What a Year of Firsts!!!

Hello, friends!

InterVarsity's year runs from July 1 to June 30, meaning that by the time you read this, it will officially be the 2017-2018 school year!

Sorry for the late update but I wanted to post our year end letter. It was a great year of new things this year and God was definitely good.

Have an excellent day!

~The Leongs

So long, dear friend...

Hello, friends!

In the summer of 2014, Megan and I led a group of students to Cambodia for a Global Project with InterVarsity. We took 7 students with us for a month long trip, spending most of our time in Phnom Penh. Our mission was simple: offer as much help as we could to SONOKO, the growing IFES movement that had only just been planted just a few years prior. We went and our lives were changed forever.

My official role on the team was to take care of the finances and make sure that we were following all of the risk management rules as a team so no one got into any serious trouble. My unofficial role was to encourage Chamroeun, the soon to be lead staff, as he ventured forward into leadership. I spent as much time as I could with Chamroeun, encouraging him to take risks and congratulating him on risks well taken. Even though it was a short trip, the growth I saw in him was exponential.

Here's one of my favorite stories: On one of our first days on one of the campuses, the National University of Management (NUM), we knew that we needed permission from the administration to be on campus since we weren't students or staff. On some campuses, no one is allowed who isn't affiliated with the university. We wanted to make sure that we were doing things in a way that respected and honored the university. Chamroeun says, "wait right here," and walks right into the administrative building. He comes out 2 minutes later and says, "OK, let's do it." That began 2 weeks of English Club at NUM, where we met over 100 students and the staff team made a number of connections.

During one of our breaks on that first day, I was talking with Chamroeun and he said, "you know, I've never done that before." I said, "Done what?" He said that he'd never asked an administrator for permission to be on campus before. He was scared but he knew he had to lead so he did it. I was so proud of him.

That's the thing about Chamroeun. He was always willing to take risks for the kingdom. He was always smiling. I mean ALWAYS. Meg and I used to joke that the SONOKO staff application must be just to smile for the camera because every one of the staff had such a great smile. Chamroeun's may have been the best of them all. He was so full of joy and so willing to take risks. He was an understated leader but a leader nonetheless. In my month with him, he never yelled or really raised his voice but he led with a quiet dignity that was unmistakable. He was a constant learner and he was a great friend.

A few days ago, Chamroeun was with his brother and another staff when he slipped on the rocks, fell into a waterfall, and didn't come up until hours later. He wasn't quite 30 yet.

You don't prepare yourself for something like that. There's no way to hear that kind of news. My mind immediately swirled with question after question: How is the team doing? What does this mean for the ministry? How are his girlfriend and his brother doing? How about Steph, our coworker who had been training him for all these years? How can I help from here? Why did this happen? In the end, all I can do is cry out to God and lament.

Chamroeun, you will be missed. You will be missed as a leader of students and staff. You will be missed as a brother, both spiritually and biologically. You will be missed as a friend.

~Adam

Rest in peace Chamroeun (Center, to the right of Meg)

The 2020 Summit in Photos...

Hello, friends!

My apologies for not posting anything last week. I was actually out of town. Ironically enough, WHY I was out of town is the exact reason for this post!

Where was I? I was in beautiful Salt Lake City for staff meetings. At the behest of my wife, I actually took photos this time, so I thought it would be fun for me to tell you about my trip in photo instead of just word. Here we go!

This is the Regional Leadership Team. The first part of my trip was meeting with these fine folk to set the direction for our Region (IV work in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) for this next season. Many of these folk have been mentors to me during various parts of my staff career and all of them are great friends. It was a pleasure to study the word with them, to pray with them, to connect with them, and to have fun with them as we visioned for how to best lead our staff and our students toward Jesus

The other reason I was there was to celebrate with our entire staff team, including a few students, the completion of our Regional 2020 vision and to begin the process of discerning our 2025 vision. In 2008, we launched our 2020 vision, hoping to see 500 missional small groups, 50 chapters, and 1 overseas student movement established. By God's grace, we finished 3 years early! During this time, we celebrated our outgoing Regional Director (standing), welcomed in our new Regional Director, celebrated what God has done, and started looking at what God may be calling us into for this next season. It was a beautiful time of seeing staff, students, volunteers, and faculty in our Region come together with a single purpose.

