Prayer Walking Columbia College

Hello, friends!

It's been in the low to mid-90's around here in CoMO for the past few weeks or so, which has changed a lot of things considerably. Ezra normally loves walks but since it's too hot to go outside, Meg has been taking him on early morning walks and he and I have been doing laps around our living room (which he really enjoys, oddly enough). I've been trying to run more this summer but sweating my face off in 90 means getting up (or at least trying to get up) at 5am to knock out a few miles.

However, it's never too hot for a prayer walk. =0).

Just a few days ago, I took on Columbia College as an added campus for the next year. Columbia College IV is already a group but next year I'll be having a more hands on approach. CCIV is very near and dear to my heart as it is the first Mid-MO chapter to break out of the Mizzou bubble.

Since I'm relatively new to the campus, I thought it would be a good idea to spend a little time praying over the campus, listening to see what God might say in terms of my work there. Here are a few highlights from that time.

"Fall in love with the campus." One of the first things that an older staff told me when I joined staff 9+ years ago was that to make it in this game, you have to buy in 100% to the campus you're staffing. I took that to heart when I moved to CoMO, following Mizzou sports, buying the gear, and getting myself up to speed on all the rivalries and quirks that make Mizzou what it is. When I started doing work at Lincoln, I did the same thing, learning all about the Blue Tigers. Now it's time to see what Cougar Country is all about.

"There's more than meets the eye." A favorite story of mine from my time in ministry is that one of the last things I did as a student before joining staff was to take a prayer walk around WashU's campus (Go Bears!). It took about an hour or so but it was a really good time. When I first moved to CoMO, I decided to try to do the same thing at Mizzou. It took me 6 different prayer walks before I could cover the whole thing. =0). When I prayer walked Columbia College, I got around the campus in 18 minutes. Still, it was actually a lot bigger than I'd remembered it. Everyone sees the big buildings but it does actually go further back than I thought. I think it was God reminding me that there are unseen corners of the campus, places where students are who need to hear the Gospel. I'm excited to see where those places are.

"I've always been here." As I was walking, it was hard to not start planning. I'm someone who loves coming up with ideas and strategies. I also love analysis so I started going back and forth in my own mind about what may or may not work. About halfway through the walk, I was reminded that my job is not to save the campus. It is to see where God is moving and join him in that work. I honestly don't know what kind of structure this thing is going to take or what students I'll meet from where. I just know that he's always been there and will continue to be there.

One last thought that's unrelated to anything about campus work. My cousin-in-law just had a heart transplant last night/this morning. He's doing well now but this is the critical time where we find out if his body accepts the heart. If you have a moment, keep Dakota in your prayers.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

So Many Things!

Hello, friends!

As I was thinking about what I wanted to post this week, I realized that there were too many things on my mind to only touch on one topic. At the same time, there wasn't really enough for a Super Blog like I've done in the past. There was a plethora of topics but not really a cohesive theme to tie them all together besides the fact that life has been happening this past week. So, we're going to do a little bit of a "quick hits" sort of thing. Few thoughts on a couple of different topics that have been rattling around in my brain for the past week. Here we go!

Our Ministry Partnership Celebration: Thanks so much to everyone who came and who prayed for us as we prepared for our first ever Mid-Missouri Ministry Partnership Celebration Dinner. All said and done, I'd say it was a success! Folk showed up, there was a ton of delicious food that everyone enjoyed (cooked by my wonderful wife), folk learned a little more about InterVarsity in Mid-MO, and some folk were interested in partnering with us further. We definitely learned a lot and if we do it next year (which I hope we do), it'll be an even better experience.

Regional Leadership Team Meetings: Monday through Wednesday I was in St. Louis for my first ever Regional Leadership Team Meetings. Since I took the role of Associate Area Director this semester, I was invited to these RLT meetings. It was a really interesting experience for me. We talked about the differences and similarities between a team and a family (while trying to be both), spent a lot of time praying for each other and our different ministries, enjoyed one another's company, and made some really important decisions regarding the direction of the Region. In some ways, it was exactly as I'd expected it to be but in other ways, it was very different. I was anticipating all the business stuff. I wasn't expecting such a heavy emphasis on the "familia" aspect of things.

