality to adopt, especially as someone who has spent much of his staff career by himself with an acute sense of how resources are lacking. It's something I'm going to have to continue to internalize so I can better see all that God has for me.


I love MPD. Ministry Partnership Development, or MPD, is InterVarsity's process of building partnerships with people to help us build and grow the ministry. It's sort of like fundraising but so much more. Anyway, MPD has always been a love of mine and during this conference, I somehow managed to get my fill. There were consulting sessions, seminars, special interest dinners, and side conversations all centered around MPD. I somehow managed to get to all of them. It's a joy to continue to learn about an area where I have so much passion.


I also love my son and my wife. This week was tough in the sense that Meg and Ezra were in town but not at the conference. Except for 15 minutes on Tuesday and a lunch date on Wednesday, I haven't seen either of them since Friday. In the time since we've seen each other for real, Ezra has learned to roll over and make funny noises with his lips. I am very much looking forward to spending the weekend with them here in California before we had back to Missouri.


Mama Leong is the best. Mama was VERY popular this week. On Tuesday, after she dropped me off at the hotel so I could help setup, she stayed to watch a staff child so her mother could do some work. She then proceeded to take the staff mother, her daughter, and two other random staff to In-N-Out, the Korean grocery store, and to get Korean food. The next day, she came and gave a parental blessing at the conference and there wasn't a dry eye in the house (well, except for mine because I don't really cry...). I've been getting comments all week about how great Mama Leong is. It's been a long time coming but I'm so thankful for her advocacy and full embrace of the work that I'm doing with InterVarsity.


Doubletree cookies are REALLY good. Do I really need to say anymore? =0).

Friends, would you take a moment to pray for Asian American staff and Asian American college students? Pray that those who don't know Christ will meet him. Pray that we as staff will be able to navigate our own stories so we can serve students better. Pray that we as a community will fight for flourishing in all parts of the campus and every part of the lives of our students. Pray that Asian American students can be on the front lines of issues like racial reconciliation, immigration, justice, and mental health. Pray that we will see the abundance that God has already laid out for us as inheritors of His Kingdom, and not just inhabitors of a foreign land.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam