1000 Days!

Hello, friends! 

The joke that I like to tell is that growing up, my parents were multilingual but their other languages didn't overlap so had to speak in English at home so that when one of them yelled at me, the other one knew what I did wrong. My mom grew up in Indonesia so she knows a few different languages. My dad grew up in St. Louis but his parents spoke a dialect of Cantonese. I grew up speaking English and eventually studied Spanish in high school and one year in college.

During elementary school, I took one year of Chinese school but I didn't like it. I have a distinct memory of being in the car one time and absolutely nailing a recitation. I don't remember if it was in Cantonese or Mandarin. I have no idea what I said. What I do remember is that instead of going to the recital at the end of the year, I went to a friend's birthday party and never looked back. 

A few years ago, I decided to try studying Chinese again, as a way to do a little ethnic identity development work. I was always uncomfortable at church when some of my friends would be able to talk to older aunties and uncles (or each other) in Mandarin or Cantonese but I couldn't. It was also uncomfortable tagging along with Megan at international student events and the Chinese students being disappointed that I didn't speak the language. So, I downloaded an app, and slowly but surely, have started to pick up a few things. 

Yesterday, I reached my 1000 day streak of practicing my Mandarin lessons (I chose Mandarin because that's what the app offered). Can I speak a whole lot? Some but not much. I'm only doing 10-15 minutes/day, so I knew the learning would be slow. I'm still figuring out some of the tones but my listening is getting better. Because of the nature of the app, my reading is way ahead of my listening and speaking but we're making progress. Also, I think there was a day in there somewhere when I was sick and didn't do a lesson but I had a "Streak Freeze" that got used, so maybe it's 999 out of 1000 days. Still, not a bad accomplishment! 

My question that I asked myself yesterday as my 1000 day streak image came up was, "has studying Mandarin for 1000 days straight done what I wanted to do? Has it given me a better sense of my own ethnic identity? Do I feel any closer to my "Chinese roots""? I don't have a good answer to that. On the one hand, it's been fun learning and I've been able to pick up bits and pieces from my niece and nephew in their Chinese competitions. On the other hand, I really don't have anyone to practice with and I'm way less immersed in the Chinese community than before. Either way, I'm happy I did it. 

Now would normally be the point where I say something like, "onward to the next 1000 days!" but the truth is that I probably won't last that long. Eventually, I'll run through every level of the app and will move onto something different. Maybe it'll be a new app. Maybe it'll be a conversation partner. Who knows? What I do know is that for the past almost 3 years, I've practiced my Mandarin, and I learned at least SOMETHING. That seems important. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Thanks For A Great Year, Nebraska ACF!

Hello, friends! 

A little while after we moved to Omaha, we got word that there was a bible study for Asian Americans starting at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln (#Cornhuskers). Always looking to help, and certainly interested in Asian American ministries, Megan and I took a trip down to visit them with Ezra and Thaliea. (I know there's a photo around somewhere, I just can't seem to find it...)

Last night, Nebraska ACF had its last meeting of the year and it was a momentous occasion. For two of its members, it was their last ACF bible study ever! For the past 4 years, they had been faithful attendees, hanging out, participating (and even leading!) bible studies, and generally being good friends and older brothers to the others in the group. Last night, it was bittersweet as we remembered all the good times and mourned that this part of their journey with Jesus was over. 

Sitting there, listening to them share about what ACF has meant to them and what they meant to the younger members of the group, I was reminded of why I love Asian American ministry so much. There's something special about a group of Asian Americans meeting in an apartment, eating food together, making fun of each other, trying to grow closer to God, and ultimately becoming something that resembles family away from home. I didn't get to spend a TON of time with those guys, seeing as how I was only out there twice a month for the past few months, but I was still able to see how they were the elder statesmen of the group, how they cared for the younger students, and how they were admired by those same students. 

