Hello, friends!
Today is a really full day so it'll just be a quick post but I wanted to get this out there because two of the InterVarsity Chapters I lead "officially" start today!
At Columbia College, from 10-1 Central is the annual "Hey Day" tradition. This is essentially a big activities fair when students from all over campus come, enjoy free food, and look around at all the different clubs to get plugged in. I'm new to Columbia College but what I've learned is that 1) This year is the biggest ever for on campus students at Columbia College 2) When students get involved in something, they go 100% and 3) Students are way over involved so if they don't join your group early, they may not join at all.
Would you please pray for Hey Day? Pray that God will bring students of peace to our table, that we'll make good connections, and that this will be the beginning to a great year!
Just a few hours later, @ 3:30, Nurses Christian Fellowship (NCF) will be having its first meeting of the year. Apparently there's a big exam for second year nursing students @ 4:30 so our plan is to have a more informal meeting with snacks so students can come in, meet one another, grab some brain food, and get on their way. The cabinet has been working really hard on planning for today and I've been really impressed with their leadership.
Would you please pray for NCF? Pray that students, even though they have an exam, will still come for fellowship. Pray that the cabinet will not be overwhelmed. Pray that the 65 Freshmen who expressed interest in our group at the Nursing School orientation in August will take a risk and join us.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Friday, September 9, 2016
A Fun Day Meeting Non-Christians
Hello, friends!
I've been spending most of my time at Lincoln University doing "proxe stations" which are interactive Gospel displays. Instead of asking students randomly if I could talk to them about Jesus, I set up a display that draws folk to me. They ask me what I'm doing, then I get to have a conversation with them that leads to a presentation of the Gospel. I love proxes because it makes talking about Jesus natural and not super awkward. It's also something that students can learn to do pretty easily and is a great way to get them started on doing evangelism.
Proxes at Lincoln have been really great for meeting people but not actually super great for evangelism. It isn't because folk aren't interested in Gospel. It's actually because most students at Lincoln identify themselves as Christians, which means the conversation about inviting them to follow Jesus is much harder. It's not really good strategy to try and convince students that they aren't Christians as a way to get them to want to be a part of your chapter.
The model that I use to present the Gospel is called the Big Story. You can see it here. Basically, you explain the world using 4 circles then ask students to identify which circle they identify with the most. The first circle says, "my world is great and I wouldn't change a thing!" Circle 2 says, "my world is messed up and that's just the way it is." Circle 3 says, "my world is messed up but I believe that Jesus has saved me." Circle 4 says, "my world is messed up, Jesus has saved me, and he's sent me to go heal the world."
Here's the "problem" at Lincoln. Most of the students who I encounter put themselves between circles 3 and 4, meaning they identify as Christians but don't feel like they're "ready" to go out and heal the world. Sometimes this means that students need or want to make a re-commitment to following Jesus. Oftentimes though, it means that they they grew up in the church so are "Christian by default" but really haven't thought about their faith in any substantive way for a long time. I'm sure this happens on other campuses too but I've noticed that this is very much true for students at Lincoln. These conversations are difficult because before you can invite a student to change, you first have to have a conversation about how their view of the world isn't actually accurate.
Wednesday, was an exception to the rule and it was terribly refreshing. More than half of the students who I met on Wednesday did NOT identify themselves as Christians. There was the self professed atheist. There was the woman who believed in a higher power but wasn't sure what to make of all the claims about who Jesus is. There were the two men who put themselves solidly in Circle 2 and knew that their world was broken. While on the one hand, these conversations are heartbreaking because students are lost and they need the Gospel, it was so uplifting to actually have real conversations about faith where students were free to share their doubts, fears, and questions. No one made a decision to follow Jesus on Wednesday but it was good for my soul to have real conversations about Jesus.
Friends, would you please pray for these students? Kloe, Diamond, Autumn, John, BlueMan, and a host of other students on Lincoln's campus need to know who Jesus is. Would you pray that God will reveal himself to them and that He will change their hearts. Please pray that I'll get another chance to interact with them and share the story of God's goodness with them. Pray for more interactions like this and that students will say "yes" to following Jesus!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
I've been spending most of my time at Lincoln University doing "proxe stations" which are interactive Gospel displays. Instead of asking students randomly if I could talk to them about Jesus, I set up a display that draws folk to me. They ask me what I'm doing, then I get to have a conversation with them that leads to a presentation of the Gospel. I love proxes because it makes talking about Jesus natural and not super awkward. It's also something that students can learn to do pretty easily and is a great way to get them started on doing evangelism.
Proxes at Lincoln have been really great for meeting people but not actually super great for evangelism. It isn't because folk aren't interested in Gospel. It's actually because most students at Lincoln identify themselves as Christians, which means the conversation about inviting them to follow Jesus is much harder. It's not really good strategy to try and convince students that they aren't Christians as a way to get them to want to be a part of your chapter.
The model that I use to present the Gospel is called the Big Story. You can see it here. Basically, you explain the world using 4 circles then ask students to identify which circle they identify with the most. The first circle says, "my world is great and I wouldn't change a thing!" Circle 2 says, "my world is messed up and that's just the way it is." Circle 3 says, "my world is messed up but I believe that Jesus has saved me." Circle 4 says, "my world is messed up, Jesus has saved me, and he's sent me to go heal the world."
Here's the "problem" at Lincoln. Most of the students who I encounter put themselves between circles 3 and 4, meaning they identify as Christians but don't feel like they're "ready" to go out and heal the world. Sometimes this means that students need or want to make a re-commitment to following Jesus. Oftentimes though, it means that they they grew up in the church so are "Christian by default" but really haven't thought about their faith in any substantive way for a long time. I'm sure this happens on other campuses too but I've noticed that this is very much true for students at Lincoln. These conversations are difficult because before you can invite a student to change, you first have to have a conversation about how their view of the world isn't actually accurate.
Wednesday, was an exception to the rule and it was terribly refreshing. More than half of the students who I met on Wednesday did NOT identify themselves as Christians. There was the self professed atheist. There was the woman who believed in a higher power but wasn't sure what to make of all the claims about who Jesus is. There were the two men who put themselves solidly in Circle 2 and knew that their world was broken. While on the one hand, these conversations are heartbreaking because students are lost and they need the Gospel, it was so uplifting to actually have real conversations about faith where students were free to share their doubts, fears, and questions. No one made a decision to follow Jesus on Wednesday but it was good for my soul to have real conversations about Jesus.
Friends, would you please pray for these students? Kloe, Diamond, Autumn, John, BlueMan, and a host of other students on Lincoln's campus need to know who Jesus is. Would you pray that God will reveal himself to them and that He will change their hearts. Please pray that I'll get another chance to interact with them and share the story of God's goodness with them. Pray for more interactions like this and that students will say "yes" to following Jesus!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Oh, What A Night!
Hello, friends!
First of all, a shout out to "Papa" John Leong because I'm sure he's the only one who got the the title of this blog. (That man sure does love his Jersey Boys...)
Anyway, this post isn't about December 1963, but rather September 2016, particularly September 2, 2016, when ICF held it's first ever English Club! Meg may be guest posting about this later but I wanted to give you a taste of what I saw from my perspective.
The plan was to combine what international students are always in favor of (English practice) with something that college students are always in favor of (free food) with something that ICF is always in favor of (studying the Bible in order to discover Jesus). English Club at 6, followed by Dinner (7) & Discovery (8). It's a good plan. Check that, it's a great plan. It just has a lot of moving parts.
I've said this before (although I can't find the exact post), that one of my favorite things to do is actually run logistics during events, particularly for ICF. I figure, I'm good at doing the small tasks, like taking out the trash, refilling the water jugs, and things like that, which allow folk who are more gifted at networking, having conversations, and generally connecting to people (read: my wife) to do their thing. At the end of the day, everybody wins! My job for Friday was going to be in that sweet spot with a twist: I was going to be running Ezra duty.
We decided that Ezra was going to join the ICF group for English Club/D&D number one because 1) it would be fun 2) he attracts lots of people and 3) while watching Ezra is a full time proposition, it would still allow me to be present to help as needed. Ezra and I got there a little bit before 6 and immediately things started to go off the rails in the best way possible.
6pm rolled around and there were a few people in the room, including volunteers. It was a small crowd for sure and I figured that more folk would be there. I just didn't expect to see the train of people entering never end. While I'm simultaneously watching Ezra go up and down the stairs in Memorial Union, I'm also seeing person after person come up for English Club. A few people became more, which quickly became more, then even more. It was at that point that I was commissioned with a very important task; I needed to order some pizzas because we didn't have enough food.
Now, at this point, I'm trying to keep my son from killing himself by going headfirst down a flight of stairs while also trying to order pizzas. Thankfully, there was a student who was there to help watch Ezra and the pizzas got ordered. The problem was that by the time the pizzas got there, the room was packed and we needed to make another order.
Mizzou has multiple pizza joints in town (as you would expect from a college town) but one that I often frequent is the Domino's on 9th because they usually have "hot and ready" medium pizzas that you can pick up quickly if you're in a hurry. I'd made the first order to Papa John's because we had plenty of time but for my second trip we were going to need pizzas faster so I literally ran to Domino's.
They didn't have any pizzas ready to go...
