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