Of course, there was also great fun to be had. Did you know there are In-N-Out's in Salt Lake City?!?! It blew... my... mind... There were 40 or so of us together so we were actually staying in a mansion on a hill just outside of Salt Lake City. Behind our hill were two more hills. The taller of the two had a flag (really a rugby jersey attached to a PVC pipe) on top of it. One morning, I trekked up the hill with our Associate Regional Director (and supervisor many times over) to the flag. It was a great hike and even better conversation as we talked about ministry and life in the midst of transition. There were other great conversations had throughout the week too. It is always a joy to connect with fellow staff. We've been in the trenches together. We get it. I'm now one of the "old staff" but so long as there are fellow old staff with me, we'll be OK.

This is one of the flowers I saw on my hike up to the flag. I took the photo because the flower was a really great shade of purple (although you can't really see it in the photo) and that reminded me of Meg, who was not in Salt Lake City. Meg is still on maternity leave so she was given a choice as to whether or not to attend. With Thaliea being only a month old and Ezra having swim lessons and such, as well as being a little boy who never stops, we thought it would be better for all parties concerned for me to go solo. Meg was a total trooper and handled being a single parent with great skill. It was hard missing my family for that many days. Staying fully present and in the moment was easy enough when we were doing business but during the down times, I definitely missed them. I'm glad to be back.

Finally, if you squint really hard, you can see a Bison. That's not just any bison. That's a Wyoming bison! One of my life long goals is to drive in all 50 states. When I heard we were going to Salt Lake City, I got really excited, not only because of the Summit but because I could potentially knock 3 more states off my list! Wyoming and Idaho are both roughly 90 miles from Salt Lake City. The plan was to use the free time on one of the days to do a loop and hopefully knock some more states off my list. We were actually too far south to get both Idaho and Wyoming so I decided to Wyoming would be it. 2 other staff joined me and we made the trip to Bear River State Park in Evanston, WY, just across the border. There, we saw a bison, took a selfie, and made the trip back, just in time for the next session to start.

All said and done, it was a great trip. I loved the visioning. I loved the community. I loved the adventures. I'm not sure what the next vision will hold for the Central Region. Only God knows where we'll be or what we'll be doing in 2025. What I can say is that this Summit was a great reminder of why I love my job so much.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Onward to a Summer of MPD!

Hello, friends!

It's been a while since I've posted, mostly because I've been hanging out with my awesome new daughter. Here's a photo in case you wanted to see one (or even if you didn't... I can't help myself!)

Being a dad of two is great. The hardest part has been going back to work... which is where I was these past few days.

Y'all know me. You know that one of my favorite things to do in staff life is "Ministry Partnership Development" aka, fundraising. There's something beautiful to me about casting vision for people and giving them the opportunity to join in on the work that God is doing on college campuses. Over the years, I've developed myself into an MPD trainer of sorts and a few days ago I had the pleasure of leading our Regional Staff team (staff from Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas) in some training. It was hard being away from the family but thankfully Meg's parents are in town and it was a short training so I got to put Ezra to bed last night. =0).

Oftentimes, people like to ask me what work I do during the summer or if I get the "summers off." Any teacher will tell you that just because students aren't in session, that doesn't mean there isn't work to be done. There are preparations to be made, plans to be hatched, and MPD is a big part of the summer for most staff. This training was designed for us to come together as a Region and "jump start" our summer MPD. It was a joy to lead these co-laborers as we dreamed together, learned together, and worked together.

The InterVarsity fiscal year runs July 1 to June 30, meaning we are right in the thick of our final MPD push for the year. Our goal every year is to finish "in the black" meaning our donations match our expenses. I've been blessed to say that every year that I've been on staff, I've finished "in the black." This year it's looking like our entire Mid-MO team will be finishing "in the black" too. Praise Jesus!

Still, the finances aren't the only reason that I want everyone to give. It's about the partnership. It's about being a part of what God is doing on college campuses across the United States. It's about saying, "I believe in the work that's being done and I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is."

Friends, below are two links to giving. The first one is a link to Meg and my account. Any donations here will go towards making sure that students in Mid-Missouri have a chance to hear the Gospel. If you're someone who believes in that mission and wants to see it go, I'd ask you to prayerfully consider clicking that link and making a year end donation.

But, there's a second link. This is for folk who say, "you know what, the vision is fine, it's great, but I just want to help folk. You said you're good on cash this year so who can I help?" If that's you'd I would ask you to prayerfully consider giving to my brothers and sisters in the Nebraska Area. They have a goal of raising $50,000 this month. I believe that they can do it, and I'd to invite you to join me in making it happen.

Partner with Mid-MO

Partner with Nebraska

Have an excellent day!