Here's that Update!

Hello, friends!

As promised, here are Christmas letters we sent out to our ministry partners. We hope you enjoy!

If you'd like to received a mailed copy the next time we send them out, please use this form to give us your address. 

AND, if you want to help us reach our financial goal for the year, you can use this link here. =0).

Have an excellent day!

Shock and Loss...

Hello, friends!

The original plan was for me to post our Christmas Letter here so folk who aren't on our mailing list could get it. However, a change in circumstances has postponed that post until next week.

While waiting for a doctor's appointment this morning, I saw that the Student Government Association President at Lincoln University was shot and killed last night. As of me writing this blog, there aren't a lot of details available and police are still investigating the incident. The student in question was a graduating Senior. I personally didn't have any interaction with him during my time at Lincoln but I'd seen him around and given the size of Lincoln, I'm sure that I had students who knew him, or at least knew of him.

Shock and loss are the part of the job that they don't tell you about when you sign up for InterVarsity Staff. I've had students battle serious illness, visited students in the psychiatric ward after a suicide attempt, and mourned the loss of students who belong to chapters in our Region. We aren't trained counselors but for many students, we are the only "adults" they've learned how to trust, so we are their first line of processing. Sometimes there aren't words.

Yet, I have to believe that there is still hope. It was the death of a Freshman in ACF during my Junior Year at WashU (Go Bears!) that led me to applying for an internship with InterVarsity. I've seen chapters come together through times of trauma and students make decisions to follow Jesus because of how communities of faith have responded to tragedy. We may be inadequate but God's strength is made perfect in our weakness.

Even though I'm not staff at Lincoln anymore, I still feel for the campus. I think about Che, Marcus, Gloria, Ray, and Dom and pray that they are processing well and looking toward Jesus in the midst of this. I pray for Solome, the new IV staff there, that God will empower her with the words to say and not say so she can shepherd the chapter to a response that brings glory to the kingdom. I pray for my friend Pastor Nelson as he does the same with his congregation. I pray for the campus and the student body, especially those who knew and were close to the student. I pray for God's kingdom to come.

Pray with me.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Leading on the Regional Level...

Hello, friends!

There have been a lot of things that I've had to get used to in my new role. I'm not on a specific campus anymore. I'm not working directly with students. I'm doing a lot more video calls than before. There are a lot of things that have taken getting used to.

However, the biggest difference for me has been the role that I've been asked to take on as a leader for the entire Region.

My role as Regional Coordinator for Ministry Partnership Development (MPD) means a lot of different things. I'm coaching some staff in their MPD. I'm developing training and resources for staff in our Region to use. I'm experimenting with new ideas with the hope that the Region will adopt these ideas and we'll see MPD move in a new direction.

All these things are things that I've actually been doing before I took the job. When I was team leader for Mid-MO, I was doing some spot MPD coaching. I led a few of the MPD trainings for the Region. I experimented with new ideas like team MPD. The difference is that instead of my side hobby, now this is my job. The stakes are higher and the influence is greater.

When I was a Team Leader, all these MPD things I was doing were side projects and the impact was minimal in some ways. If I didn't have time to coach someone or lead a training, it was OK because that wasn't my job. If an MPD experiment didn't work so well, it only affected a few staff so that was OK too. Now, coaching, leading, training, resourcing, and experimenting are all part of my job and my influence has extended to the entire Region.

I'm still not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, I enjoy the added responsibility and I believe I have something to bring to the table. When I was deciding whether or not to apply for the position, a big part of the reason why I did was because I really believe that God has blessed me with a love for MPD that most staff do not possess. In many ways, this job was literally made for me.

On the other hand, the added pressure is a real thing. It's not enough to just give something a shot to see what sticks. The stakes are bigger. I have to think through things a lot more. I'm doing more learning and am figuring out my blind spots and growth edges. These things are good things too; they just take some time to get used to.

Central Region's Regional Staff Conference (RSC) is this weekend. RSC is one of only 2 times throughout the year that we get together as a whole staff team. There will be a section on MPD and you can guess who is going to be leading it. This will be my first time introducing a Region wide MPD initiative. Actually, I'm releasing 2 of them. I'm excited about the initiatives and I think they are good moves for our Region. It's just getting real. Prayers appreciated. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

The Supernova

Hello, friends!

After 8 days in beautiful Southern California visiting with family and seeing old friends (Happy Thanksgiving by the way!) the Leong's are happy to be back in Omaha where there's snow on the ground and a chill in the air.

Last night, we got in around 11pm local time. We had to get off the plane, get our bags, then wait for the Lyft to get us home. By the time we finally walked through the door at Ruggles street, it was well past midnight, which is way past bedtime for both kids. This means that Megan and I got to see the Supernova in all its glory.

In astronomical terms, a Supernova is the explosion of a star. I don't know the exact physics of it but my understanding is that a Supernova radiates a whole lot of energy before collapsing on itself, leaving a dense core of what used to be the star.

However, in parenting, a Supernova is when your kid decides to give off an immense amount of energy before crashing at bedtime. It really is a sight to behold.

Ezra has 2 kinds of Supernovas. The physical Supernova is when he runs around like his hair is on fire. He runs under the table, does ridiculous dances, and generally is a wiggly mass of energy that is simultaneously frustrating and entertaining (though more the former than the latter).

What we got to see yesterday is the much more fun verbal Supernova. This is when he just starts talking and won't stop until he falls asleep. The stuff that comes out of that boy's mouth can only be described as terribly entertaining.

On the trip home last night, we got some real good stuff. There were conversations about triangles, squares, and circles. There was a story about an octopus eating crabs. Previous verbal Supernovas have included descriptions of our house in great detail and the assertion that Jesus wouldn't like to be eaten by ants (which, to be fair, is probably true). Every verbal Supernova is a new adventure.

For as long as he's been able to talk, Ezra has been a talker. We didn't know that he was especially verbal until the pediatrician told us. But, it totally makes sense and it's one of the things we love about him, especially when we get to see a verbal Supernova.

So, if you're ever in the mood for a fun night, come on over and put the kids to bed way past bedtime. You may get to see our son talk himself to sleep. And Megan and I wouldn't mind someone watching the kids while we went out in a date either. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Prospective Staff Weekend!!!

Hello, friends!

Thanks to everyone who way praying for us as we made our Missouri road trip last week. Besides a little bit of sickness for me (and then Thaliea) it was a great trip. Both Megan and I thought that our trainings went well and it was good to see Aunt Judi and my dad who ended up coming into town. Ezra and Thaliea definitely enjoyed being spoiled by "Gu Pah" (Great Aunt) and Gung Gung (Grandpa).

Even though we just got back on Sunday, it's almost time to hit the road again! On Saturday we'll be heading to Kansas City for Prospective Staff Weekend (PSW), which is when folk from all over our Region who are interested in potentially joining staff come together so we can help them begin the discernment process. It's honestly one of my favorite things that we do as a Region.

My job is going to be laying out the MPD portion of staff life. I'll hopefully be casting a vision that MPD is different from fundraising and that our desire for partnership should motivate us as opposed to scare us, when it comes to MPD. I did the same section last year and I really enjoyed it. It was also well received. Here's hoping the sequel is as good as the original. =0).

Friends, please be praying for us as we prepare for PSW. There are a few specific ways you can be praying:
- Journey's mercies to and from Kansas City. The kids did pretty well on our Missouri trip. Here's hoping we have a repeat.
- Megan and I will both be leading small groups. She's much better at leading them than I am. Pray that we will be helpful as we begin the discernment process with prospective staff.
- I'll be doing the MPD talk and Megan will be a part of a panel on "a day in the life of staff." Please pray that God will speak through us in each of our sections.

Next week is Thanksgiving so no post next week. But, I do want to say that I'm thankful for all of you.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

MO Fast, Mo Roadtrip!!!

Hello, friends!

As my good friend Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson* likes to say, "FINALLY, THE LEONGS ARE COMING BACK TO MISSOURI!!!"

We made a trip out to CoMO and St. Louis at the end of our Sabbatical to see family and friends and such but this will be our first trip back for InterVarsity purposes. It should be a blast. Here's the itinerary:

Monday: Leave for CoMO
Tuesday: Hang out with folk in CoMO (and see if I can get to Jingo's for some spicy beef noodle soup) then head to St. Louis.
Wednesday: I'm leading an MPD training for the MO Fast team on Wednesday and Thursday.
Thursday: More MPD!
Friday: Seeing friends and family
Saturday: Meg is leading an ISM staff training in the morning
Sunday: Visiting one of our partner churches before heading back to Omaha

That's a whole week in the great state of Missouri! I'm really excited about this trip for a few different reasons:

1) It'll be good to see the old staff team again. I've had a few interactions with them here and there but to this level. I'm excited to work those wonderful folk again.
2) It'll be good to do some MPD training! This is honestly one of my favorite parts of my new job. I love breaking down MPD into doable bites of work that actually get staff excited to do the work.
3) It'll be good to see family and friends. Of course, we'll get to hang out with my aunt who lives in St. Louis but we'll also see a few other folk who we haven't seen in quite some time.
4)

So, friends! If you're thinking of us, please be praying for us as we travel. Pray for journey's mercies, good connections, and lots of fun! No blog next week but we'll see you the week after with an update.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam


*Note: Adam has never met Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson but went to high school with his cousin, so we're practically family.

Props to Mid-MO!

Hello, friends!

When I first joined InterVarsity back in 2007 (ah!), I was sent to Columbia, Missouri with a vision and a mission. Our Regional Director at the time took me to breakfast and he told me that if we were going to reach the rest of the state of Missouri, Mizzou was going to have to be the flagship. We had work in St. Louis and were starting work in Kansas City but the rest of the state was empty as far as InterVarsity was concerned. My job was to lay the groundwork and plant the first Mizzou chapter(s) and then spread out from there. It was just a pipe dream at that point but the Mid-MO District was born.

As I got ready to leave CoMO for Omaha, the one thought that continued to nag at me was whether or not I'd done enough to ensure that Mid-MO would survive. We'd hired a few staff and planted a few more chapters but everything felt tenuous. I grappled with the fear that everything I'd spent the past 11 years building would fall once I left town and that I would have failed in my mission.

LORD, forgive me for my pride.

Y'all, Mid-MO is absolutely CRUSHING IT. When I get the updates from Charis, Danny, Sonya, and Solome about the work that they're doing with students and the chapters they are working with, it warms my heart. Why was I worried?! Look at these faces!!! Who wouldn't want to follow these folk?!?!

In all seriousness though, it has been a huge blessing to hear about all the ways that God has continued to move in Mid-MO. From 11 years ago when a punk 22 year old stepped foot on Mizzou's campus for the first time, God has done some amazing work and I know he'll continue to do so. I'm so blessed to have been able to leave Mid-MO in such capable hands. 

#MidMOForever

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Riding Solo With The Girl!

Hello, friends!

For the past 5 days, our family has been on a bit of an adventure. Megan's cousin was getting married in California (Congrats, Alex!) so she was going out to the wedding. Given the ages of the kids, we figured that it'd be good for Ezra to go too since he'll actually have memories of what happened. There was no way we were going to have Meg go with both kids by herself, so that left us with two options:

1) All 4 of us go
2) Megan and Ezra go while Thaliea and I stay behind

Given that we were talking about an extra plane ticket (Thaliea would fly free), we would be back to California in about a month, and the wedding was on a boat (I get motion sickness), the choice was obvious: divide and conquer, with me riding solo with the girl.

I now, humbly present to you, a rundown of the past 5 days:

Saturday:
- We drop Megan, Ezra, my in-laws, and Megan's sister's family off at the airport. Thaliea immediately knows that something is wrong because she isn't getting out of the car. Crying commences.
- Thankfully, we kept her up past her normal bedtime so when we get home, she's able to nap.
- In the afternoon, we go to her favorite playground to keep her occupied.
- She has one fit of "MAMA" crying but makes it to dinner.
- A bath, a snack, and a few videos of Megan talking to her calm her down enough for bed.
- The following exchange happens for the first at least a 50 times over the next few days:
     - T: Mama?
     - Me: She's not here
     - T: Guh guh? (Which is "big brother" in Mandarin)
     - Me: He's not here either
     - T: Oh (with a sad look on her face)
- Thankfully, she sleeps through the night but insists on having Elmo (one of Ezra's toys) with her to help her sleep.

Sunday:
- It snows!!! WHY THE SNOW?!
- We go to church. Thaliea does great at childcare.
- I'd set up lunch with a friend of mine so after church we head to the restaurant. Thaliea falls asleep on the way there so lunch is cut VERY short.
- Thaliea wakes up just as I'm pulling back into the house... that nap was NOT long enough.
- The power goes out. THE POWER GOES OUT!
- We go to the Children's museum for a few hours so she can burn off some energy running around indoors. We can't go outside because IT'S STILL SNOWING.

- We come home and the power is still out. We go out to eat since I can't use the microwave, the oven, or open the fridge too many times.
- We come home and have an early bedtime since it's dark and there are no lights. She falls asleep looking at photos of Ezra.
- About 10pm I decide that it's getting too cold for her to stay in the house overnight. I book a hotel.
- She doesn't do well at the hotel but we eventually get to sleep.

Monday:
- Continental breakfast at the hotel then off to daycare.
- After I pick her up from daycare, we head to the mall to walk around.
- We share a quesadilla and a pretzel.
- It's supposed to be bath night but by the time we get home, she's so toast then it's straight to bed.

- Another good night of sleep.

Tuesday:
- I let her sleep in a bit then it's off to daycare.
- After I pick her up, we come home for a dinner of homemade chicken noodle soup and peas.
- The weather is nice so we go for a walk.
- The bath cannot wait... and she does great!
- Jammies, a snack, some more videos of Ezra, and she sleeps like a log.

- Until 4 this morning when she wakes up screaming. What's interesting is that she woke up yelling for me instead of Mama. I'm able to put her back to sleep.

So, here we are on Wednesday. She made it to daycare again fine and I'll be picking her up later. She'll be asleep by the time Megan and Ezra get back to Omaha but she'll have all on Thursday to play together.

All said and done, it's been a pretty good past few days. Thaliea and I have had a lot of fun bonding together and I'd like to think we handled the power outage as well as we could have. Parenting success! =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Team Time!

Hello, friends!

One of my top goals as Regional Coordinator for Ministry Partnership Development (MPD) is to develop a positive MPD culture in our Region. It is common among staff to keep the MPD part of our ministry lives separate from the campus part, especially from our staff partners. Partnership can be a tricky subject and yet, if we don't talk about it, the harder it is to do. My hope is that in our Region, we'll be able to talk about our MPD in a healthy way, which means doing MPD in community.

The Region includes 4 states, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, so seeing each other in person isn't something we can do all that often. Thankfully, we have the wonders of technology to help in the process...

Welcome to MPD TEAM TIME!!!

My premise is simple: MPD is easier to do when you do it with people. However, not everyone can always be in the same physical space in order to do MPD. The solution is video calls. Every Thursday, I post a link to a video call on our Regional Facebook page. Then anyone who wants to do their MPD "with people" can hop on and see other folk from the Region hard at work. It's a way for us to be a team without having to be in the same place.

So far, I've been doing MPD Team Time for a few weeks now and the results have been great, although not in the way you might think. So far, only one out of state staff has taken advantage of Team Time. That's not great. BUT, what is great is that the IV staff here in Omaha have decided that MPD Team Time is a great opportunity to do MPD together... like actually together... in the same space...

Here's a photo of our lovely MPD Team Time from a few weeks back.

Don't we look happy?!

I'm not sure if we'll do MPD Team Time beyond this semester. We may turn it into something else. The important thing is that I'm looking for new ways for our Region to see MPD as a communal endeavor, not a burden to be taken on alone. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

And Now a Note From Meg...

Hello, friends!

I'm honored to have my lovely wife Megan guest blog for me today with one of her Sabbatical reflections. We took Sabbatical together through the first half of 2018. I've posted lots of my thoughts on my Omaha SuperBlog if you want to read those.

Have an excellent day!


We live in a culture of performance, workaholism, materialism, you can do anything you put your mind to, and distraction by technology. It is only natural then to bring these same ideals into ministry life. It then can easily turn into depending on myself to bring forth results in ministry versus depending on God. Many times our hearts can be in the right place, longing to see people know God and follow him, but when the dependence is on ourselves or even someone else to make that happen, that's when trouble happens.

Two and half months ago we came back from a much needed six month Sabbatical. One practice I have been able to take from Sabbatical is beginning my work days with prayer for the ministry. It sounds simple and is something I should have done a long long time ago. It wasn't that I didn't pray for the ministry in the past, but in the craziness of having kids and doing student ministry, there was just always something that felt pressing to do right away. So now as soon as I drop off the kids at daycare, I begin that time with the Lord, praying for international students and their staff across our region. The result? A shifting for me as I begin the work that God has asked me to do with dependence on Him. If anything is going to happen, it is going to have to happen through God's power, not my own. And it does!

~Megan (and Adam too)

Happy Anniversary!!!

Hello, friends!

Saturday will mark 6 years since I made the best decision of my life and married Meg. It's been one heck of a ride, with ups, downs, transitions, trials and triumphs. I couldn't imagine life without her and I'm so glad that I get to spend the rest my life with her.

To honor our 6 years together, I give you our lives, in 6 photos...

This is our garden. Well, honestly, it's Meg's garden. I have a little patch of soil where I grow some sunflower microgreens but the harvest you see below is all Meg's doing. In many ways, our marriage is about planting and growing stuff. We've planted ministries together, uprooted our family to put new roots down in Omaha, and seen our kids grow as well as our work with InterVarsity.

This is beef stew noodle soup, aka the greatest food known to man. Much like with gardening, I can do a little here or there but Meg is the real expert. Regardless of who's cooking though, our marriage has revolved around food in a lot of ways. We like trying out new recipes and eating delicious things. Here's to many more years of full stomachs.

These are our kids. We love our kids to death. Meg is a great mom and I at least try hard. =0). Seriously though, it's so great being married to a woman who genuinely loves her kids and wants to see them grow up to be a man and woman of God. We parent a little differently (ok, maybe a lot differently) but like we tell Ezra when he asks one of us for something after the other one already told him "no": Mommy and Daddy are on the same team. 

This is us hosting a dinner with students. To say that hosting is a part of our marital DNA would be like saying the St. Louis Cardinals are the best baseball team in the history of the world... Duh!!! Much like with parenting, Meg and I do it differently (read: she does it well and I try hard). We love having people over and love being able to serve folk by providing space for them to do whatever they need to do, whether it be sleep, eat, or just chill. 

This is our family. Well, it's Meg's parents from when they came to visit. One thing we both love is spending time with our families. Since we've moved to Omaha, we've probably crammed in 2-3 years' worth of visits to South Dakota into our time. We've also had my side of the family come out to visit too. A lot of nights throughout the week we're calling one family member or another for FaceTime or Google Hangout. It's so much fun being a part of a family that goes just beyond the 4 of us.

This is Ezra dancing. He's usually dancing. Thaliea spends a lot of time dancing. You'd better believe that Meg and I do our fair share of dancing too. I'm not saying that our house is Omaha Dance Party Central... I'm just saying that our house is Omaha Dance Party Central. I love being married to a woman who loves to have fun. It's way better than dancing with myself. 

BONUS PHOTO! I just really like this photo, that's all. Here's to (at least) 6 more years of marriage!!!

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

A "Normal" Week

Hello, friends!

We're just about 2 months into being back at work and I think I've finally found a work rhythm that works well for me. It's a huge blessing and one that is definitely needed.

As I've said many times before, I'm a rhythms and structures guy. I function best when I have my gameplan in front of me and things are predictable. Setting a schedule with what I'm going to be doing each day helps me focus and allows me to take on non-structured things better.

There are a lot of moving parts in my job now, which meant there were a lot of pieces that needed to be put in place in order to find my rhythm. I'm coaching 6 staff in their MPD so I needed to work with their schedules. I have supervisory meetings of my own and work with Asian American Ministries. I have small group and Rotary, which are immovable. There are also times when I'm taking care of the kids and taking them to daycare and such. We can't forget Sabbath and church either. There are a lot of moving parts.

But, we've got it figured out for the most part! It's a tight schedule but it gets the job done.

Monday: Sabbath. Thank you, LORD, for the goodness of rest.
Tuesday: Small Group @ 6:30, supervisory meetings from 9-11, lunch with my friend Eric (now we're looking for Omaha's best chicken wings!), and working on Regional and National stuff the rest of the day before cooking dinner.
Wednesday: Admin and MPD work until the Rotary meeting, then a supervisory meeting in the afternoon with more Admin and MPD work sprinkled in there when I have time.
Thursday: Taking the kids to school before diving into more supervisory meetings and again, spending the afternoon on Regional and National initiatives.
Friday: Watching the kids in the morning before working the rest of the day on Admin and spiritual formation.
Saturday and Sunday I'm trying to keep work free to spend time with the family.

It's not a perfect schedule but it gets the job done. Trying to cram 40 hours of work into 4 days instead of 5 makes things a little tougher but it's worth it to have weekends free with my family and a normal Sabbath with Jesus.

So, that's my rhythm. For now anyway. This will be enough to get me through the semester, when new responsibilities and such will arise. I'm thankful that I have a job that offers a certain amount of structure so I can do my best work in rhythm.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Kansas Bound!

Hello, friends!

Prior to Mizzou leaving the Big XII for the SEC in 2012, Mizzou's biggest rival was the University of Kansas, located in Lawrence, KS, about an hour west of Kansas City. Around Columbia, if you wanted to get the crowd really riled up, you wore the blue and red of KU in Black and Gold country. While we bested them in football, they have the basketball national championships to hold over Mizzou's collective head. It was a rivalry steeped in tradition, history, and some good, old fashioned, college hatred.

I've only been to Lawrence once. A group of KU students came to St. Louis one Spring Break to do an urban project. There, the idea was hatched to play some "friendly" basketball in Lawrence. Since Mizzou is on the way to KU from St. Louis, I grabbed my student who balled the most, hopped in the car, and played some hoops.

We won.

I haven't been back since.

UNTIL NOW!

Part of my job is doing training all across the Region (Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska) for staff teams. On Friday, I get to take my first trip as part of the job. I'll be heading to Lawrence to train the staff team on deepening their MPD networks. It'll be a short trip but it should be a good one.

The plan is pretty simple: I'll leave for Lawrence in the morning, do the training in the late morning. Possibly meet with some ministry partners in the afternoon and/or evening in Kansas City, and be home before I turn into a pumpkin late that night. Meg and the kids will be in SoDak visiting Grandma and Papa so I've got all the time in the world. I'm looking forward to visiting a staff team. I'm looking forward to eating something delicious in Kansas City. I'm looking forward to the audiobooks I'm going to be busting out on the road. I'm looking forward to my first travel trip.

Friends, if you have a moment on Friday, please be praying for me, particularly for journey's mercies. It's a pretty easy trip along the interstate but stuff happens.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Thoughts on Crazy Rich Asians...

Hello, friends!

A few months back, i was scrolling through Facebook and I saw a trailer for Crazy Rich Asians (CRA), a movie starring Constance Wu (of Fresh Off the Boat fame) based on a series of books by Kevin Kwan. If I could have, I would have bought the tickets right then and there for opening night. Alas, I had to wait and finally got around to watching it a few weeks ago.

Let me make one thing clear: CRA is not a perfect movie. The book was more a satire but the movie was definitely a rom-com, meaning a lot of the subtleties were missed and the "message" of the book got muddled a bit. There are legitimate concerns about the representation (or lack thereof) of other ethnic groups in Singapore beyond the Chinese. I preferred the book's version of Peik-Lin to Akwafina's portrayal (although, Akwafina totally nailed the version she was asked to do). I don't think it will be winning an Oscar this year. All I can speak to is my own experiences with watching the movie. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. There are 3 big reasons why.

1) The Black Panther-esque level of representation. Black Panther was amazing at least in part because it was a predominantly Black cast focusing on a Black superhero, totally crushing it in a genre that isn't exactly known for its diverse representation. In many ways, CRA was like that for Asian Americans. All the major characters were Asian or Asian American. American Romantic comedies don't usually feature Asian actors. With the success of Fresh Off the Boat, the inclusion of Kim's Convenience on Netflix, and now CRA, (with John Cho's "Searching" also out now), it really felt like a big moment in terms of breakthrough in mainstream media.

2) That soundtrack. "Material Girl" by Madonna. "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" made famous by Elvis. "Yellow" by Coldplay. What do these songs have in common? They were all on the CRA soundtrack and there were all covered in Mandarin for the movie. Every time I heard a new cover of an "American" song in Mandarin, my heart swelled with pride and I giggled a little. Much of our (being America's) cultural history includes White folk borrowing from Asian cultures to make something "new." To see this in reverse was pretty entertaining. Also, the covers were really good.

3) There were moments where Constance Wu nailed it. There have been a few moments in entertainment when I really connected with a character. I remember having my lunch made fun of like Eddie on Fresh Off the Boat. I've had multiple occasions where I attempt to say something in Mandarin or Cantonese only for the native speaker to not understand me like Janet in Kim's Convenience. I felt that same connection at multiple points during CRA when Constance Wu's Rachel is reminded that she is a foreigner and that she doesn't belong. It was something about her eyes. There was a look in her eyes that I resonated with. It was subtle but it was there.

If you haven't seen CRA already, please go! Also, go see Searching (which looks great). Watch Kim's Convenience on Netflix and if you have Hulu, catch up on Fresh Off the Boat (at least season 1). Support Asian Americans in the entertainment industry! We're pretty great. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

The Omaha SuperBlog!!!

Hello, friends!

Greetings from beautiful Omaha, Nebraska, home of Warren Buffet, the College World Series, and since January, the Leong Family!

A lot has happened in the past 6 months since Meg and I went on Sabbatical. We moved out of CoMO and into Omaha. We've started our new jobs. Ezra turned 3 and Thaliea turned 1. I ate more than one delicious reuben and more than one bad bowl of beef stew noodle soup. What a mighty eventful 6 months it has been!

Rather than try and cram everything into one blog post, we're going to rock another SuperBlog. I figure that since y'all haven't heard from me in about 6 months, the least i can do is flood y'all with multiple posts. =0).

Below, you'll find a table of contents of sorts. Each link will take you to a new post highlighting a different part of Sabbatical. My hope is that these blog posts will give you some insight into how I spent the past 6 months. The plan is for me to start back up with the regular weekly blog postings in a week or two. Until then...

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Moving
Home-aha
Ruggles
Rest and Rhythms
Finding a home (church)
Adventures in food
So, what now?

Moving...

Hello, friends! 

It's been a little over 6 months since we loaded up the truck, hopped on 70 and left CoMO as home. Moving on January 27, 2018 was a hard thing, in more ways that one. 

Let's start with the logistics. I'd been living in CoMO since 2007 and had been living in that house in one room or another since 2009. During that time, that house was a home base for InterVarsity activities, as well as a marriage and 2 kids. In short, it was full of stuff. When we were ordering the truck, we kept going back and forth between whether or not we should get the 20' or 26' truck. I was pretty sure that we had more stuff than a 20' truck could hold but not by much, and by going with the 20' truck, we'd save some money on the rental and on gas. But, ultimately we decided that it was better safe than sorry so we opted for the big boy. I'm glad we did. 

We started loading up early in the morning. The plan was for us to load up as quickly as possible so we could have some of our friends in Omaha help us unload before it got to dark. It was great having so many friends (and even Aunt Judi!) come to help us load up the truck and say goodbye. We definitely needed all the help we could get. 

Y'all... the stuff just kept coming. We moved everything out of room after room and still the boxes kept flowing. We filled that truck to the brim and even had to leave a thing or two behind. Still, we got it done, said a prayer, and shoved off. 

Before our Christmas trip to California, we drove both cars up to Omaha then left one of them parked up there and drove to Kansas City for our flight. That meant that I drove the moving truck while Meg, Aunt Judi, Ezra, and Thaliea, rode in the van. My dream has always been to be a trucker. Driving along 70 and up 29 by myself in a 26' U-Haul is probably as close as I'll ever get. Without the benefits of conversation, I had a bag of snacks, 2 big bottles of water, and a lot of podcasts to keep me company. It was only a 5 hour trip but it was pretty grueling. 

Arriving at our new house, I realized 3 things. 1) I'd beaten Meg and the van here. 2) I really had to pee. 3) Meg had the keys so there was no way for me to get into the house... After deciding that there was no good place for me to pee outside, I did what any normal person would do: I introduced myself to the neighbors, and asked if I could use their bathroom. =0). 

Honestly, the only reason anyone should ever move to Omaha during January is because it's the beginning of Sabbatical. When I got there, there was ice in the driveway, snow on the ground, and a light dusting coming from the sky. Thankfully, we had friends there to help us unload, and we were able to begin our new lives as citizens of the great state of Nebraska. 

Emotionally, I think I actually did better than I thought I would. You don't spend 10+ years living in a town without having some emotional attachment. CoMO is where I had my first job. It's where Meg and I moved for our first home. It's where Ezra and Thaliea were born. It's where I found Jingo's spicy beef noodle soup. There are a lot of great memories. I wasn't sure how sad I would be to be leaving my home for the past decade. It was sad but I knew that I had a good reason for going and that the life ahead would be a good one. All I had to do was move there...

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Living in Omaha

Hello, friends! 

Before moving to Omaha, I knew very few things about it. I knew the College World Series was there. I knew that Warren Buffet was there. I knew that Omaha steaks were there. I'd driven through a few times and stayed at some houses on my way to and from South Dakota, but the only time I spent any significant time there was in 2017 when I did some training with InterVarsity. Even then, I was at a hotel for most of it so I'm not sure if it really counts. Now that I've been living here for 6 months, I certainly not an expert but I've learned a few things. Some of these things I like and some of these things I like less. 

I like the way the streets are numbered. You start at the river and as you head west, the numbers get higher. I'm pretty sure the street numbers go as high as into the 200's. We live off 48th, so anything that has a triple digit number as a cross street is way out there as far as I'm concerned. 680 and 80 are the interstates that act as dividing lines for Omaha. Anything west of 680 (right around 100th) is "West Omaha." Anything south of 80 is South Omaha. As someone who is really bad with directions, I really appreciate being able to tell which direction I'm going by just reading the street signs. 

You know what is less great about Omaha? The hills. When people think of Nebraska, they think of farms and fields. They probably think of flat. I know I did. That may be true further out west but in Omaha, close to the river, it's really hilly. As someone who loves to bike, especially commuter biking, this has been a big adjustment. I used to make fun of folk who had electric assist bicycles. As far as I was concerned, why bother biking if you're going to have the motor do all the work?! After living in Omaha for a bit, I now understand. =0). 

Here's something great about Omaha: there is a ton for the kids to do. The Omaha Zoo is one of Ezra's favorite places to be and he really likes going to the Children's Museum too. Thaliea is now old enough to start to enjoy those spots, even though she spends most of her time still in the stroller. There are lots of parks around (including one right across the street from us) and while Omaha is about 10 times bigger than CoMO, it's not so big that we're stuck in a car all day trying to get from one thing to another. 

Speaking of being in the car, you know what isn't so great in Omaha? The roads aren't great. Well, at least they aren't great in our neck of the woods. There are potholes and cracks in the pavement everywhere. Again, as a biker, this is less than ideal. I'm learning the safest, least hilly, best kept routes to get from one place to another but sometimes there aren't really great options. Omaha has an app where you can report potholes and such so the City can come and take of things. I'll definitely be using that app quite a bit. 

One of the things we love about our part of Omaha is the diversity. I don't have the exact numbers on me but I know that Omaha is more diverse than CoMO was. There's a decent sized Black population as well as a good number of LatinX folk and a fair amount of refugees from Southeast Asia. Asian grocery stores abound and for the most part, the diversity of cuisine has been a good thing (more on that in a different post). We have really enjoyed living in a more diverse city. 

All said and done, it's been an adjustment but it's been a good adjustment. Each day, it feels more and more like home, which is a good thing. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Ruggles...

Hello, friends! 

One of the hard things about looking for a house when you live out of town is that you have limited time to actually look at houses. When you are moving within town, you can make appointments as houses come onto the market, do your research, and look into the neighborhood, especially if you don't know it already. When you're from out of town, you're cramming as many appointments as possible into your one visit, meaning you're spending less time at each house and not able to do as much research. Add to that the lack of institutional knowledge of a city or neighborhoods, and it can be a pretty stressful time. 

When Meg and I were looking for houses, I kept going back to my realtor said when I started looking for houses in CoMO. He said that the first dozen to two dozen houses were going to be me figuring out what I DIDN'T like. Then, at some point, I'd walk into a house and know that it was the one. That's what happened with the CoMO house, so I figured that we'd be in for a similar ride this time around. The only difference would be that instead of taking 2-3 weeks, we'd be trying to see that dozen or two dozen houses over the course of a day or so. 

A few houses were eliminated for us. We'd go online, see a house that we liked, add it to our "check out this one when we visit Omaha" list, then see that it was sold before we even had a chance to get into town. That hurt a bit. However, when we DID get into town, that's when the fun started. Friends, we saw some rough houses. There was one house that was fish-bowled in the kitchen, so everything ran towards the middle of the room. There was the house that was huge with lots of rooms, had that creepy, old school Victorian, murder mystery house kind of vibe. We saw a house that had a kitchen on the second floor (they don't show you that in the photos). Then, we saw the house on Ruggles Street. 

Growing up, I'd gotten into my head that you've finally "arrived" as an adult when you have a two story house. Most of the houses we looked at were two story but were also kind of too small. Our house is a ranch with all sorts of room. Just like the CoMO house, both the main floor and the basement have big living areas, perfect for hosting (and we've learned perfect for running around if you're a 3-year-old). The house was completely renovated, meaning the appliances, paint, and everything was new (although we also see now that the workmanship isn't perfect). What really sold me on the house though, was Ruggles Street itself. We walked into the house, absolutely fell in love with it, and walked out wondering if we'd found our house. As we pulled out of the driveway to the last house on our list, I saw Black, LatinX, and Asian kids all walking home from school. Ruggles was going to suit me just fine. 

Since moving in, we've only had it confirmed that we picked the right house and the right neighborhood. Meg has already made friends with a woman who lives down the street with 4 kids (the youngest 2 are a little older than Ezra and Thaliea). I've become known to the kids in the neighborhood as the "bike pump guy" for when their tires are flat. We're next to a park and not too far from some great coffee shops. (We actually have 2 coffee shops that are right next to each other. Meg's favorite has story time for the kids on Fridays. My favorite is a coffee shop AND a bike shop. How perfect is that?!). 

I knew that making Omaha home was going to take some time, especially after spending 10+ connected to CoMO. Ruggles Street has been a huge part of making that process go a lot faster. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Rest and Rhythms...

Hello, friends! 

Even though there were a lot of things that needed to get done during our Sabbatical, moving out, moving in, finding a church, getting the kids into daycare, buying a zoo membership, etc., the most important thing for us was supposed to be 6 months to intentionally reflect on the years of work that we've done while being able to rest and prepare for this next season of ministry. I would be remiss if I didn't spend at least one blog post on what I learned over Sabbatical. So, here are a few lessons from my time without work. 

1. Learning to rest is hard work! My original plan was to treat Sabbatical like resting was my job. I was going to try to get in 40 hours of spiritual formation and rest in during a week, just like if I was still working. That. Was. Terrible. Friends, when you're used to working a certain way, getting up at a certain hour, and getting certain things done, breaking out of that habit is actually harder than it looks. I had to give myself permission to sleep in a bit. I had to learn to be OK with not having any discernible accomplishments at the end of the day. I had to re-learn how to take a nap! By the end of the Sabbatical I was much better at resting well but it did take some time, and I was surprised by that. 
2. Not all rhythms are created equal. I've said many times before that I'm a rhythm guy. I work best when I build my day around rhythms and structures. Without having ministry work to do, my days were considerably more free, allowing me to focus on my rhythms and see which ones really mattered. I saw that I had "sustaining rhythms" which were the things I needed to do in order to do my jobs well. Through 10 years of ministry a lot of sustaining rhythms were stacked on top of each other, leading to a lot of work but not necessarily a lot of life. "Thriving rhythms" are the things that give me life and I'm in a better place when I keep up these rhythms but I'm not totally off my game if something doesn't go according to plan. Where I was really surprised was when I discovered that I have some "essential rhythms." These are the things I need to do everyday in order to survive. For example, 15 minutes with Jesus in the morning before Meg and the kids get up is an essential rhythm because it reaped more benefit to me than an hour of Jesus time later in the day after my brain was already thinking about a bunch of stuff. It was fun to discover these essential rhythms and incorporate them into daily life. 
3. Life is really different now from when I started. This may seem like a truism. Of course things are different. I'm married. I have 2 kids. I live in Omaha instead of Columbia. Still, while on Sabbatical I was able to reflect more on just how much life has changed for me while I've been working for InterVarsity. I am so thankful for all the things that God has provided for me over these past 11 years like a home, a family, and a calling. In many ways, the move wasn't an easy one. I didn't expect to leave Southern California before I did. I didn't expect to leave St. Louis before I did. I didn't expect to leave CoMO before I did. Now I'm here in Omaha and I'm so thankful for God's faithfulness in every step of the journey. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Finding a Home (Church)...

Hello, friends! 

When we were planning our Sabbatical (still living in CoMO), we knew that a big part of making Omaha feel like home would be us finding a church and building community that way. We figured that we'd move at the end of January, spend February looking for churches, then have a decision by March or April at the latest. That is what we like to call "wishful thinking." 

Friends, looking for a church is hard work! For one, there are a lot of churches in the area. Omaha is a well churched city, which means there are a lot of different options. For two, Meg and I had to decide what our core values were in what kind of church we wanted to be a part of? What was most important to us? Were there certain theological or ecclesiastical "must haves" or "can't haves?" There were a lot of questions and conversations that needed to happen around this decision. 

One of the things we decided to do after we first moved to CoMO was to look for a church together. I'd been going to a church before we got married but we wanted where we worshiped to be a decision we made as a married couple. Back then, our priority was a vibrant young couples population. Since we were new at being a married couple and Meg was new to CoMO, we wanted to make sure that we would have a community where folk were in a similar life stage and we could all go through those life stages together. We were blessed to have found that community and were happy to be a part of that church family. 

Moving to Omaha, our priorities were a little different. Now, a good children's ministry was high on our list. We were also looking for a church with ethnic diversity and one that affirmed women in leadership. When we first moved to CoMO, ethnic diversity and the affirmation of women in leadership were important values to us but they weren't deal breakers. What a difference a few years makes, eh? 

I'm happy to say that it was a few months behind schedule but we've committed to Bridge Church in Omaha. Along with a great children's ministry, a diverse congregation, and a woman on the pastoral team, Bridge also has great worship and is a walkable distance from our house. We've already walked to Sunday celebration a few times this summer. We are excited to be part of Bridge Church and are looking for ways to serve. Meg has already signed up to help with the Children's ministry and I've met with one of the pastors about potential leadership and training opportunities. 

No church is perfect. Our church in CoMO wasn't and Bridge isn't either. Still, we felt peace about attending then and we feel great peace about attending now. We're so thankful for the ways that we've been welcomed into the church community and are looking forward to this next season of growth. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Adventures in Food...

Hello, friends! 

When I moved to Omaha, I knew that it was going to be an adjustment. However, like I told a number of people, if I could find my bike routes and a decent spicy beef noodle soup, I'd be set. Living in CoMO, two of the things that I loved the most were being able to bike pretty much anywhere I needed to be, and Jingo's/Seasonings 63's spicy beef noodle soup. Getting those things locked in were going to be key to my adjustment. 

I've more or less figured out my bike routes, although biking is much more difficult in Omaha because of the traffic, the hills, and the terrible roads. 

But the Chinese food in Omaha is no good.

Like, pretty bad

As in, no spicy beef noodle soup anywhere

Friends, I have tried a number of places and looked a number of different menus. Most of the Chinese places around here are of the "cheap Chinese" variety, meaning they do Americanized Chinese food and lunch specials. They do what they do quite well but their soups are side dishes of the hot and spicy, egg drop, and wonton variety. Another spot does decent Schezuan cuisine but they spicy beef noodle soup is more of a stew. One place served me slices of beef and noodles in a chicken broth. The waiter looked at me and said, "I don't think this is what you were thinking it would be." It was not. 

Thankfully, I got saved by a friend of mine. No, he didn't find me a hidden gem for spicy beef noodle soup. However, he did alert me to the fact that the Reuben, my favorite sandwich, was invented on Omaha. A new quest was afoot! 

For two months straight, my friend and I would visit a new Reuben spot each week to see if we could find the best Reuben in all of Omaha. We went to deli's. We went to pubs. We went to chain restaurants. We went to holes in the wall. I ate a lot of corned beef and I absolutely loved it. 

After 2 months of experimentation, we had 2 spots that rose above the rest. Schwartz's deli had a beautiful rye bread, a great meat to sauce ratio, and wonderful french fries to compliment the sandwich. However, the winner was actually our first stop, the original, Crescent Moon. For our last foray into Reuben judging, we went back to Crescent Moon and ordered extra sauerkraut and extra sauce. Those little changes made for a practically perfect sandwich. (NOTE: The best Reuben in the world is still O'Connell's Pub in St. Louis). There's a reason Crescent Moon was voted "Omaha's Best Reuben" in 2017. 

Since then, I've had a few more culinary adventures. I've found some really tasty fried chicken (I'm looking at you, Time Out Foods), eaten some really great chicken wings (Thanks, Ray's Original!), and had more than my share of "meh" Asian cuisine (names will not be mentioned to protect the innocent). 

Even though I don't drink coffee, I have also found a coffee shop where I like to work and have meetings. Omaha Bicycle Company combines 4 of my favorite things: It has a a decent hot chocolate (usually, the better the coffee, the worse the hot chocolate), is close enough to bike to, it has bikes on the walls and is an actual bike shop, and plays alternative music and classic rock. It's pretty much the best thing ever. =0). 

We're still only a few months in of living here in Omaha. I know there are new restaurants to try and new foods to sample. Thus far, it has been an adventure and much of it has been disappointing. But, that Reuben though...

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

My New Role...

Hello, friends!

Whenever I meet people, eventually the conversation turns towards vocation. I guess that's just one of the things that adults do. We talk about our work. I tell folk that Meg and I work for InterVarsity as campus missionaries. The next questions is always, "what campus are you at then?" What follows from there is an explanation that we're not doing as much work in the field but more staff supervision. That usually leads to a nice smile and a move to other topics. It's a conversation that's happened at least 50 times since we've moved here. I don't mind it but it seems like it would be a good idea to explain to you all, my wonderful ministry partners, exactly what I'll be doing with my time. 

My official title is Regional Coordinator for Ministry Partnership Development (MPD) for the Central Region. That does NOT fit well on a business card, nor does it make a whole lot of sense if you don't know the InterVarsity lingo. In layman's terms, it means this: I help the staff in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska get funded. 

Of course, the big question is how I actually do that. My job consists of 3 main parts: Coaching, Procurement, and Innovation. 

Coaching is as exactly like it sounds. I'm currently coaching a few staff around the Region in their MPD. We have weekly video chats where I check in on what work has been done, talk through any questions they may have, and talk about what work needs to happen this next week. It's fun work and I enjoy talking with staff and helping them along in their MPD journeys. 

Procurement means raising funds for the Region. Our Regional office does all sorts of fun stuff including paying for various conferences and grants to staff. I want to make sure that we have enough funds available to do the things we need to do as well as a little extra so we can dream. As someone who loves MPD, this part of the job is definitely a lot of fun. 

Innovation is my favorite part of the job. Friends, I have ideas. I have ideas about how to train new staff in MPD. I have ideas on how to make MPD more equitable and just. I have ideas on how to make our MPD more effective. I have ideas on how to change the culture around MPD so it's not a necessary evil but a joy and a life giving part of ministry. I have all sorts of ideas. What I ovea bout this job is that I now have the freedom to try to implement these ideas. When I was doing Regional MPD work as a hobby before, I had other campus obligations that took priority over my "side job." I certainly didn't mind my division of time; it was just reality. 

Now, however, pretty much all my time gets to be spend on the MPD side of things. I still have some hours devoted to directing the Asian American Ministries pilot project but it's a separate job and one that will take a back seat to my Regional Coordinator role if push comes to shove. 

Thus far, I've already loved to job so much. More than one person has noted that when I get to explaining my job they can hear the passion in my voice. I love the vision that comes with the job and I love the impact I get to have within the movement. It's been a pretty great ride. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Saying Goodbye (for now)...

Hello, friends!

Just in case you haven't heard about any big news from us about moving, Sabbatical, and such, take a few minutes and watch this video. It explains everything...

Now that we've got that out of the way, we can get on to business.

As I've been thinking about Sabbatical, I've been considering more and more how I want to "unplug" and be with Jesus as we transition to Omaha and prepare to take on new roles within the movement. One of the ways I'm going to be doing that is by putting the blog on hiatus for the next 7 months or so. This blog was started primarily as a way for me to share ministry happenings. I always wanted to base my ministry on transparency, especially since I was going to be 2 time zones away from my first group of community in California. So, it just makes sense that while I'm taking a Sabbatical, this blog does too.

That being said, there are still so many things to be said, especially about my move out of CoMO and to Omaha. So, as a way to say goodbye to this chapter in my life, I humbly present to you... the SAYING GOODBYE TO MISSOURI SUPERBLOG.

Each link below will take you to a blog entry on some topic related to my 10+ years here in Mid-MO and nearly 15 years living in Missouri. My hope is that you'll read these as a memoir of sorts, closing this chapter of my life and preparing to start a new chapter in a new place.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

You're sending me to South America?
Own it like it's your own
My name is Adam and I don't actually go here
It smelled like dog poop and it had to be mine
We are... CC!
Maul 'Em!
#NCFFTW
MO Fast MO Furious
Top 3, no doubt in my mind
Tip Day

Best... Soup... Ever...

Hello, friends!

I present to you, the Spicy Beef Noodle Soup of Seasoning 63, in Columbia, Missouri. This is also known as the best spicy beef noodle soup I have ever had, and possibly one of the 5 things I will miss the most when we move.

My roommate Dr. Moon first introduced this soup to me when Seasoning 63 was called Jingo's and it was located on Broadway downtown. I don't remember the context of what we were doing there. I just remember that I had one bite and I knew that this was something amazing. The recipe (along with the name and location of the restaurant) has changed a bit over these 10+ years, but the goodness is still the same. Let me break it down for you.

Bok Choy: Bok choy is perfect for soup because it absorbs the flavor of whatever you put it in. In this case, it is a delicious broth (more on that later). Every bite of vegetable is like a little appetizer for the soup, knowing that there's some goodness coming later.

Meat: There are two versions of this soup. The American version uses the same beef cut that Jingo's/Seasoning 63 uses for its other beef dishes (like beef and broccoli, Mongolian beef, etc.). However, if you get the Chinese (read: good) version, you are also treated to more tender cuts of beef (with the fat still on) and TRIPE. Man, I love me some tripe.

Noodles: You can't see the noodles in this photo but they're there. They're there and they are delicious. I don't know what they do to the noodles. I'm pretty sure they're pre-made. Man, those are some tasty, tasty noodles.

Fried Egg: I always eat the eggs last because it's a special little treat before getting to the broth. Like the bok choy, the egg soaks up the broth beautifully, meaning every extra second that egg is in there is an extra second of deliciousness. What I love about eating that egg though is how the yolk is always just a little bit runny. It's not so runny that it falls apart on you though. It's perfect so that if you stick the whole yolk in your mouth, there's a little bust of flavor that makes my day.

