Hello, friends!
Ministry Partnership Development, or MPD in the IV circles, is in intregal part of the work that we do with InterVarsity. More than just fundraising, MPD is about builiding a team to rally around us through prayer, volunteering, advocacy, and giving, as we reach the campus with the Gospel. Without our partners (like you!) we wouldn't be able to do the work that we do. Thank you.
This week, our entire staff team in Missouri is going to be taking an "MPD Focus Week" going off campus for us to focus on developing our networks and building more partnerships for the ministry. We will be putting all of our campus work (meeting with students, leading bible studies, things like that) on hold so we can refocus and remember that MPD is important for our work too.
Friends, will you be praying for our team this week as we enter into this time? Please pray for a few things specifically:
- Pray for diligence as we work. MPD is one of those things that isn't really a ton of fun for most staff. It's easy to get distracted and want to do other things. It's easy to forget how important this work is. Pray that God will continue to direct us and guide us as we work.
- Pray for a constant reminder of God's presence. One of the biggest temptations when doing MPD is to get too high when good things happen and too low when bad things happen or nothing happens. We need to be constantly reminded of God's faithfulness and his presence regardless of our funding percentages, the number of phone calls we make, or how an appointment goes.
- Pray for God's provision. We know that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He holds the whole world in his hands and is our great provider. Would you please pray that as we take these risks and ask people to partner with us, that God will provide for us?
If you'd like to join our team, we would love to have you on board! Here's how:
- If you'd like to volunteer, advocate, or be part of our intentional prayer team, you can email us and we'd love to chat!
- If you'd like to partner financially with us, you can do that by clicking the link here.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Friday, November 4, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Mix It Up Day!!!
Hello, friends!
Yesterday was an interesting day at Lincoln and definitely in a good way! Allow me a few minutes of your time to share. =0).
At Lincoln this semester, I've been alternating between doing proxe stations on campus and spending time in the cafeteria and doing bible studies with students. This week, it was a cafeteria week. I'm really glad that was the case.
When I walked into the Student Center, I noticed that it was way more crowded than normal. I usually get there around 11:30 or so, right before a big lunch rush comes in so it's not hard to find a seat. This week though, you could tell that the caf was a little more full than usual. There were also students with name tags greeting everyone who walked through the door, welcoming them to "Mix It Up Day."
One of the things that's I've noticed this year is that Lincoln has made a concerted effort to build school spirit amongst the student body. There are always some things going on but this semester it seems like it's been a little bit more. I just figured this was another one of those things where the student government was trying to build a party atmosphere or something. I was actually wrong on that one.
Here's the deal. It turns out that Mix It Up Day was being hosted by two of the professors in the education department. They wanted to get students to explore and learn about other cultures, so instead of class, their students were supposed to go into the caf and "mix it up," by sitting with people who they didn't know and eating lunch with them. As a campus missionary, I wholly support this endeavor. =0).
Besides the students who I normally see, I got to meet 3 new students at Lincoln. The first two students I met were L and J. There was "sushi" (and I use the term loosely...) on the menu, which meant there were chopsticks in the caf. I taught them how to use them and we talked about their lives and their programs. (NOTE: J picked up using chopsticks much faster than L did, but he eventually got the hang of it.)
The third gal I met was R, and that was a really fun conversation. It turns out that her step father is a Chinese man who grew up in Korea and she spent a month teaching English in Korea this past summer. It was fun talking with her about culture and such. That conversation eventually led to talking about what I do, which led to me sharing the Gospel with her and challenging her to recommit her life to Jesus. She even joined us for our afternoon Bible Study!
You never really know what kind of relationship you are going to have with a school when you step on campus. Sometimes the administration doesn't really know or care that you're there (like at Mizzou). Other times, the administration couldn't be happier to have you there and do whatever they can to make sure you're in the know (like at Columbia College). Other times, the administration is actively hostile towards you. Lincoln has been a little more in that third camp, especially since I started doing the proxe stations. Still, they may not have known it, but by letting their professors do something out of the box they helped me "mix it up" yesterday, and that may even lead to new life on campus!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Yesterday was an interesting day at Lincoln and definitely in a good way! Allow me a few minutes of your time to share. =0).
At Lincoln this semester, I've been alternating between doing proxe stations on campus and spending time in the cafeteria and doing bible studies with students. This week, it was a cafeteria week. I'm really glad that was the case.
When I walked into the Student Center, I noticed that it was way more crowded than normal. I usually get there around 11:30 or so, right before a big lunch rush comes in so it's not hard to find a seat. This week though, you could tell that the caf was a little more full than usual. There were also students with name tags greeting everyone who walked through the door, welcoming them to "Mix It Up Day."
One of the things that's I've noticed this year is that Lincoln has made a concerted effort to build school spirit amongst the student body. There are always some things going on but this semester it seems like it's been a little bit more. I just figured this was another one of those things where the student government was trying to build a party atmosphere or something. I was actually wrong on that one.
Here's the deal. It turns out that Mix It Up Day was being hosted by two of the professors in the education department. They wanted to get students to explore and learn about other cultures, so instead of class, their students were supposed to go into the caf and "mix it up," by sitting with people who they didn't know and eating lunch with them. As a campus missionary, I wholly support this endeavor. =0).
Besides the students who I normally see, I got to meet 3 new students at Lincoln. The first two students I met were L and J. There was "sushi" (and I use the term loosely...) on the menu, which meant there were chopsticks in the caf. I taught them how to use them and we talked about their lives and their programs. (NOTE: J picked up using chopsticks much faster than L did, but he eventually got the hang of it.)
The third gal I met was R, and that was a really fun conversation. It turns out that her step father is a Chinese man who grew up in Korea and she spent a month teaching English in Korea this past summer. It was fun talking with her about culture and such. That conversation eventually led to talking about what I do, which led to me sharing the Gospel with her and challenging her to recommit her life to Jesus. She even joined us for our afternoon Bible Study!
You never really know what kind of relationship you are going to have with a school when you step on campus. Sometimes the administration doesn't really know or care that you're there (like at Mizzou). Other times, the administration couldn't be happier to have you there and do whatever they can to make sure you're in the know (like at Columbia College). Other times, the administration is actively hostile towards you. Lincoln has been a little more in that third camp, especially since I started doing the proxe stations. Still, they may not have known it, but by letting their professors do something out of the box they helped me "mix it up" yesterday, and that may even lead to new life on campus!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Coming Home, ACF Style...
Hello, friends!
When I moved out to Columbia in 2007, it was with a very specific purpose in mind. I was sent to plant an Asian American InterVarsity chapter with hopes of it being one of many chapters in Mid-Missouri. ACF was officially started in the fall of 2007 and we were officially recognized as a student group in October of 2008. For 8 years, Mizzou ACF was my primary chapter. It was my baby and it will always have a special place in my heart.
Over the past 2 years, as I've moved onto other things, I've been less and less involved in the day to day operations of ACF. It's been fine. Danny now and Matti before him have done an incredible job of taking care of the fellowship. Honestly, it'd been a long time since I'd visited a Wednesday night Large Group...
Until last night...
Finally, the Rock has come back to ACF... (shout out to all the fellow WWE fans who got that one). =0).
With Danny up in Iowa for a training, I was invited to come speak for the group. They are going through a series right now on emotions and I was given the topic of "doubt." One of the leaders made Chinese breakfast as the meal, I spoke, and all in all it was a good time. A few observations:
- I love seeing people I don't recognize. One of my favorite things when I visit various churches that I've attended is seeing all the faces that I don't recognize. There are always new people who have started attending since the last time I was there, and oftentimes, they are leading or serving in some capacity. When I walked through the doors and saw all the new faces, it warmed my heart.
- I still love preaching. On the way home yesterday, I realized that it had been a really long time since I'd done any preaching. The last time was probably when I was back in California at my home church. Since I've been planting so much these past few years, I haven't had a big enough group to do any preaching. It felt good to spend time studying the word and putting together an outline, then executing. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed it.
- Some things never change. The faces are different. I was talking with a student who I remember as a Freshman but is a Senior now. We were talking about how much the group has changed over the years. But it really hasn't. It's still about food. It's still a place where people be silly and a little bit awkward. There's still musical worship. Some students eat up the teaching and others struggle to stay awake. The faces are different but the community was definitely familiar.
Friends, it felt good to go home again. As I was leaving, I was thinking about how much fun I had and how I wouldn't mind stopping by more often. Then, I was reminded by God that I'm exactly where I need to be right now. I'm enjoying being at Lincoln. I'm loving putting my baby boy to sleep and hanging out with my wife. I'm content and challenged in my roles. It was good to visit home but it was also good to remember that home now is different, and that's OK.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
When I moved out to Columbia in 2007, it was with a very specific purpose in mind. I was sent to plant an Asian American InterVarsity chapter with hopes of it being one of many chapters in Mid-Missouri. ACF was officially started in the fall of 2007 and we were officially recognized as a student group in October of 2008. For 8 years, Mizzou ACF was my primary chapter. It was my baby and it will always have a special place in my heart.
Over the past 2 years, as I've moved onto other things, I've been less and less involved in the day to day operations of ACF. It's been fine. Danny now and Matti before him have done an incredible job of taking care of the fellowship. Honestly, it'd been a long time since I'd visited a Wednesday night Large Group...
Until last night...
Finally, the Rock has come back to ACF... (shout out to all the fellow WWE fans who got that one). =0).
With Danny up in Iowa for a training, I was invited to come speak for the group. They are going through a series right now on emotions and I was given the topic of "doubt." One of the leaders made Chinese breakfast as the meal, I spoke, and all in all it was a good time. A few observations:
- I love seeing people I don't recognize. One of my favorite things when I visit various churches that I've attended is seeing all the faces that I don't recognize. There are always new people who have started attending since the last time I was there, and oftentimes, they are leading or serving in some capacity. When I walked through the doors and saw all the new faces, it warmed my heart.
- I still love preaching. On the way home yesterday, I realized that it had been a really long time since I'd done any preaching. The last time was probably when I was back in California at my home church. Since I've been planting so much these past few years, I haven't had a big enough group to do any preaching. It felt good to spend time studying the word and putting together an outline, then executing. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed it.
- Some things never change. The faces are different. I was talking with a student who I remember as a Freshman but is a Senior now. We were talking about how much the group has changed over the years. But it really hasn't. It's still about food. It's still a place where people be silly and a little bit awkward. There's still musical worship. Some students eat up the teaching and others struggle to stay awake. The faces are different but the community was definitely familiar.
Friends, it felt good to go home again. As I was leaving, I was thinking about how much fun I had and how I wouldn't mind stopping by more often. Then, I was reminded by God that I'm exactly where I need to be right now. I'm enjoying being at Lincoln. I'm loving putting my baby boy to sleep and hanging out with my wife. I'm content and challenged in my roles. It was good to visit home but it was also good to remember that home now is different, and that's OK.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
New Life at Lincoln!
Hello, friends!
I'm still working on finishing up everything from Fall Conference so there will be a blog post recapping that coming in the next week or so. Until then, I wanted to share this story with y'all that I wanted to share last week but I moved it back a week because of Fall Conference. Enjoy!
To give some context, one of the things that we do in InterVarsity is a "proxe station." These are interactive Gospel displays that are eye catching and artistic in a way that draws in students. The basic model of the proxe is 4 steps:
- Invite students to make a statement about the world
- Invite students to then make a statement about their personal worlds
- Share with them a bible passage that speaks to the conversations you've been having already
- Present the Gospel using the "4 circles" diagram and ask them to make a decision (you can see the 4 circles Gospel presentation here).
Yesterday I did the Hope Proxe at Lincoln. I've been doing proxes at Lincoln for the past year or so which has been fun but a little frustrating. Most of the students who come through identify themselves as in Circle 4 (working towards change in the world) but in conversation, they're probably more like Circle 1 (their world is great with no problems) folk.
However, just in this past month I've already met more "Circle 2" (their world is broken) folk than ever. It's been really exciting.
D came up to the proxe and asked what it was. We walked through the proxe and talked a little. He's a freshman who just moved to Mid-MO a little while back to live with his dad. He said his mom is a Christian, his dad is an atheist and he's not really religious but if he had to choose something, he'd probably choose being a Christian since that was how he was brought up.
We made it to the 4 circles diagram and as I explained it to him, he got really excited about circles 3 and 4. He said, "this makes total sense!" I asked him where he identified himself and he said Circle 2 but that Circles 3 and 4 sounded really great. I invited him to make a decision right then to follow Jesus and he said "yes!" We prayed, chatted a little more, and he went on his way, a new believer. We're going to be doing the Deeply Rooted book starting next week.
This is the first conversion at Lincoln University through InterVarsity. Praise Jesus for his faithfulness!
I'm still working on finishing up everything from Fall Conference so there will be a blog post recapping that coming in the next week or so. Until then, I wanted to share this story with y'all that I wanted to share last week but I moved it back a week because of Fall Conference. Enjoy!
To give some context, one of the things that we do in InterVarsity is a "proxe station." These are interactive Gospel displays that are eye catching and artistic in a way that draws in students. The basic model of the proxe is 4 steps:
- Invite students to make a statement about the world
- Invite students to then make a statement about their personal worlds
- Share with them a bible passage that speaks to the conversations you've been having already
- Present the Gospel using the "4 circles" diagram and ask them to make a decision (you can see the 4 circles Gospel presentation here).
Yesterday I did the Hope Proxe at Lincoln. I've been doing proxes at Lincoln for the past year or so which has been fun but a little frustrating. Most of the students who come through identify themselves as in Circle 4 (working towards change in the world) but in conversation, they're probably more like Circle 1 (their world is great with no problems) folk.
However, just in this past month I've already met more "Circle 2" (their world is broken) folk than ever. It's been really exciting.
D came up to the proxe and asked what it was. We walked through the proxe and talked a little. He's a freshman who just moved to Mid-MO a little while back to live with his dad. He said his mom is a Christian, his dad is an atheist and he's not really religious but if he had to choose something, he'd probably choose being a Christian since that was how he was brought up.
We made it to the 4 circles diagram and as I explained it to him, he got really excited about circles 3 and 4. He said, "this makes total sense!" I asked him where he identified himself and he said Circle 2 but that Circles 3 and 4 sounded really great. I invited him to make a decision right then to follow Jesus and he said "yes!" We prayed, chatted a little more, and he went on his way, a new believer. We're going to be doing the Deeply Rooted book starting next week.
This is the first conversion at Lincoln University through InterVarsity. Praise Jesus for his faithfulness!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Come and See!
Hello, friends!
We are just 48 hours away from Fall Conference 2016 (FC16)! After months of planning and preparing, it's finally here!
Fall Conference is one of those things that you can always count on every year. No matter if you're planting a new campus or staffing an established chapter, in Missouri, New Student Outreach (NSO) season "officially" ends with Fall Conference. It's our chance to gather students from all over the state to come, worship Jesus together, build friendships, and hopefully make significant decisions that will impact them for the rest of their year, or even their lives!
I've always had a special place in my heart for FC's. It was at FC07 that I had a "come to Jesus" moment and would say that I moved from being a believer to a follower of Jesus. FC09 was the catalyst for our very first ACF conversion. I've had the pleasure of directing the past 3 FC's and there's a chance I'll be directing my fourth one next year too. I've seen students receive significant healing, other students make decisions to follow Jesus, and other students still take steps to becoming missionaries on campus. It's a beautiful thing.
FC16's theme is "Come and See." As the directing team and I tried to figure out what we wanted our theme to be, we kept coming back to this idea of "Come and See." I was hesitant at first because I knew that we had done that theme for a Fall Conference before and I didn't want to be redundant. Then I looked back at my notes and saw that the FC where we had used that theme was FC09; none of the other staff on the FC16 directing team were even in college for FC09. I guess I'm just and old man. =0).
Friends, please be praying for us these next few days. We have a lot of moving pars and a lot of things that could definitely use your prayer.
- Registration: We still have 10 spots left and would love to get them filled!
- Travel: Please pray that students will arrive safely and not get lost on the way there or back
- Health: I've already had one migraine this morning and would rather not that anyone, staff or student, get sick
- Spirit: With these conferences, it's always so important that the Spirit move. Pray that we as staff will be ready to hear whatever God has for us and that students will have soft hearts to receive.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
We are just 48 hours away from Fall Conference 2016 (FC16)! After months of planning and preparing, it's finally here!
Fall Conference is one of those things that you can always count on every year. No matter if you're planting a new campus or staffing an established chapter, in Missouri, New Student Outreach (NSO) season "officially" ends with Fall Conference. It's our chance to gather students from all over the state to come, worship Jesus together, build friendships, and hopefully make significant decisions that will impact them for the rest of their year, or even their lives!
I've always had a special place in my heart for FC's. It was at FC07 that I had a "come to Jesus" moment and would say that I moved from being a believer to a follower of Jesus. FC09 was the catalyst for our very first ACF conversion. I've had the pleasure of directing the past 3 FC's and there's a chance I'll be directing my fourth one next year too. I've seen students receive significant healing, other students make decisions to follow Jesus, and other students still take steps to becoming missionaries on campus. It's a beautiful thing.
FC16's theme is "Come and See." As the directing team and I tried to figure out what we wanted our theme to be, we kept coming back to this idea of "Come and See." I was hesitant at first because I knew that we had done that theme for a Fall Conference before and I didn't want to be redundant. Then I looked back at my notes and saw that the FC where we had used that theme was FC09; none of the other staff on the FC16 directing team were even in college for FC09. I guess I'm just and old man. =0).
Friends, please be praying for us these next few days. We have a lot of moving pars and a lot of things that could definitely use your prayer.
- Registration: We still have 10 spots left and would love to get them filled!
- Travel: Please pray that students will arrive safely and not get lost on the way there or back
- Health: I've already had one migraine this morning and would rather not that anyone, staff or student, get sick
- Spirit: With these conferences, it's always so important that the Spirit move. Pray that we as staff will be ready to hear whatever God has for us and that students will have soft hearts to receive.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
So, how's ministry going?
Hello, friends!
One of the questions that I get asked pretty often is "So, how's ministry going?" Most/all of my friends and family know what I do and it's an easy way to start a conversation. Consider it the missionary version of "How's work?" or, "How're the wife and kid?" (For the record, I get that question a lot too).
A few days ago I was asked that question again and for whatever reason, this time I decided to stop and actually try and quantify "how the ministry was going." It led me down a very interesting rabbit hole of sorts.
Back when my sole job was ACF, answering that question was relatively easy. There were always different areas going well and other areas not going so well but usually everything was pretty simple to calculate and stuff was correlated so when one area was going well, it usually meant the chapter was doing OK.
Now that I have 4 chapters that I work with, 2 staff I supervise, 1 staff team to lead, and a host of other responsibilities (like this conference I'm directing next week), there are more levels to consider. If stuff with one chapter is going well but not with another, how do I answer the question? If campus stuff is going great but the conference planning has been difficult, does that mean ministry is going well or not so well? Should I just go with "net positive" and assume that if I add up all the plusses and minuses that it'll all work out?
In one sense, it doesn't really matter. I was praying a few days ago about different areas of ministry and the word that kept coming back to me was, "I require faithfulness, not results." I'm reminded of Psalm 50 where God reminds David that he doesn't actually need anything from him. I go back to one of my favorite stories from scripture where Jesus reminds the 72 after they come back from missions work to rejoice only because their names are written in the book of life. All said and done, I'm doing the best I can, following where I believe God is leading me, and trying not to focus on the results as much as the process.
The other side is that I want to be honest and transparent. Meg will tell you that honesty and integrity are two values I hold very high. When I started ministry, I said from the jump that since I was working in Missouri but most of my base was in California, I was going to be as transparent as possible in ministry. That means that the question to me is less of a rhetorical device asked with no care for the answer; it is a chance to re-evaluate, assess, and analyze, in hopes that it gives glory to God.
What does that mean for y'all? In short, it means don't worry if I take a second to answer that question. I'm just searching for the right answer. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
One of the questions that I get asked pretty often is "So, how's ministry going?" Most/all of my friends and family know what I do and it's an easy way to start a conversation. Consider it the missionary version of "How's work?" or, "How're the wife and kid?" (For the record, I get that question a lot too).
A few days ago I was asked that question again and for whatever reason, this time I decided to stop and actually try and quantify "how the ministry was going." It led me down a very interesting rabbit hole of sorts.
Back when my sole job was ACF, answering that question was relatively easy. There were always different areas going well and other areas not going so well but usually everything was pretty simple to calculate and stuff was correlated so when one area was going well, it usually meant the chapter was doing OK.
Now that I have 4 chapters that I work with, 2 staff I supervise, 1 staff team to lead, and a host of other responsibilities (like this conference I'm directing next week), there are more levels to consider. If stuff with one chapter is going well but not with another, how do I answer the question? If campus stuff is going great but the conference planning has been difficult, does that mean ministry is going well or not so well? Should I just go with "net positive" and assume that if I add up all the plusses and minuses that it'll all work out?
In one sense, it doesn't really matter. I was praying a few days ago about different areas of ministry and the word that kept coming back to me was, "I require faithfulness, not results." I'm reminded of Psalm 50 where God reminds David that he doesn't actually need anything from him. I go back to one of my favorite stories from scripture where Jesus reminds the 72 after they come back from missions work to rejoice only because their names are written in the book of life. All said and done, I'm doing the best I can, following where I believe God is leading me, and trying not to focus on the results as much as the process.
The other side is that I want to be honest and transparent. Meg will tell you that honesty and integrity are two values I hold very high. When I started ministry, I said from the jump that since I was working in Missouri but most of my base was in California, I was going to be as transparent as possible in ministry. That means that the question to me is less of a rhetorical device asked with no care for the answer; it is a chance to re-evaluate, assess, and analyze, in hopes that it gives glory to God.
What does that mean for y'all? In short, it means don't worry if I take a second to answer that question. I'm just searching for the right answer. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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