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