So, I place and order and wait for what seems like an eternity (probably only 15 minutes or so) then run back to see that dinner was in full swing. I plop down the pizzas and realize, it's 7:40 and Ezra, who is currently being watched by the whole group, needs to get home. I scoop up the little guy, much to his chagrin since he was having so much fun, get him home, give him a bath, get him to bed, and then attempt to decompress a little.
I'm not actually entirely sure of everything that happened during the "Discovery" part of the English Club/D&D night. I went to bed around 10:30, before Meg came home. I heard she preached the Gospel and then they got ice cream. Those sound like a good pair, to me. =0).
Friends, it was a crazy night but a total blessing. Running out of food because you have more people come than you'd anticipated is always a good problem to have in our line of work. To our financial ministry partners, thank you for all of your support and partnership. You bought those pizzas to make sure that we had enough.
Could you please pray for ICF and the English Club? Week 1 was so great but Week 2 is really when you figure out how big your group is going to be. That's when the folk who aren't just "checking things out" come back and you can start to get into a rhythm. Pray for good follow up, that students will continue to be engaged, and that the non-Christian students who come just to practice their English will discover Jesus in the process.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
First of all, a shout out to "Papa" John Leong because I'm sure he's the only one who got the the title of this blog. (That man sure does love his Jersey Boys...)
Anyway, this post isn't about December 1963, but rather September 2016, particularly September 2, 2016, when ICF held it's first ever English Club! Meg may be guest posting about this later but I wanted to give you a taste of what I saw from my perspective.
The plan was to combine what international students are always in favor of (English practice) with something that college students are always in favor of (free food) with something that ICF is always in favor of (studying the Bible in order to discover Jesus). English Club at 6, followed by Dinner (7) & Discovery (8). It's a good plan. Check that, it's a great plan. It just has a lot of moving parts.
I've said this before (although I can't find the exact post), that one of my favorite things to do is actually run logistics during events, particularly for ICF. I figure, I'm good at doing the small tasks, like taking out the trash, refilling the water jugs, and things like that, which allow folk who are more gifted at networking, having conversations, and generally connecting to people (read: my wife) to do their thing. At the end of the day, everybody wins! My job for Friday was going to be in that sweet spot with a twist: I was going to be running Ezra duty.
We decided that Ezra was going to join the ICF group for English Club/D&D number one because 1) it would be fun 2) he attracts lots of people and 3) while watching Ezra is a full time proposition, it would still allow me to be present to help as needed. Ezra and I got there a little bit before 6 and immediately things started to go off the rails in the best way possible.
6pm rolled around and there were a few people in the room, including volunteers. It was a small crowd for sure and I figured that more folk would be there. I just didn't expect to see the train of people entering never end. While I'm simultaneously watching Ezra go up and down the stairs in Memorial Union, I'm also seeing person after person come up for English Club. A few people became more, which quickly became more, then even more. It was at that point that I was commissioned with a very important task; I needed to order some pizzas because we didn't have enough food.
Mizzou has multiple pizza joints in town (as you would expect from a college town) but one that I often frequent is the Domino's on 9th because they usually have "hot and ready" medium pizzas that you can pick up quickly if you're in a hurry. I'd made the first order to Papa John's because we had plenty of time but for my second trip we were going to need pizzas faster so I literally ran to Domino's.
They didn't have any pizzas ready to go...
So, I place and order and wait for what seems like an eternity (probably only 15 minutes or so) then run back to see that dinner was in full swing. I plop down the pizzas and realize, it's 7:40 and Ezra, who is currently being watched by the whole group, needs to get home. I scoop up the little guy, much to his chagrin since he was having so much fun, get him home, give him a bath, get him to bed, and then attempt to decompress a little.
I'm not actually entirely sure of everything that happened during the "Discovery" part of the English Club/D&D night. I went to bed around 10:30, before Meg came home. I heard she preached the Gospel and then they got ice cream. Those sound like a good pair, to me. =0).
Friends, it was a crazy night but a total blessing. Running out of food because you have more people come than you'd anticipated is always a good problem to have in our line of work. To our financial ministry partners, thank you for all of your support and partnership. You bought those pizzas to make sure that we had enough.
Could you please pray for ICF and the English Club? Week 1 was so great but Week 2 is really when you figure out how big your group is going to be. That's when the folk who aren't just "checking things out" come back and you can start to get into a rhythm. Pray for good follow up, that students will continue to be engaged, and that the non-Christian students who come just to practice their English will discover Jesus in the process.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
So Long, Miss Ashley!
Hello, friends!
Just about 10 years ago, when I was but a wee Freshman at WashU (Go Bears!) I joined InterVarsity. At the time, InterVaristy @ WashU (Go Bears!) actually had 3 or 4 groups. There was InterVarsity/One Voice, the multi-ethnic chapters, ACF (Asian Christian Fellowship), Harambee (Black Campus Ministries), and I'm not sure if International Friends was a thing yet but it may have been. Each group reached out to a different part of the campus but we were all of one body and did different events together occasionally, like conferences.
It was at one of these conferences, Fall Conference 07 to be exact, where I had my life changed in a number of ways. I point to that conference as the moment when I changed from a believer in Christ to a follower of Jesus. It was also there that I first met my lifelong friends from Harambee, Thomas (T-Mo), Rachael (Rae Rae), and Lauren (Jad).
A few months later some friends and I had an idea to do some stuff between different campus ministries. Howie, the Harambee staff, suggested that I invite a student of his named Ashley Smith. I said, "sure, why not?" and a friendship was born.
It's entirely possible that my recollection of the story is not quite accurate but I think it is. The important thing is that for the past 10 years or so, "Miss" Ashley Smith (now Moore), has been a great friend and wonderful co-worker. We've been through battles together, usually on the same side, but sometimes not so much. We both went through the life of a college student trying to lead a chapter into mission. We did our InterVarsity internships together (along with T-Mo). We joined staff at the same time and enjoyed many a staff meeting together. We've seen tornados, both literal and figurative in our staff careers and somehow survived them all. I had the pleasure of being a part of her wedding (she married T-Mo), and was sad when she moved to Seattle. It's been a blast.
Miss Ashley ends her tenure with InterVarsity tomorrow. The past few years she'd been working on her seminary degree and praise Jesus, it's done! Now it's on to whatever adventure is next for her (and T-Mo!). Maybe it'll mean a move back to Missouri. Maybe it'll be across the river in Illinois. I don't know. What I do know is that I wanted to spend a few lines of internet sharing a few things that Miss Ashley has taught me over these past 10 years of friendship/co-workerness.
1) Miss Ashley taught me how to talk to people with feelings: Y'all may know that I'm not a very emotional person. I don't understand them well and usually have trouble engaging with emotions, especially in others. Friendship with Miss Ashley taught me not just that feelings are OK but that it's possible to engage and minster to folk with feelings without being great at having your own! Thanks, Miss Ashley.
2) Miss Ashley expanded my worldview: I have no idea what it's like to be Black in America. I know what it's like to be a minority, but that's not the same thing. Through the years, Miss Ashley and I have had so many conversations, some easier than others, about ethnic identity, racial reconciliation, and a number of other things that I just didn't understand before talking to her. I'm by no means at the end of my journey, but I'm further than I was before thanks to her. Thanks, Miss Ashley.
3) Miss Ashley was my friend: I'm not someone who has a lot of friends per se. I know a lot of people and have plenty of acquaintances. I feel comfortable meeting new people and don't have trouble talking to folk. But I'm not someone who really has a lot of friends. Miss Ashley is my friend. She puts up with my ridiculousness. She opens up to me and doesn't mind me doing the same. We don't talk as much as we used to but we still have our inside jokes and things of that nature. I know I can count on her and she can do the same for me. We make up after we fight. It's a good thing. Thanks, Miss Ashley.
So, onward to my dear friend "Miss" Ashley Moore. Whatever happens next for you, I'm still just a phone call away. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Just about 10 years ago, when I was but a wee Freshman at WashU (Go Bears!) I joined InterVarsity. At the time, InterVaristy @ WashU (Go Bears!) actually had 3 or 4 groups. There was InterVarsity/One Voice, the multi-ethnic chapters, ACF (Asian Christian Fellowship), Harambee (Black Campus Ministries), and I'm not sure if International Friends was a thing yet but it may have been. Each group reached out to a different part of the campus but we were all of one body and did different events together occasionally, like conferences.
It was at one of these conferences, Fall Conference 07 to be exact, where I had my life changed in a number of ways. I point to that conference as the moment when I changed from a believer in Christ to a follower of Jesus. It was also there that I first met my lifelong friends from Harambee, Thomas (T-Mo), Rachael (Rae Rae), and Lauren (Jad).
A few months later some friends and I had an idea to do some stuff between different campus ministries. Howie, the Harambee staff, suggested that I invite a student of his named Ashley Smith. I said, "sure, why not?" and a friendship was born.
It's entirely possible that my recollection of the story is not quite accurate but I think it is. The important thing is that for the past 10 years or so, "Miss" Ashley Smith (now Moore), has been a great friend and wonderful co-worker. We've been through battles together, usually on the same side, but sometimes not so much. We both went through the life of a college student trying to lead a chapter into mission. We did our InterVarsity internships together (along with T-Mo). We joined staff at the same time and enjoyed many a staff meeting together. We've seen tornados, both literal and figurative in our staff careers and somehow survived them all. I had the pleasure of being a part of her wedding (she married T-Mo), and was sad when she moved to Seattle. It's been a blast.
Miss Ashley ends her tenure with InterVarsity tomorrow. The past few years she'd been working on her seminary degree and praise Jesus, it's done! Now it's on to whatever adventure is next for her (and T-Mo!). Maybe it'll mean a move back to Missouri. Maybe it'll be across the river in Illinois. I don't know. What I do know is that I wanted to spend a few lines of internet sharing a few things that Miss Ashley has taught me over these past 10 years of friendship/co-workerness.
1) Miss Ashley taught me how to talk to people with feelings: Y'all may know that I'm not a very emotional person. I don't understand them well and usually have trouble engaging with emotions, especially in others. Friendship with Miss Ashley taught me not just that feelings are OK but that it's possible to engage and minster to folk with feelings without being great at having your own! Thanks, Miss Ashley.
2) Miss Ashley expanded my worldview: I have no idea what it's like to be Black in America. I know what it's like to be a minority, but that's not the same thing. Through the years, Miss Ashley and I have had so many conversations, some easier than others, about ethnic identity, racial reconciliation, and a number of other things that I just didn't understand before talking to her. I'm by no means at the end of my journey, but I'm further than I was before thanks to her. Thanks, Miss Ashley.
3) Miss Ashley was my friend: I'm not someone who has a lot of friends per se. I know a lot of people and have plenty of acquaintances. I feel comfortable meeting new people and don't have trouble talking to folk. But I'm not someone who really has a lot of friends. Miss Ashley is my friend. She puts up with my ridiculousness. She opens up to me and doesn't mind me doing the same. We don't talk as much as we used to but we still have our inside jokes and things of that nature. I know I can count on her and she can do the same for me. We make up after we fight. It's a good thing. Thanks, Miss Ashley.
So, onward to my dear friend "Miss" Ashley Moore. Whatever happens next for you, I'm still just a phone call away. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Service Above Self...
Hello, friends!
When I was in high school, I joined the Interact Service club. It's entirely possible that I joined it because my sister was the president (as was often the case) but either way, I joined. My Junior and Senior years of high school, I became President of Interact, which apparently meant that I was also invited to Rotary club meetings, since Rotary was the parent sponsor of Interact. I met a lot of really great people and my dentist was even a Rotarian, which was pretty fun. During my Senior year, when I was completing my Eagle Scout project, the Rotary club of Garden Grove sponsored the entire project.
Last year, as a way to meet more people in Columbia, I decided to join the Downtown Columbia Rotary Club. I'm not sure why it never occurred to me to look for a Rotary club out here but on a whim, while I was visiting Columbia College, I saw that there was a club meeting. I walked in, a nice Rotarian bought me lunch, and I've been going ever since.
Rotary, much like Lions, Kiwanis, Elks, Optimists, etc., is a community service organization that seeks to build community through serving the community. I could go into all the details of its history and such but I'll just say that it's motto is "Service Above Self." In many ways, it lines up perfectly with the work that I'm doing with InterVarsity. While not a faith based organization, Rotary aims to build stronger communities and change the world. They do it through service. We do it through the Gospel.
I'm writing about this now because the past few weeks I've had a chance to see a really fun colliding of two worlds, InterVarsity and Rotary. A few weeks ago, one of our Rotary members passed along a signup sheet asking for volunteers to help at Mizzou's International Student Orientation. They were going to be doing a Walmart fun for new students and the next day there was going to be a picnic in the park. Well, it just so happens that volunteering at the International Student Orientation is one of ICF's main outreaches during the first part of the year! I didn't make it to the Walmart run (Meg did) but Ezra and I joined Meg at the picnic and we were able to not only meet tons of students but also a few fellow Rotarians!
Another one of the great ideas that Meg had for ICF for this year English Club. This would be a chance for international students to practice their English with native English speakers, followed by optional dinner and Bible Study. When I announced it at the Rotary meeting, I was pleasantly encouraged by the number of Rotarians who were interested in being a part of the club!
So far, it's been a fun run as a Rotarian. I've seen blessings to the ministry, developed great friendships and networks, and even had the chance to do a little good in the community. For as long as we're in Columbia, I'm excited to continue to be a part of this great organization.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
When I was in high school, I joined the Interact Service club. It's entirely possible that I joined it because my sister was the president (as was often the case) but either way, I joined. My Junior and Senior years of high school, I became President of Interact, which apparently meant that I was also invited to Rotary club meetings, since Rotary was the parent sponsor of Interact. I met a lot of really great people and my dentist was even a Rotarian, which was pretty fun. During my Senior year, when I was completing my Eagle Scout project, the Rotary club of Garden Grove sponsored the entire project.
