Resting Well...

Hello, friends! 

First of all, there's a brand new episode of Story Central for your ears to enjoy! I interviewed Dr. Jane Zhao, who is a professor at the University of Kansas. It was so great to hear her story and I'm so happy to be able to share it with you. 

Over the last few weeks, staff, students & volunteers attended fall conferences and retreats for the first time in over 2 years!  We celebrate Missouri Fall Conference reported 15 students wanted to "Come and Believe" that the cross was not the end but the beginning of resurrection and the restoration of our relationship with Christ.  We also celebrated Nebraska's first ever fall conference with over 50 students attending!  A quick story from one of our staff below:

"Last weekend Missouri had Fall Conference and we spent time in communal listening prayer. One of my student leaders, "K", felt the Lord calling him into repentance and worship, and then immediately felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. Last night at Bible study, "K", took more risks with the difficulty of the scripture he chose, the people he invited, and the vulnerable stories he was willing to share, including that of his fall conference experience - and it struck the other students hard. One girl who was attending IV Bible study for the first time, as a senior, decided to commit her life to Christ. And another student announced he felt God was convicting him to begin sharing his faith with his non-Christian best friend. The Bible study lasted 2.5 hours and the group prayed for the last 20 minutes!"

Sponsor a staff retreat package?   Staff have been working hard to put on campus events, bible studies, directing conferences while re-adjusting to ministering in person and as a way to bless our local staff teams, we are preparing these "retreat" boxes. We'd love to invite you to partner with us in encouraging our staff teams across Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa & Kansas with this package which will help facilitate resting with Jesus as means of restoration for their mind, body & soul. Each box includes a retreat guide, coupon to use for a retreat facility, snacks, candle, and Ruth Haley Barton's book Invitation to Retreat.  We are hoping to raise $100 per staff so each of our 40 staff would get one!  Would you prayerfully consider giving towards this opportunity by sponsoring part or all of a retreat day?   Thank you for partnering with us!

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

A Few Lessons from a Quick Trip to Cali...

Hello, friends! 

First up, there's a new episode of Story Central that just dropped on Wednesday. I interview Katie Gresham, who leads the non-profit, Under The Same Tree. Katie is not only an awesome person but she's also an IV alum AND she was Megan's roommate for a while in St. Louis. Check it out! 

Last weekend was a whirlwind of a weekend. We flew out to California to visit family for my sister's wedding reception. My younger sister actually got married in July of 2019 in a small, family only ceremony. The original plan was to have a larger, Chinese style banquet in March of 2020 but that was right at the start of the pandemic and everything got shut down. So, 18 months later, we were finally able to pull the trigger and do this thing. 

Here are a few things I learned from our quick trip out there: 

- Flying with 3 kids is hard work. This isn't the first time that we've flown with 3 kids but this is the last time we'll be flying with 5 people and only 4 seats. Jonah is just too wiggly. Thankfully, the flight attendants were in good spirits and the kids did do really well overall. It's just tough when you have long layovers, delayed flights, and kids who aren't used to staying awake until 1 in the morning. 

- There are many things I love about my family but one of my favorites is how much we all love a good dance party. My sister's reception included a BTS Flash Mob, the kids learning how to do the Maracena, my 90 year old uncle rocking out to the YMCA, and the most epic Family Closing Time I've ever seen. I only have a few photos (since I was busy dancing) but more will come later, I promise. =0). 

- As stressful as travel is, and for as long as I've been living in the Midwest, California will always feel like home, especially with the people there. Even if it was for a short trip, it was so good to see my family, especially the sibs. We had cousins and aunts and uncles come from all over the country to celebrate with us, which was a huge blessing. It was also great to see many aunties and uncles from church. 

This was the last wedding reception my immediate family will have to do for quite some time (seeing as how my niece is only 10), so in many ways, it's the end of an era. It was stressful getting there, but I'm glad we made the trip. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

 

Fall Conference Prayer!

Hello, friends!

First of all, a new episode of Story Central dropped this week. I interviewed Ruth Watt, a ministry partner in St. Louis. It was so much fun talking to "Mama Ruth" and she shares an AMAZING story about Jesus moving during the first part of the pandemic. Click here to hear the episode.

Second, Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife! Megan and I have been married for 9 years as of Wednesday. We celebrated with a date out but the big date in when we'll see Hamilton in Omaha in November. Woot!

We are now in the middle of Fall Conference Season, which is one of our favorite times if the year. Missouri had their Fall Conference last weekend and all the stories I've heard from staff have been amazing. God really moved in a powerful way.

This weekend, Nebraska has its Fall Conference. 50 students from Omaha and Lincoln will be coming together to learn through Matthew 5-7. Megan and I are helping with snacks tomorrow but other than that, all the local staff are running the show.

One thing the local staff have asked us to do is to cover the conference in prayer. I can tell you first hand that Satan doesn't like Fall Conference and does what he can to mess with things. The staff team has created a Google doc so folk can sign up and pray for the conference. If you're so inclined, would you consider signing up for an hour?

Have an excellent day!

~Adam