Broth: I once took my dad to try out the soup. Meg and Ezra came along with us. Meg had to go run an errand so it was just the 3 men. Ezra loves soup so he wanted a sip. I told him it was going to be spicy but he wanted to try it anyway so I gave him a spoonful. He scrunched up his face and said, "SPICY!" I told him that water would help so he grabbed his water cup and took a long swig. Then, he put his hands together in a tapping motion, the sign language for "more." I gave him another spoonful and the process repeated itself. Eventually, I filled a small bowl with some broth and he proceeded to repeat sip, "spicy!", chug, "more" until the entire bowl was empty. I'd never been so proud of my son.

A few weeks back, I told the owner that I was going to be moving. She said, "Oh, I guess you're the last one then, yeah?" Apparently, my friends and I have been coming here for a while. =0).

I actually won't be the last one to move. Charis has been a part of our Jingo's/Seasoning 63 crew and she'll still be around. But they'll be losing my business. So, friends, would you do me a favor and head over to Seasoning 63? Keep the place running so when I come back and visit I'll still have some delicious soup available to me. It's on Old 63, across from the Reserve and next to the Pickleman's. Get the Spicy Beef Noodle Soup and think of me.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

MO Fast, MO Furious

"How about... MO-IST?"

The story that I tell a lot is that when I first joined staff, I was the only IV staff for 120 miles. I'd moved to CoMO when there wasn't any IV work in the state of Missouri beyond St. Louis and Kansas City. I actually had 2 apartments, one in CoMO and one in St. Louis because I needed to travel back and forth every week for staff meetings and trainings. The 2 hour drive wasn't a ton of fun (this was before podcasts were really a thing). Paying 2 rents was a bit of a bother (although, housing was so cheap it was still OK). Not being able to get a part-time job in either CoMO or StL because I was never in one place more than 3 days in a row made things a little difficult (although it did eventually contribute to my love for ministry partnership development since I had to raise a higher than normal budget). Still, all of that was worth it because coming into St. Louis each week meant that I could be a part of the Missouri team.

As it stands right now, I am the elder statesmen of the Missouri Team. If you include the 4 years I spent as a student to the 10.5 years I've been on staff, that's nearly 15 years that I've been a part of InterVarsity here in the great state of Missouri. I've seen us reach new campuses and shut down chapters. I've seen literally dozens, if not hundreds, of students make decisions to follow Jesus. I've led roadtrips all across Missouri planting and scouting new campuses. I've seen a of things. I've made a lot of friends. It's been an amazing run.

Somewhere around 2013 or 2014 (the years all run together at this point), the Missouri International Student Ministry (ISM) area, which was made up of staff focusing in ISM in the state of Missouri, and the Missouri Area, which was made up of staff focusing on "domestic" student ministry in Missouri, decided to merge into a single area. In hopes of making sure it didn't feel like an acquisition but like a true merger, we floated the idea of changing our name to something new for the both of us. My favorite name was MO Fast, MO Furious, which eventually just got shortened to the MO Fast Team (My least favorite option was MO-IST, or "moist"). Being a part of this team has been one of the great honors of my life.

My dear friends, Will, Flyaway, Topes, Choco Cats, Dom, Baby Bear, Danny, Charis, Meg, Strongbad, David, Sheriff, Charlamagne, Ashley, Gelnoak, Legend, Miss Ashley, T-Mo, Jon Wang, La Reina, Tammy, D-Queen, Brian, La Capitana, Kes, Robert, Jojo, Jordan, Snack Pack, El Supervisor, and every volunteer who has helped us bring the Gospel to college students in Missouri, I say, "Thanks." Thanks for being a great team. Thanks for going to the hard places. Thanks for celebrating with me and mourning with me. Thanks for taking risks with me. Thanks for letting me be a part of your staff lives. You will forever be a part of mine.

Have an excellent day,

~Adam

M-I-Z...

"Own it like it's your own."

I'll never forget how it felt when I heard those words. I was a first year intern with InterVarsity getting ready for my first regional function as a staff. A veteran staff took a few of us young folk out to lunch prior to the meetings and he gave me that one piece of advice that has stuck with me for my entire staff career in Mid-MO. I have to own Mizzou like it's my own.

Growing up in Southern California, school pride is a thing but it's a different kind of thing. There's UCLA. There's USC. There are transplants from all over California who went to Cal or Stanford. There are transplants from all over the country too. Growing up, I had allegiances to none of those schools. My parents didn't go to any of those schools. I'm sure I had friends whose parents went to those schools but we didn't talk about it much. College pride just wasn't a part of my upbringing.

Fast forward to college. Washington University in St. Louis is known for a lot of things. It's got an amazing campus, a top notch med school, wonderful students, and engaged faculty, and back when I was living there, some pretty tasty dorm food. The one thing it didn't have was school spirit. WashU was a place people went so they would get a better shot at going somewhere else after they graduated. We didn't care much about the city beyond our walls. We didn't care much about the campus beyond our classes. We didn't care much about our classes beyond our grades. (To be honest, I didn't really care much about the grades either... #graduated). As far as athletics go, we cared more about our intramural teams than we did the varsity teams. There used to be a student org called Red Alert that tried to build up school spirit. If you went to a football game (which was free) you'd get a Red Alert T-shirt and 2 slices of pizza. It was not a well attended event.

So, when I heard that I need to "own it like it's your own," I was ripe for the picking. The staff was trying to say that if I'm going to really make it in a new place, I have to adopt the new place as my home. I can't have differing allegiances to other schools if I want InterVarsity to thrive at Mizzou. There could be no equivocation. I had to be #MizzouMade from day 1. I was ready.

Mizzou is the best. I've loved being a fan of the university these past 10+ years. I've been to games. I've read up on the scouting reports. I've been inside so many of the buildings. I've experienced some of the cultural events there. I've been a part of protests. I've met so many students and adopted so many traditions. I can't ever officially say that I'm an alumni of Mizzou, and if WashU and Mizzou were to ever play in any sport (SOOOOO unlikely), my heart would still be with WashU (Go Bears!) but I can honestly say that I've owned Mizzou like my own.

Thankfully, in my next role, I won't be doing much campus work so while I'm living in Omaha, I won't have to be owning any of those local schools as my own. Ezra and Thaliea will NOT grow up fans of Big Red (read: University of Nebraska). If they want to root for Creighton (Go Jays!) or UN-O (Go Mavericks!) then we can make that work. But you'd better believe this won't be a Husker House. Lincoln is an hour away from Omaha, which hopefully will be enough of a distance to keep that fandom at bay.

M-I-Z... Z-O-U!!!

~Adam

Nurses For the Win!

"Did you know that there's an NCF chapter at Mizzou?"

In a word, no. The email I got from Nurses Christian Fellowship (NCF) National saying that there was an NCF chapter at Mizzou was definitely news to me. With a mother, sister, and sister-in-law who are all nurses, I was definitely interested in connecting with those students. 

When I got to our first meeting, NCF was less a chapter and more 2 students who carried over from the past year and their adviser. We didn't have much of a plan and I didn't have a ton of time so I said, "well, let's just pray and see what happens." That first year, we averaged about 4-6 students but we kept on praying. At the start of our second year, we had to switch rooms for our first meeting because there were over 50 nursing students in attendance.

Over the years, the number of students has fluctuated from that first meeting in 2015, to as few as 6 students doing a bible study together. Students have shown up and left. We've never had more than 1 guy as a part of the group besides me. Still, the group faithfully meets and continues to explore what it means to follow Jesus in the world of nursing.

Nursing students are a special breed. Their level of compassion is astounding. I've been taking prayer requests from students in small groups for over 10 years and only in NCF are there more prayer requests for other people than for the people in the room. Questions of compassion, justice and ethics are always on their minds as they navigate how nursing school, clinicals, and their sororities (because apparently all of them are in sororities).

Honestly, I didn't spend a ton of time with NCF. They only meet twice a month and my role was more of an adviser than one of a staff. I was there to help them make prints and buy snacks and such. Still, I was so blessed to be a part of the group. I'm looking forward to seeing these ladies (and a few dudes) change the world through nursing.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam 

CCIV...

"We are... CC!!!"

When I first came on staff with InterVarsity, one of the first things that my Regional Director did was take me out to breakfast. We went to Bob Evans. I'd never been to Bob Evans before. It was nice. =0).