Last year, as a way to meet more people in Columbia, I decided to join the Downtown Columbia Rotary Club. I'm not sure why it never occurred to me to look for a Rotary club out here but on a whim, while I was visiting Columbia College, I saw that there was a club meeting. I walked in, a nice Rotarian bought me lunch, and I've been going ever since.
Rotary, much like Lions, Kiwanis, Elks, Optimists, etc., is a community service organization that seeks to build community through serving the community. I could go into all the details of its history and such but I'll just say that it's motto is "Service Above Self." In many ways, it lines up perfectly with the work that I'm doing with InterVarsity. While not a faith based organization, Rotary aims to build stronger communities and change the world. They do it through service. We do it through the Gospel.
I'm writing about this now because the past few weeks I've had a chance to see a really fun colliding of two worlds, InterVarsity and Rotary. A few weeks ago, one of our Rotary members passed along a signup sheet asking for volunteers to help at Mizzou's International Student Orientation. They were going to be doing a Walmart fun for new students and the next day there was going to be a picnic in the park. Well, it just so happens that volunteering at the International Student Orientation is one of ICF's main outreaches during the first part of the year! I didn't make it to the Walmart run (Meg did) but Ezra and I joined Meg at the picnic and we were able to not only meet tons of students but also a few fellow Rotarians!
Another one of the great ideas that Meg had for ICF for this year English Club. This would be a chance for international students to practice their English with native English speakers, followed by optional dinner and Bible Study. When I announced it at the Rotary meeting, I was pleasantly encouraged by the number of Rotarians who were interested in being a part of the club!
So far, it's been a fun run as a Rotarian. I've seen blessings to the ministry, developed great friendships and networks, and even had the chance to do a little good in the community. For as long as we're in Columbia, I'm excited to continue to be a part of this great organization.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Hooray for the Olympics!!!
Hello, friends!
Confession: Meg and I haven't been sleeping a ton the past week or so. We're getting up at around the same time but we're not getting to bed until close to midnight. It's been a bit of a struggle getting up in the morning but you won't hear us complaining... Why? BECAUSE IT'S OLYMPIC SEASON!!!
That's right, friends. Meg and I are total Olympics nuts. We love every part of it. It's competition at the highest level. There are heartwarming and inspiring stories from athletes from around the world. There's my boy Rowdy Gaines calling swimming races like his non-existent hair is on fire. The Olympics have it all! (Seriously, Rowdy is the best.)
One of the things that I love about the Olympics has been seeing the US not only dominate but dominate in such a multi-ethnic and diverse fashion. Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to win Olympic gold for the US in the pool. Ibtihaj Muhammad won a bronze medal for the USA as the first USA olympian wearing a hijab. The US team has White folk, Black folk, Latin@'s, Asian Americans, and multi-racial folk all over the place, and that's just on the track team! It's so great to see that in the midst of a great amount of public racial tension in the US, we can all agree on one thing... The USA is a beast when it comes to athletics.
I've been trying to rack my brain all week about how I was going to turn this post into something deep or related to campus ministry but I've been having some trouble. See, sports/athletics/competition is the one area of life where I have consciously made a decision to not pray for God's favor. I don't pray for my teams to win. I pray against injury but not for dominance. It's my way of making sure that I don't get too deep into a funk if my teams lose. So, while I've been rooting for the USA, I haven't made these Olympics very spiritual.
However, there is one area where I've been praying during these Olympics and that's during the medal ceremonies. I don't remember how many years ago it was I heard a sermon about how we're supposed to pray for our elected officials. For whatever reason, that sermon hit home and I decided that I would try to make that a regular habit. However, I couldn't really figure out how to make that a regular rhythm that would make sense. I settled on the national anthem. I decided that whenever I heard the Star Spangled Banner, I would use that minute and a half or so to pray for our elected officials on the city, state, and federal level. During the Summer Olympics it's also always a presidential election year so I pray for all of our presidential candidates too. Just like with sports, I don't pray for any one candidate to win or lose (although I definitely have my opinions). I pray that every elected official, regardless of their policies or their faith background, will be guided by Jesus and know him better.
Who knows if it has any impact on a wide-scale level. I know it has impact on a personal level. Since the USA has been dominating so much, I've been watching a lot of medal ceremonies where the Star Spangled Banner is played, which means I've been spending a lot of time praying, which has been changing my heart towards some candidates and elected officials. That's not to say that my political views have changed but rather that I'm working on seeing the "other side" as less evil than before. =0).