Orlando: I've been trying to figure out how to talk well about Orlando. My heart is broken for those in the LGBTQA community who lost their lives, who had friends or loved ones who lost their lives, who feel unsafe, who have heard horrible things said about them by those who claim Christ, and are the victims yet again of another hate crime. My heart breaks for the Latin@ community because many of the victims were Latin@ and it feels like that fact is being a lost a little in the news coverage. My heart breaks for those in the Muslim community who now have to deal with even more hatred and hateful rhetoric, stereotyping, racial/ethnic profiling, and potential acts of "revenge." My heart breaks for the Church in the U.S. because yet again, I feel like we're caught as a body divided, especially as I scroll my Facebook. I'm still not sure how to talk about Orlando well. I know what the answer isn't, but I'm not sure what the answer is, beyond praying for comfort, praying for peace, and praying that God's will be done.

Father's Day: So apparently Sunday is Father's Day! Honestly, I'd been getting prepared for Ezra's birthday (get excited!) that I hadn't thought about Father's Day much. Being a dad is the best. End of story. I don't know how good of a job I'm doing (he's still alive, so that's a positive, right?) but I'm having tons of fun.

I think that's everything for now. If I forgot something, you can bet that you'll hear about it (or read about it) soon. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

It's Go Time!

Hello, friends!

I've already posted about this a few times already in the past few weeks but it's finally here! On Sunday, InterVarsity in Mid-Missour (IV@MidMO) will be hosting its very first ministry celebration dinner! We've got a great time planned with dinner, a game, some different testimonies, and a preview of what's next for us so people can consider partnering with us as we bring the Gospel to more parts of the campus and more campuses in Mid-MO.

To be honest, it's been a beast planning this bad boy. The team has done a great job but there have been so many different moving pieces that had to be coordinated and since this is our first time doing this, there were a lot of things we didn't know we didn't know! We've had to work out a date, a venue, invitations, tracking down RSVP's, figure out food and programming, and making sure that all of our ducks are in a row. I think what I've enjoyed most about this has been seeing us as a team come together towards a common goal. We still have a lot of work ahead of us but I'm happy to see us all moving in the same direction.

Friends, please be praying for us this weekend. Here are a few specific ways to be praying:
- Pray that folk will show up. Not just because we've got food that we don't want to go to waste but also because we believe in what we do and want folk to be able to experience that with us.
- Pray for the staff team as we prepare. There are a lot of little things and moving pieces so it's easy for stuff to fall through the cracks. Please pray that we'll continue to work well together and that this will be a blessing to our team.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

You're Invited!

Hello, friends!

Greetings from beautiful Morovia, Iowa, where I'm here leading a regional training for our staff team on Ministry Partnership Development. So far, it's been a great time of being in the word, learning from one another, hearing from Jesus, and getting down to business. I've talked about it a lot, but MPD really is one of my favorite parts of the job and I'm blessed to be part of a team that gives me space to explore my passions and giftings.

One area related to MPD where I would love your prayers is in regards to an event that our team is hosting next weekend in CoMO. We wanted to celebrate God's fathfulness to us this year and prepare for the upcoming year by having all of our ministry partners and potential ministry partners in the know about how they can be a part of our journey. Thus far, we've had some trouble with getting an accurate headcount, which can be a little frustrating at times but an area where were are trusting Jesus to give us peace and to work through the logistics.

If you're in the CoMO area or know folk who are, we would LOVE for you to attend! Here's the info:

Come and Celebrate God’s faithfulness
with us & look ahead to next year
InterVarsity in Mid-Missouri invites you to a:

MINISTRY CELEBRATION DINNER
6:00pm-8:00pm (DOORS OPEN AT 5:30)
Sunday June 12, 2016
4600 Christian Fellowship Rd, Columbia, MO 65203
Tickets are $10/person or $50/family
Childcare provided upon request for kids under 10 (free dinner included)

Please RSVP by: Sunday June 5, 2016
RSVP : http://goo.gl/forms/pWRQtdDVSW or email adamjohnleong@gmail.com

If you aren't in town and don't know folk who are in town, woudl you still please pray for us? Pray for responses, pray for logistics, and pray that God would be glorified through our celebration.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

The Development of an Iceberg...

Hello, friends!

One habit I've gotten into talking about staff work like it's an iceberg. You've heard that analogy, right? It's said that icebergs are only 10% above water and that the rest of the thing is actually below the surface, which is what makes them so dangerous (Feel free to insert your own Titanic joke here). In the same way, much of what we do in staff work is actually happening below the surface. The way I see it, there are 4 major parts to staff work, one of which is actually seen and the other 3 parts that happen below the surface.