I remember very distinctly that while at breakfast, the RD gave me a vision for all of Mid-MO. He said, "Mizzou is going to be the flagship campus for Mid-Missouri, stretching to all parts of the state." My job was to be start at Mizzou and eventually branch out to other campuses. Thankfully, there were 3 other campuses within walking distance of Mizzou so I figured it wouldn't be that hard.

2012 rolled around and we still didn't have anything to show for our planting efforts beyond Mizzou ACF. I'd tried planting a Black Campus Ministry (BCM) chapter at Mizzou but I couldn't gain enough traction to make it go. Still, ACF was thriving and I felt pretty good about where things were. We had our first official volunteers on staff and one of those staff was charged with leading our apprentice group. She decided that to grow the soon to be leaders, she wanted to have them plant a chapter at Columbia College. After that apprenticeship program finished, the volunteer staff asked if she could actually stay at Columbia College and continue to plant there instead of with ACF. I was more than happy to grant that request and Columbia College InterVarsity (CCIV) was born.

To say that that Columbia College is a different beast from Mizzou would be an understatement. Instead of the 30-35,000 students on campus at Mizzou, Columbia College most recently just doubled it's residential dorm space to 850. While there are over 40 different evangelical student organizations at Mizzou, Columbia College had none. Instead, there were small groups run by campus staff from Mizzou who would then bring the Columbia College students to Mizzou for Large Group. What our volunteer decided was that Columbia College needed a group that was created by CC students for the CC campus.

CCIV has had its ups and downs the past few years, as all chapters do. Some years leadership is great. Other years, the students aren't as invested as we'd like. Still, the chapter plugs along. As I head into Sabbatical, I'm really excited about the crop of leaders we have who will be leading the charge in my absence. We're still hoping for a staff to come in and fill in some of the gaps but even if that doesn't happen, I'm proud of the work that we've done to create a campus group at Columbia College that will serve the campus as a whole. I am, and forever will be, proud to be... CC!

~Adam

706...

"It smells like dog poop."

I moved to CoMO in 2007. The timing worked out really well because as I was moving to CoMO, my friend Andrew's roommate was moving out of CoMO. That meant I was able to immediately move into Kevin's old room and not have to search for a place of my own. The apartment was nice enough. It was close to campus and I had my own bedroom. After my one year internship and 1 year of full-time staff work, I knew that CoMO was going to be a place that I wanted to put down roots. So, I saw a "For Sale" sign in front of a house around campus, called up the number on the sign, and Sean Moore became my real estate agent. 

When Sean and I first met at his office, he told me what was going to happen. He said that we would probably look at close to 2 dozen houses. The first few would really just be me figuring out what I didn't like and what I actually wanted in a house. Then, around house 20 or so, I would walk in and know exactly that this was the house for me. This was my first house buying experience for me so I didn't know if he was telling me the truth or not but I decided to just go with it. 

Friends, I looked at a lot of houses in a short period of time. I remember one house had a sort of fishbowl thing going for it because the floor wasn't level. There was the house with the locked basement that we later learned was because there was a guy living down there and he would be coming along with the house. There was what I called the "ex-girlfriend house" because I absolutely knew that it wasn't right for me but kept going back to it for another look. We probably looked at around 15-20 houses and I was getting discouraged. 

Then we walked into 706 Mount Vernon Avenue. As soon as I stepped in the door, I knew it was the house for me. It was an absolute dump. There was a big dog in a cage watching TV. There was trash everywhere. The kitchen hadn't been cleaned in a while. Downstairs there was no carpet and some dog poop on the floor. Still, I knew it had to be mine. It had everything I wanted. There was ample living space to be able to host lots of people, both upstairs and downstairs. The basement was a self-contained unit, so I could live downstairs and have IV folk living upstairs. There was a sense of community but I could still escape to my own space if I needed. There was tons of storage for IV stuff like sound equipment and proxe stations. It was just 1.5 miles from campus, and the trip was an easy bike ride. It was like God had designed a house specifically for me. 

Since July 2009, there have been a lot of changes to this house. We had the kitchen renovated. The basement has carpet on the floor and paint on the walls. There are curtains on the windows and art in the living room. There's a garden in the back yard to go along with the fire pit. It's very much a home. It's my home. 

706 Mount Vernon has gone by a few different names. Some call it the Man Cave. Others call it IV house. I'm personally partial to La Casa Leong. Whatever its name, it has been my home for the past 8.5 years and it has served me well. I've hosted literally dozens of students in here. We've had leaders meetings, potlucks, bonfires, and movie nights in this house. This is the first house of Meg and my marriage. It's Ezra and Thaliea's first home. It will be hard leaving this house; my home.

Our new place in Omaha is really great. I'm excited for all the memories that are coming for that new house. I'm excited for our new garden and for the kids to have rooms of their own. I'm excited to have a master bathroom and an office. Still, a part of me will always be here, at 706 Mount Vernon Avenue.

~Adam

ACF...

"Our mission is to be a community that shares Christ's love with the Asian and Asian Americans on campus."

This past week I had the pleasure of going to a wedding for one of my best friends, who also happens to be the grandfather of ACF. The story goes like this:

My friend was part of a large InterVarsity chapter during his undergrad. He made his way to Mizzou for grad school and missed Asian American community, so he joined the Asian American Association. While a part of AAA he saw that the students there needed Jesus so he started a Bible study for non-Christians. That led him to then call my supervisor asking if it was possible for a staff to be sent out to Mizzou to plant an Asian American ministry at Mizzou. My supervisor sent me and the rest, as they say, is history. 

For 8 years I was ACF's staff. It was, and always has been, my baby. I remember our first meetings in a student's apartment. I would get there early to cook then we'd do dinner and a bible study. I remember when we first became recognized as a student group. I remember when we had our first Large Group because we were too big for the apartment. I remember the elation I felt when we held our first leaders meeting and the heartbreak of every one of the students who left the chapter or even the faith. I remember the faces of the students who made decisions to follow Jesus and those who decided to lead. I remember all of it because for 8 years, ACF was my life. 

As I took on more and more responsibility with InterVarsity, it still kept coming back to ACF. I needed to stay connected to Asian American students because as an Asian American, I knew that the connection that I felt to those students was just as much for my soul as it was for them. 

During the after party of the wedding, I looked around at the ACF alumni in the room and my heart swelled with gratitude and thankfulness. Of the people in the room, at least 1/3 of them I know came to a real faith in Jesus through ACF. To see them now thriving as adults means that ACF did its job. ACF hasn't been mine for the past 2 years but it will always be in my heart.

So, to Andrew, Laura, Grace, Roshani, Jay, Esther, Lyndy, Julie, Sarah, Dane, Chris, Barbara, Benji, Racehl, Asha, Melody, Lorenzo, Leo, David, David, Tim, Sarah Liz, Grace, Josephine, Arthur, Daisy, Joey, Emily, Colter, Bianca, Paul, Terry, Jin, Rachel, Kirstyn, Seth, Bryce, Shyna, Annie, Liu Liu, Justin, An, Kevin, Kevin, Duc, Paula, Philip, Charis, Jordan, Rachael, April, Kristen, Danny, Jerryl, Jared, Mia, Claire, Mary, Louise, Willin, Ivy, Samuel, Tim, Sarah, Kyoko, Jasmin, Emily, Vincent, Jessica, Kayla, Crystal, Renyu, Elaine, Hannah, Tina, Alison, Victoria, Young, Andrew, Tony, Margaret, Phuong, Yang, Nuria, Julia, Eunice, Jen, Yu-Rim, Soohong, Bo Hyun, Amy, Won Hee, Stephen, Lillian, Kang, Ktan, Satomi, Jennifer, Grace, Lauren, Vanessa, Nan, Andi, Chris, Lyly, Kha, Christyona, and everyone else who graced the doors of ACF throughout my time there, I say, "Thanks." Thanks for coming. Thanks for cooking and eating. Thanks for helping to set up chairs and lead worship. Thanks for leading bible study and small group even though you didn't feel prepared. Thanks for taking risks with me. Thanks for exploring with me. It's been a heck of a ride and I'm so blessed to have met each and every one of you.

~Adam