So, friends, as we finish up these next few days in Rio, watching Bob Costas do his thing and the USA win a few more medals, please join me in praying for our elected officials. Don't pray for folk to win or lose but for God to move in our nation and through our leaders. Maybe we'll see some change as we root our guys and gals to victory.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Confession: Meg and I haven't been sleeping a ton the past week or so. We're getting up at around the same time but we're not getting to bed until close to midnight. It's been a bit of a struggle getting up in the morning but you won't hear us complaining... Why? BECAUSE IT'S OLYMPIC SEASON!!!
That's right, friends. Meg and I are total Olympics nuts. We love every part of it. It's competition at the highest level. There are heartwarming and inspiring stories from athletes from around the world. There's my boy Rowdy Gaines calling swimming races like his non-existent hair is on fire. The Olympics have it all! (Seriously, Rowdy is the best.)
One of the things that I love about the Olympics has been seeing the US not only dominate but dominate in such a multi-ethnic and diverse fashion. Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to win Olympic gold for the US in the pool. Ibtihaj Muhammad won a bronze medal for the USA as the first USA olympian wearing a hijab. The US team has White folk, Black folk, Latin@'s, Asian Americans, and multi-racial folk all over the place, and that's just on the track team! It's so great to see that in the midst of a great amount of public racial tension in the US, we can all agree on one thing... The USA is a beast when it comes to athletics.
I've been trying to rack my brain all week about how I was going to turn this post into something deep or related to campus ministry but I've been having some trouble. See, sports/athletics/competition is the one area of life where I have consciously made a decision to not pray for God's favor. I don't pray for my teams to win. I pray against injury but not for dominance. It's my way of making sure that I don't get too deep into a funk if my teams lose. So, while I've been rooting for the USA, I haven't made these Olympics very spiritual.
However, there is one area where I've been praying during these Olympics and that's during the medal ceremonies. I don't remember how many years ago it was I heard a sermon about how we're supposed to pray for our elected officials. For whatever reason, that sermon hit home and I decided that I would try to make that a regular habit. However, I couldn't really figure out how to make that a regular rhythm that would make sense. I settled on the national anthem. I decided that whenever I heard the Star Spangled Banner, I would use that minute and a half or so to pray for our elected officials on the city, state, and federal level. During the Summer Olympics it's also always a presidential election year so I pray for all of our presidential candidates too. Just like with sports, I don't pray for any one candidate to win or lose (although I definitely have my opinions). I pray that every elected official, regardless of their policies or their faith background, will be guided by Jesus and know him better.
Who knows if it has any impact on a wide-scale level. I know it has impact on a personal level. Since the USA has been dominating so much, I've been watching a lot of medal ceremonies where the Star Spangled Banner is played, which means I've been spending a lot of time praying, which has been changing my heart towards some candidates and elected officials. That's not to say that my political views have changed but rather that I'm working on seeing the "other side" as less evil than before. =0).
So, friends, as we finish up these next few days in Rio, watching Bob Costas do his thing and the USA win a few more medals, please join me in praying for our elected officials. Don't pray for folk to win or lose but for God to move in our nation and through our leaders. Maybe we'll see some change as we root our guys and gals to victory.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
1000 Asks, 65 Asks, 2 Ears, and 1 Mouth...
Hello, friends!
Happy TUESDAY to you all. Here's hoping it's been a good one for you. I know that normally I post on Fridays instead of Tuesdays but I decided that I'd like to switch things up a little bit. Fridays can be kind of crazy with travel, conferences, and things like that. Tuesdays, on the other hand, are generally pretty stable. It's also a day when I'm usually stuck in front of a computer catching up on all the admin and such that I didn't do on my off day (Monday). So, it makes sense to add this to the mix of "things to do on a Tuesday."
This past weekend our Area Team (affectionately known as " Team MO Fast, MO Furious", or "MO Fast" for short). had it's first staff meeting of the year. We had some time of bible study and prayer together, got some great training on reaching Latin@ students, watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics together, played some team building games, and generally had a good time working on starting the year off right.
One of the big things from our time together was Will, our fearless leader, challenging the team to make 1000 asks as a unit this year in 3 categories; Ministry Partnership, Student Ownership, and Conference Attendance. For ministry partnership, this means asking more people to serve alongside us, give to our ministry, and pray for us regularly. For Student Ownership, it's about asking students to make decisions for Jesus, or asking Christian students to lead in some capacity. For Conference Attendance, we mean specifically for our different strategic ministry conferences that we have this year reaching international students, Black students, Latin@ students, Native students, and Asian American students.
A second big thing was from the 2 interns who I have been coaching in Ministry Partnership this summer. As a team, we decided that we wanted to make 65 asks to partnership before October 1. I'm pretty sure that if each of us makes 3 asks for the next 7 weeks, we'll just hit our goal. It was a goal they wanted to hit so that they could finish out our New Student Outreach season fully funded.
What was interesting about those two ask related goals was my reaction to both of them. Rather, it was how I noticed my reacting to both of them. If you know me, you know that I'm a very competitive person and that I'm a team player to the max. I also have what can only be described as a mildly unhealthy sense of responsibility when it comes to my teams. When you put those 3 characteristics together, what you get is someone of often takes a team goal and decides that the best way to make sure it's accomplished is to do a bulk of the heavy lifting.
I totally had to stop myself when I heard both those goals because my mind immediately started moving towards how much extra I could do to lessen the burden on the rest of the team. If MO Fast wants to do 1000 ask, I'll just do 200 of them so no one else has to work too hard. Our interns want to do 65 MPD asks in the next 7 weeks? Well, maybe I'll do 35 so they only need to do 15. It comes from a good place, wanting to help, but it's also not one of my healthiest qualities, especially if we miss our goal and I beat myself up for "not working hard enough."
Really, the key, as I've been learning, has been to listen to God as much as possible. I have to know when I'm making an ask, whether it be to a student, a ministry partner, or whomever, because I want to get the ask done or because Jesus is really leading me in that direction. There's an old saying that we have 2 ears and 1 mouth because we're supposed to listen twice as much as we speak. In this case, there is probably some truth to that.
So, dear friends, please be praying for our team as we prepare for all these great asks in the next few days, weeks, and months. Pray that God will be leading us to the right asks and that we'll have the boldness to take those risks. Pray that we will not be burdened by the goal but be encouraged and strengthened by knowing that we're a team.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Happy TUESDAY to you all. Here's hoping it's been a good one for you. I know that normally I post on Fridays instead of Tuesdays but I decided that I'd like to switch things up a little bit. Fridays can be kind of crazy with travel, conferences, and things like that. Tuesdays, on the other hand, are generally pretty stable. It's also a day when I'm usually stuck in front of a computer catching up on all the admin and such that I didn't do on my off day (Monday). So, it makes sense to add this to the mix of "things to do on a Tuesday."
This past weekend our Area Team (affectionately known as " Team MO Fast, MO Furious", or "MO Fast" for short). had it's first staff meeting of the year. We had some time of bible study and prayer together, got some great training on reaching Latin@ students, watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics together, played some team building games, and generally had a good time working on starting the year off right.
One of the big things from our time together was Will, our fearless leader, challenging the team to make 1000 asks as a unit this year in 3 categories; Ministry Partnership, Student Ownership, and Conference Attendance. For ministry partnership, this means asking more people to serve alongside us, give to our ministry, and pray for us regularly. For Student Ownership, it's about asking students to make decisions for Jesus, or asking Christian students to lead in some capacity. For Conference Attendance, we mean specifically for our different strategic ministry conferences that we have this year reaching international students, Black students, Latin@ students, Native students, and Asian American students.
A second big thing was from the 2 interns who I have been coaching in Ministry Partnership this summer. As a team, we decided that we wanted to make 65 asks to partnership before October 1. I'm pretty sure that if each of us makes 3 asks for the next 7 weeks, we'll just hit our goal. It was a goal they wanted to hit so that they could finish out our New Student Outreach season fully funded.
What was interesting about those two ask related goals was my reaction to both of them. Rather, it was how I noticed my reacting to both of them. If you know me, you know that I'm a very competitive person and that I'm a team player to the max. I also have what can only be described as a mildly unhealthy sense of responsibility when it comes to my teams. When you put those 3 characteristics together, what you get is someone of often takes a team goal and decides that the best way to make sure it's accomplished is to do a bulk of the heavy lifting.
I totally had to stop myself when I heard both those goals because my mind immediately started moving towards how much extra I could do to lessen the burden on the rest of the team. If MO Fast wants to do 1000 ask, I'll just do 200 of them so no one else has to work too hard. Our interns want to do 65 MPD asks in the next 7 weeks? Well, maybe I'll do 35 so they only need to do 15. It comes from a good place, wanting to help, but it's also not one of my healthiest qualities, especially if we miss our goal and I beat myself up for "not working hard enough."
Really, the key, as I've been learning, has been to listen to God as much as possible. I have to know when I'm making an ask, whether it be to a student, a ministry partner, or whomever, because I want to get the ask done or because Jesus is really leading me in that direction. There's an old saying that we have 2 ears and 1 mouth because we're supposed to listen twice as much as we speak. In this case, there is probably some truth to that.
So, dear friends, please be praying for our team as we prepare for all these great asks in the next few days, weeks, and months. Pray that God will be leading us to the right asks and that we'll have the boldness to take those risks. Pray that we will not be burdened by the goal but be encouraged and strengthened by knowing that we're a team.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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