The part that everyone sees and asks about is the campus work and with good reason. I don't know that there are any of us who got into this job for any other reason than we love the campus and we love college students. It's the part that makes the most sense to ministry partners as well because it's the most tangible. It's what we talk about the most, what goes in our updates and prayer letters, and is probably the most fun part of the job for most of us. But, it's not the whole thing.

Lying below the surface are the three other, equally important pieces of staff life that can't be ignored and have to be done well. There's the preparation piece, which includes things like prayer, planning, studying, running errands to buy supplies, making copies, formatting bible studies, conference calls, trainings, and things like that. There's the reflection and reporting piece, which is what allows us to learn from our experiences on campus and actually grow in our staff work and as followers of Jesus. Then there's Ministry Partnership Development (MPD), which is us gathering a team of people together to partner with us through time, prayer, energy, and finances, so we can reach as many students as possible. All 4 of these pieces are crucial to a healthy staff life and none can be neglected for the sake of the others if you want to thrive in this job. Of course, we all have parts we like to do more than others. (NOTE: other staff may add other categories to their icebergs. I'm just giving you my breakdown)

It may seem odd, but I really love the MPD part of the game. I love casting vision for people who may not have ever thought of the campus as a mission field. I love training staff in how to build up teams of people around them to make the mission go. I love learning about why people give and how people give. I love coaching and developing new ways of thinking about our MPD. It's so much fun for me and it doesn't hurt that I think I'm pretty good at.

Within the next week or so, I'll actually have the opportunity to run two different MPD trainings for our Region and I'm really excited about both of them. The first training (that actually started last night) is what we call MPD 101, or an introduction to MPD. Two of our newly hired interns are here and we're going to go over the basics of MPD, starting from the beginning and making our way to the nitty gritty details. Next week, I'll be traveling to Iowa to lead MPD 201, which is for veteran staff. We have some really exciting (at least to me) training planned in hopes of seeing more of our staff fully funded with resources to spare so we can hire new staff too.

Friends, would you be praying for me as I prepare and lead these trainings? Although I love this part of the job, I know that it isn't the favorite part of a lot of staff, which can be kind of draining when you're the one teaching it. Would you pray that God gives me clear words and a clear vision as we all move forward in developing this part of our staff iceberg together? =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Hooray for Spring Conferences!

Hello, friends!

Meg, Ezra, and I just got back from a wonderful week at the Lake of the Ozarks. Vacation? Well, maybe for Ezra, but definitely not for Meg and me. We were actually helping to staff TWO student conferences for InterVarsity, Catalyst and Getaway. 

I was thinking about these conferences on our way home yesterday and the thought that came to mind was how different yet effective both of these conferences are at reaching their student populations. Both conferences had a really good week. 

Getaway is tons of fun because it is first and foremost, a conference for international non-Christians. They spend the entire week not just studying stories about Jesus and having great conversations but also spending time together and really having fun. Around half the group that attends is non-Christian so the tenor of the conference is very much one of exploration. 

Catalyst, on the other hand, is a conference designed more for students to experience a calling of mission from Jesus to go back to their campuses as missionaries. It has more of a "training" feel to it with seminars and informational meals and stuff like that. 

Of course, that isn't to say that either conference only does one thing. There are students who go to Getaway and are developed as missional leaders on campus and there are students who go to Catalyst and make decisions to follow Jesus for the first time in their adult lives. That also isn't to say that one style of conference is better than the other. It's just one of those things where different conferences scratch different itches. 

The important thing is that Jesus is at both conference and we saw that this past week. At Catalyst, 2 students made decisions to follow Jesus and a number of students made decisions to start something new on the campuses starting next year. Getaway had over 50 students from 18 countries come. Most made significant steps towards Jesus and one student called it "the greatest experience in the US so far." 

What was our role? A little bit of this and a little bit of that. Meg led 2 seminars for students interested in reaching international students at Catalyst and she was in charge of leading the Family Group (small group) leaders at Getaway. I once at Getaway and once at Catalyst as well as leading 2 seminars at Catalyst. 

Here's a video that a student made recapping Getaway. Enjoy!

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Conference Time!!!

In case the link above doesn't work, use this one! 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam