Hello, friends!
I have done a lot of crazy things in the name of the Gospel and InterVarsity, but this weekend may take the cake. Our staff team is about to put on FOUR SIMULTANEOUS CONFERENCES AT THE SAME LOCATION.
That's right, this weekend, the Doubletree Hotel in Overland Park is going to overrun with InterVarsity students from Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas, as part of our Corners Conferences. The 4 conferences will include: Imani (a Black student conference), Ohana (an Asian American student conference), Mi Gente (a LatinX student conference), and Being White (a White student conference).
A question that I'm sure will come up is, "Adam, why have so many different conferences? Why not just have one big conference? Isn't that being divisive?"
First of all, that's 3 questions, not 1, but I still get your point. It goes like this. One of the things that I've learned in my time with InterVarsity is that culture and ethnicity are things to be honored, celebrated, and taken into account. Black, LatinX, Asian American, and White students experience the Gospel differently. We do musical worship differently. Our speakers are different. We have different life experiences. The point of the Corners Conference is that we want to celebrate this diversity, knowing that God is the author of each of our cultures. There will be some things that we do together as a whole group but we're having 4 conferences because we want to speak the heart language of students, and sometimes, that means being apart for a while.
Y'all, it's about to get crazy. At our Regional Spring Conference, Catalyst, last year, we had 139 students from our 4 states participate. Right now, we have over 400 coming to Kansas City this weekend. Our staff and students have been killing it on the recruitment side. Everyone has been working hard on the planning and logistics. It's been a fun thing to see.
We really need y'all to be partnering with us this weekend in prayer. There are a lot of moving pieces and if we are going to need as much prayer as we can get. Here are a few specific ways to be praying for us:
- Journey's Mercies: Praise Jesus, we have something like 20 students from Mid-MO attending the various conferences, including 6 from Lincoln! Getting all of them safely to KC and back is a huge priority for us.
- Our Speakers and Seminar Leaders: We are going to have some great speakers and our seminars are going to cover everything from Ethnic Identity Development all the way to being a minority in today's America. Please pray that our speakers and seminar leaders will be led by Jesus to speak words of truth.
- Our students: This is easily the biggest conference our Region has ever done in terms of student involvement. Please pray that the students will be receptive to hearing what God might have for them.
One last thing. If you're interested in giving scholarships to help our students attend, there's still time to give! Thanks to various scholarships and discounts, it costs about $40 for a student to attend. If you'd like to sponsor one of our Mid-MO students, you can do so by clicking this link here.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Thursday, January 19, 2017
The Year of Something...
Hello, friends!
Greetings from beautiful CoMO! The weather out here is actually so nice that I was able to bike today! Of course, I waited until the rain stopped. No sense in being unsafe. =0).
Thanks again to everyone who wished me well on my birthday. I had a pretty spectacular day. I got to hang out with Ezra and Meg, Meg and I went to go see a movie, and I ate a lot of free birthday goodies that were really terrible for me. There was supposed to be a major ice storm coming through but it stayed mostly south of us, so that was a huge blessing too. Meg and Ezra got me a new Cardinals cap (to be revealed once the season starts) and my sister got me a shirt. All in all, I'd say it was good birthday.
I don't remember how long ago it was, but a few years back a co-worker of mine introduced me to the concept of making each year the Year of Something. It was her way of saying of asking how folk wanted to spend the year in terms of focus and/or hopes. It could be the Year of Risk Taking or the Year of Running or something like that. I liked the idea so much that I decided that each year, on my birthday, I would make it the Year of Something. Past years have included the Year of Faithfulness and the Year of "Go Big or Go Home" among others. I like to use my birthday instead of the New Year because my birthday is so close to the New Year and it gives me some time to finish out the old year well without thinking too much about the year to come.
Friends, I'm in a little bit of trouble. I really don't know what this year is going to be the "year of"! I've had a few thoughts:
- The year of "yes!", which would be me saying yes to more and more things
- The year of prayer, focusing on intercession and going to God more intentionally and more frequently
- The year of activism, not just talking about the change that I want to see in the world but actually doing something to change it
- The year of implicit bias, focusing explicitly on the idea that implicit bias is a real thing and that if we are going to actually see change in the way that we relate to one another, we're going to have to recognize that
We're almost a week into my new "year" and I'm still not sure how this is going to go. My hope is that as I "try on" each of these ideas, something will just feel right. Your prayers would be much appreciated as I figure this out. Maybe you could send me your ideas, or let me know what your year is going to be. I can't say that I'll go with your suggestions, but it's nice to know you care.
Of course, if you don't have a "year of" for this year, I encourage you to get one! It's sort of like a New Year's resolution but better because it actually changes the way you think. Who knows, maybe this year will be the Year of Group Revolutions. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Greetings from beautiful CoMO! The weather out here is actually so nice that I was able to bike today! Of course, I waited until the rain stopped. No sense in being unsafe. =0).
Thanks again to everyone who wished me well on my birthday. I had a pretty spectacular day. I got to hang out with Ezra and Meg, Meg and I went to go see a movie, and I ate a lot of free birthday goodies that were really terrible for me. There was supposed to be a major ice storm coming through but it stayed mostly south of us, so that was a huge blessing too. Meg and Ezra got me a new Cardinals cap (to be revealed once the season starts) and my sister got me a shirt. All in all, I'd say it was good birthday.
I don't remember how long ago it was, but a few years back a co-worker of mine introduced me to the concept of making each year the Year of Something. It was her way of saying of asking how folk wanted to spend the year in terms of focus and/or hopes. It could be the Year of Risk Taking or the Year of Running or something like that. I liked the idea so much that I decided that each year, on my birthday, I would make it the Year of Something. Past years have included the Year of Faithfulness and the Year of "Go Big or Go Home" among others. I like to use my birthday instead of the New Year because my birthday is so close to the New Year and it gives me some time to finish out the old year well without thinking too much about the year to come.
Friends, I'm in a little bit of trouble. I really don't know what this year is going to be the "year of"! I've had a few thoughts:
- The year of "yes!", which would be me saying yes to more and more things
- The year of prayer, focusing on intercession and going to God more intentionally and more frequently
- The year of activism, not just talking about the change that I want to see in the world but actually doing something to change it
- The year of implicit bias, focusing explicitly on the idea that implicit bias is a real thing and that if we are going to actually see change in the way that we relate to one another, we're going to have to recognize that
We're almost a week into my new "year" and I'm still not sure how this is going to go. My hope is that as I "try on" each of these ideas, something will just feel right. Your prayers would be much appreciated as I figure this out. Maybe you could send me your ideas, or let me know what your year is going to be. I can't say that I'll go with your suggestions, but it's nice to know you care.
Of course, if you don't have a "year of" for this year, I encourage you to get one! It's sort of like a New Year's resolution but better because it actually changes the way you think. Who knows, maybe this year will be the Year of Group Revolutions. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Staff Conference Hooray!!!
Hello, friends!
Sorry about not posting anything last week. I was actually in beautiful Orlando, Florida at our National Staff Conference. Between the meetings, the sessions, the seminars, and the sunshine, and in an attempt to stay fully present, I more or less went offline for the week. It was really nice.
Every 3 years, InterVarsity's entire staff team gathers together to reconnect, be re-inspired, and be reminded of our vision as a staff community. This Staff Conference (SC17) was special for a number of reasons. First of all, it was InterVarsity celebrating its 75 year anniversary! There was a really cool timeline up in our main session space that had our history, both its highs and lows, with photos and quotes and everything. It was pretty cool to see (even though I didn't get through all of it).
The second reason that it was a special staff conference was because of everything that has happened in our movement since the last staff conference, in fact, even in the last year! In the past 13 months or so, we had an Urbana, a new president was named, and we were in the news for our theological stance on sexuality. We had a lot of staff coming in from different places, not only geographically, but also mentally and emotionally.
As is often my nature, here are a few quick bullet points on my reflections from SC17:
- These things sure are different when you're a veteran staff. This is my 10th year with InterVarsity. I am by no means the longest tenured staff with our movement. It's not even close. However, I'm also not a young staff anymore. When I was younger, my Staff Conferences were full of play time, free time, and general chill time. As I've been on staff longer and longer, and taken on more and more responsibility, I've seen that more of my time at these things is filled with meetings. I don't think I had a breakfast meeting but there were definitely lunch meetings, afternoon meetings, dinner meetings, and even late night meetings. When we only get together every 3 years as a national team, you figure out how to meet. Meg's schedule was very similar. It's certainly not a bad thing. It's just a different vibe than from before.
- I know fewer and fewer people every year. I'm pretty sure that when I went to my Orientation for New Staff (ONS) in the summer of 2008 (after my intern year), we were the largest ONS class in InterVarsity's history. There were over 100 of us who joined staff that year. Since then, I'm pretty sure that number has been surpassed but what struck me is that at SC17, I saw even fewer people from my ONS class than in previous Staff Conferences. In one sense, I know that makes sense. I've talked to a number of friends from that ONS class over the year who left staff to go on and do great things. Still, it was a little humbling to walk into SC17 and know that there were a few folk I saw last time that I won't be seeing this time.
- It's nice to be at a conference and not be working at a conference. One of the best things about Staff Conferences is that most of us are there to be participants and not presenters or conference directors. This is a welcome change from the norm. As you know, I've been Missouri's Fall Conference Director for the past 3 years. I've also put on smaller things for students on individual campuses or for Mid-Missouri. Even at Urbana, I'm not directing but my primary concern is making sure my students are doing OK. It's fun work and it's good work but it's exhausting. SC17 didn't have any of that. I could go to a main session and just learn from the speaker without having to think through how students would be receiving the message or how to debrief the session later. If things ran over time, it didn't bother me. I could go to those various meetings and spend time at the pool with my wife and son without any guilt. It was pretty great.
Our theme for the conference was Magnificat. We were in the beginning of Luke, talking about Mary and the birth of Jesus. It was a beautiful time to not only spend more time thinking about the Christmas season but also a reminder that God's M.O. is to do miraculous things through the unlikeliest of people. That was a good word to receive as I prepare for the semester ahead.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Sorry about not posting anything last week. I was actually in beautiful Orlando, Florida at our National Staff Conference. Between the meetings, the sessions, the seminars, and the sunshine, and in an attempt to stay fully present, I more or less went offline for the week. It was really nice.
Every 3 years, InterVarsity's entire staff team gathers together to reconnect, be re-inspired, and be reminded of our vision as a staff community. This Staff Conference (SC17) was special for a number of reasons. First of all, it was InterVarsity celebrating its 75 year anniversary! There was a really cool timeline up in our main session space that had our history, both its highs and lows, with photos and quotes and everything. It was pretty cool to see (even though I didn't get through all of it).
The second reason that it was a special staff conference was because of everything that has happened in our movement since the last staff conference, in fact, even in the last year! In the past 13 months or so, we had an Urbana, a new president was named, and we were in the news for our theological stance on sexuality. We had a lot of staff coming in from different places, not only geographically, but also mentally and emotionally.
As is often my nature, here are a few quick bullet points on my reflections from SC17:
- These things sure are different when you're a veteran staff. This is my 10th year with InterVarsity. I am by no means the longest tenured staff with our movement. It's not even close. However, I'm also not a young staff anymore. When I was younger, my Staff Conferences were full of play time, free time, and general chill time. As I've been on staff longer and longer, and taken on more and more responsibility, I've seen that more of my time at these things is filled with meetings. I don't think I had a breakfast meeting but there were definitely lunch meetings, afternoon meetings, dinner meetings, and even late night meetings. When we only get together every 3 years as a national team, you figure out how to meet. Meg's schedule was very similar. It's certainly not a bad thing. It's just a different vibe than from before.
- I know fewer and fewer people every year. I'm pretty sure that when I went to my Orientation for New Staff (ONS) in the summer of 2008 (after my intern year), we were the largest ONS class in InterVarsity's history. There were over 100 of us who joined staff that year. Since then, I'm pretty sure that number has been surpassed but what struck me is that at SC17, I saw even fewer people from my ONS class than in previous Staff Conferences. In one sense, I know that makes sense. I've talked to a number of friends from that ONS class over the year who left staff to go on and do great things. Still, it was a little humbling to walk into SC17 and know that there were a few folk I saw last time that I won't be seeing this time.
- It's nice to be at a conference and not be working at a conference. One of the best things about Staff Conferences is that most of us are there to be participants and not presenters or conference directors. This is a welcome change from the norm. As you know, I've been Missouri's Fall Conference Director for the past 3 years. I've also put on smaller things for students on individual campuses or for Mid-Missouri. Even at Urbana, I'm not directing but my primary concern is making sure my students are doing OK. It's fun work and it's good work but it's exhausting. SC17 didn't have any of that. I could go to a main session and just learn from the speaker without having to think through how students would be receiving the message or how to debrief the session later. If things ran over time, it didn't bother me. I could go to those various meetings and spend time at the pool with my wife and son without any guilt. It was pretty great.
Our theme for the conference was Magnificat. We were in the beginning of Luke, talking about Mary and the birth of Jesus. It was a beautiful time to not only spend more time thinking about the Christmas season but also a reminder that God's M.O. is to do miraculous things through the unlikeliest of people. That was a good word to receive as I prepare for the semester ahead.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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