Back when I was doing full time student ministry, every year, right around this time, as Seniors were getting ready to depart, I'd have conversation with younger students, trying to calm down students who were worried about what we were going to do without the Seniors. The answer was always the same: younger students will step up; things will be different; God will still be good. And, every year, without fail, younger students stepped up; things were different; and God was still good. I can already tell that the group is going to be fine next year. They have some great younger students who are willing to lead, even if they don't feel totally ready or able. I'm excited to have a full year with them, excited to see which younger students will step up, and excited to see how God shows his goodness. 

Here's to you, Nebraska ACF! Thanks for letting me be a part of your group this semester. =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Prophet, Priest, and King...

Hello, friends! 

On Sunday, I preached again! This time, it was for Palm Sunday. 

Honestly, it was a sermon I felt OK about but not great about. I got a lot of positive feedback, so hopefully folk were blessed by it, but it certainly wasn't my best. The last 2 I preached felt way more put together. 

I don't know if that's a function of the topic, a busy week meaning less time for preparation, or just general preaching fatigue. It could be a combination of all 3. I still certainly enjoyed the preparation and preaching. And it wasn't a rough sermon by any means. It just didn't "pop" like the last 2 did. 

Maybe that's OK. Maybe that just comes with the territory. I'm OK with it either way. I felt like I was faithful to the text and faithful to what God put on my heart. They can't all be home runs. 

Anyway, now that I've totally hyped it up... enjoy! 

...

Well, this is where I would normally post a video of the sermon but apparently, the audio cuts out about halfway through the recording!!! I guess that sermon wasn't meant to be heard a second time... =0). 

What I can share is the Venn Diagram I made about how we need Jesus to be our prophet, priest, and king all at once.

Y'all, Happy Easter! May you rest in the hope of the resurrected Jesus this week. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Welcome to Bellevue!

Hello, friends! 

Back in February, I posted about how I was getting back into the game of working directly with students. Well, it's 2 months later and it's time for an update from beautiful Bellevue University! 

Just a few days after I posted, I met with the student from Bellevue that Coach Ice put me in contact with. From my brief conversation with her, I learned a few things:

- She loved Jesus

- She wanted her friends on the women's basketball team to love Jesus

- She had wanted to start a bible study with her team for a while

- She would be leaving school to head back home in about a month

Yowza, talk about a punch in the gut! Still, we had a great conversation and she said that there might be a few other ladies on the team that would be interested in starting something, even if she wasn't there. We agreed it would be best to wait until the season was over to reevaluate. 

Fast forward a few weeks and the season is over (Bellevue lost in the championship game!) so I reach out to the student and she gives me the names of 3 ladies from her team. I set up a lunch with them and invited my friend and co-worker Eric to join me, since he would probably be the one who had more time and capacity to actually start a group at Bellevue. My hope was to get to know the ladies but pass off the leadership to Eric. 

Man, that was a fun lunch.

We met at a Mexican restaurant close to campus. Over chips and salsa (the best Mexican restaurants have free chips and salsa, y'know?) the women shared about how the season went, a little bit about their faith stories, and how they felt like the basketball team was a group that spent a lot of time together but wasn't necessarily real and vulnerable with one another. That was definitely something that they wanted. You could tell there was definite momentum. 

Here's the funny part. I actually had to leave because I had to get to another meeting. Thankfully, Eric was there and he hung out with them more. (Don't worry, I still picked up the check; I'm not a monster!). I don't know how long they sat there talking but I got a text from Eric afterwards saying that they prayed for one of the women who had recently become a Christian and that there were definitely tears. The women all promised to take the next week to pray about whether or not they wanted to start a bible study on their team but we're pretty sure the answer will be yes. 

My favorite part of the story is the following Sunday. I was on parking duty at church (little known fact: parking duty is one of my spiritual gifts) at Coach Ice rolled into the parking lot. I said, "Hey, Coach!" and he replied, "I don't know what you did to those ladies, but they wouldn't stop talking about that lunch! I was trying to watch basketball and they kept interrupting me!" =0). 

If you have a moment, would you please pray for the new work being done at Bellevue? Pray for Meleah, Shelby, and Jillian as they lead this group. Pray for Eric and me as we empower them best we can. Pray for Bellevue University, that this will be the start of something big. #GoBruins

Have an excellent day!

~Adam