Hello, friends!
A few years ago, for our anniversary, Megan and I drove to Sioux Falls for a Carrie Underwood concert to celebrate our anniversary. While we were waiting for the concert to start, Megan asked me if I'm glad that we moved to Omaha. I told her that wherever she and the kids were, I would be happy, so yes, I was glad that we'd moved to Omaha. I also told her that I'd finally come to terms with 2 facts about Omaha: there were too many hills and there was no good Chinese food. Now that I was at peace with Omaha, I was happy to be living here.
If you had told me in 2002, my Junior Year of high school, that I would ever be leaving Southern California, I would have told you that you were crazy. I would have said the same thing about leaving St. Louis in 2006 or leaving CoMO in 2011. But, the LORD works in mysterious ways and sometimes plans change...
Wow, rereading this, it REALLY sounds like we're moving... Don't worry, we're not. =0).
Let's try starting this again, shall we?
In 2015, I was invited by my supervisor to Memphis for a 1-day conference on Justice in Fundraising. It opened my eyes to the ways that many non-profit funding systems are inherently unjust in their setup and it got me thinking about ways to address those injustices. I don't quite remember if it was on the way there or on the way back, but sometime during that trip, I heard about the protests happening at Mizzou. As soon as I got back, I made my way to the Black Culture Center to pray with and support the Black Students on campus and my commitment to finding ways to unbreak unjust systems was solidified. In 2018, after we moved to Omaha, I took on my current role as Regional Ministry Coordinator for Ministry Partnership Development. It was now my job to take on the busted systems and try to rebuild them in a way that led to a more just, equitable, and life-giving way of doing MPD.
After 7+ wonderful years in the job, I have decided to move onto the next chapter in my ministry career. Starting in July, after our Sabbatical in the first half of 2026, I will take on the new role as Area Ministry Director for the state of Nebraska.
The AMD role for Nebraska has been left empty for a few years now. In fact, currently there are zero paid staff in Nebraska whose primary role is student ministry in the state. Megan and I both live in Nebraska but our responsibilities are on the Regional level. We have one friend who also lives in Omaha who works for InterVarsity but he's part of the National Planting Team. All three of us have been doing student ministry for a few hours a week but it hasn't been our main focus and it's been pretty obvious that Nebraska needs someone who can dedicate a majority of their time and energy to the students, staff, and faculty in Nebraska. After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to answer that calling.
My process actually began last year, as we prepared for the Ambition conference in Denver in January. We recruited a number of students to join us in Denver, most of whom weren't actually InterVarsity students. But, the LORD moved and coming out of that conference, 1 student gave her life to Jesus and 2 new campus groups were started in Nebraska. In spite of there being no staff presence, The LORD was still going to move. This increase in student activity made it pretty obvious to me that someone was going to have to step into a leadership role. That need only increased this past semester as ministry continued to grow. This also included a few potential staff joining the conversation, which is something that we'd been praying for for a long time.
Honestly, I didn't want it to be me. I love my current job and I feel like I've made an impact in the work that I've done. I also know that the work isn't finished and that there's still more that I can do in my current role. I'm also aware that the change in ministry responsibilities will mean that my schedule will need to change and that those changes will mean a change in schedule for my family as well. These are all factors that made me hesitant to apply for the role and hesitant to accept it when it was offered to me.
And yet, here we are. What became really clear to me was that this was an invitation from the LORD and that I needed to say, "yes," not because it would be easy but because it was time to say "yes." So I did, and I know it was the right call.
Like I said, first up is Sabbatical after the first of the year (more on that next week), then I'll formally start in July of 2026. Until then, will you please lift us up in your prayers. Pray for me as I say goodbye to a job that I've loved for the past 8 years. Pray for our family as we navigate new rhythms. Pray for our new potential staff as they prepare for life in ministry. Pray for the students here in Nebraska as they continue to seek Jesus.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
