Hello, friends!
If you know anything about me, you know that I love sports. Really, what I love is competition in any of its forms. I will compete with anyone (or anything) at anytime, for any reason. I love competing, even if I'm not necessarily winning. I also love watching other folk compete. I will watch baseball, football, hockey, golf, nascar, basketball, spelling bee, you name it. (As many of you know, one of my favorites in curling). =0).
Last night Mizzou's Filipino American Student Association (aka MUFASA) held another installment of one of its best traditions: watching Manny Pacquiao fight on Pay Per View.
For those who are unfamiliar with the sweet science of boxing, Pacquiao is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world right now. He has a devastating left hand and throws punches so quickly, sometimes his hands look like a video game. He is also Filipino. In fact, he is a congressman in the Philippines and it is believed that one day he may run for president.
Anyway, I had never actually seen Pacquiao fight so I figured it'd be worth it to hang out with some students and watch the man in action.
The fight was actually a really good one. Pacquiao won by a majority decision that was very close. This was definitely the closest fight Pacquiao had fought in quite some time. It really could have gone either way. In fact, his opponent, Juan Marquez, even made Pacquiao bleed, which I don't think I have ever heard of anyone being able to do in quite some time.
But as great as the fight was, that wasn't what struck me the most last night. What struck me the most was seeing all these Asian American students that are Mizzou students who need Jesus in a real way. There were a few ACFers in the crowd but a majority of the people were folk who have never stepped foot inside Large Group or been a part of our small groups. Hearing them between rounds recount the "crazy night" they had the night before, talk about life in a way that shows pride and brokenness at the same time, and even having to step outside to get a cigarette; these things were breaking my heart while Pacquiao and Marquez were breaking each others' faces.
Why do I do what I do? It's because there are still students on campus who need the Gospel. There are Asian Americans and Asian Internationals who have no idea that the life they are living is no life at all and that God has so much more in store for them than what they have now.
So please continue to pray for Mizzou. Pray for the ACFers in MUFASA, that they will be lights on campus. Pray that God will bring a revival in the Asian and Asian American Community. Pray that His Kingdom will come in a very real way.
Have an excellent day
~Adam
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Seredipity and Second Chances...
Hello, friends!
One of the things that I love about ACF this year is that we have affinity small groups. Each of our leaders decided not just that they wanted to lead, but also what type of group they wanted to lead. Jordan is leading a community service Small Group. Paula is leading one exploring what worship really means. Danny is leading FBI, or Freshman Bible Inquiry, and Stephen is leading ACFit, which is a fitness small group.
Stephen's idea I think gets points for originality. Fridays they have a bible study on different aspects of spiritual fitness. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, their small group works out together. Doesn't that sound like fun?
Wednesdays and Fridays I join ACFit for their workouts. On Wednesday I couldn't find them at the rec center (they were in the OTHER, more hardcore weight lifting area), so I decided to do some quick weights on my own then shoot some hoops before calling it a workout. While I was shooting around, I saw as Asian student shooting hoops on the court next to me.
I knew what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to go over there, introduce myself, and tell him about ACF. But, for whatever reason, I didn't. It could have been a number of things. Maybe I was rushed. Maybe I was just scared. Either way, I blew it.
Fast forward to this morning. I get to campus @ 7 but only Stephen and I were there. One of the students had a meeting with his adviser and a few guys decided to sleep in. We got to 8 and headed out to the track for some sprint workouts (which were REALLY hard by the way) and were joined by another student who normally comes to the workouts. After a few sprints we headed to the gym for some basketball.
Guess who was there shooting hoops on the court next to us! It was the same student! I wasn't going to miss my chance this time. We decided to play some 2-on-2 and invited him in. He was more than happy to play with us.
After 2 games (I went 2-0, just saying...), we decided to call it a day, but not before we were able to get his contact information and tell him about the small group. He seemed interested, so here's hoping! =0).
A few prayer points for you:
- Pray for our Small Group leaders. They have been doing such a great job but the numbers aren't reflecting that right now. Please pray that they will not be discouraged, but encouraged by stories like what happened today.
- Pray for growth in our Small Groups. We know the ACFers are out there. We know that they will be blessed by our small groups. Please pray that God will work in their hearts and give them a desire to seek deeper community.
- We are almost to our goal of 30 Mizzou students at Fall Conference! We currently have 26 signed up, including at least 6 non-Christians! Please pray that God will bring more students in and that He will be preparing the hearts of those going to receive what He has for them.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
One of the things that I love about ACF this year is that we have affinity small groups. Each of our leaders decided not just that they wanted to lead, but also what type of group they wanted to lead. Jordan is leading a community service Small Group. Paula is leading one exploring what worship really means. Danny is leading FBI, or Freshman Bible Inquiry, and Stephen is leading ACFit, which is a fitness small group.
Stephen's idea I think gets points for originality. Fridays they have a bible study on different aspects of spiritual fitness. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, their small group works out together. Doesn't that sound like fun?
Wednesdays and Fridays I join ACFit for their workouts. On Wednesday I couldn't find them at the rec center (they were in the OTHER, more hardcore weight lifting area), so I decided to do some quick weights on my own then shoot some hoops before calling it a workout. While I was shooting around, I saw as Asian student shooting hoops on the court next to me.
I knew what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to go over there, introduce myself, and tell him about ACF. But, for whatever reason, I didn't. It could have been a number of things. Maybe I was rushed. Maybe I was just scared. Either way, I blew it.
Fast forward to this morning. I get to campus @ 7 but only Stephen and I were there. One of the students had a meeting with his adviser and a few guys decided to sleep in. We got to 8 and headed out to the track for some sprint workouts (which were REALLY hard by the way) and were joined by another student who normally comes to the workouts. After a few sprints we headed to the gym for some basketball.
Guess who was there shooting hoops on the court next to us! It was the same student! I wasn't going to miss my chance this time. We decided to play some 2-on-2 and invited him in. He was more than happy to play with us.
After 2 games (I went 2-0, just saying...), we decided to call it a day, but not before we were able to get his contact information and tell him about the small group. He seemed interested, so here's hoping! =0).
A few prayer points for you:
- Pray for our Small Group leaders. They have been doing such a great job but the numbers aren't reflecting that right now. Please pray that they will not be discouraged, but encouraged by stories like what happened today.
- Pray for growth in our Small Groups. We know the ACFers are out there. We know that they will be blessed by our small groups. Please pray that God will work in their hearts and give them a desire to seek deeper community.
- We are almost to our goal of 30 Mizzou students at Fall Conference! We currently have 26 signed up, including at least 6 non-Christians! Please pray that God will bring more students in and that He will be preparing the hearts of those going to receive what He has for them.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Whatever you do, don't force it!
Hello, friends!
One of the things one has to learn when working in ministry is that sometimes things are just out of your control. We can plan and prep and get ready all we want, but the truth is that sometimes things don't go the way that one expects them to go and sometimes you just have to give it up to Jesus. Today was a double dose reminder that ultimately, I am not in charge.
ACF is still a young fellowship so we are just now starting to develop a sense of tradition. One of those traditions is our tailgate. Before one of the homegames, we go to the intramural field and grill out along the side. The face isn't fancy, just burgers and hot dogs, but the fellowship is good and we always attract a good number of people. It isn't unusual for us to have 60 or so students in attendance at any given point. It is one of my favorite ACF traditions because it is a very easy outreach. Regardless of how you feel about Jesus, Christianity, or even spirituality, everyone loves a free burger before a Mizzou football game.
Imagine my dismay when I woke up to cloudy skies and the gentle pitter patter of raindrops falling on my roof. It's one thing to ask students to come out to tailgate. It's something totally different to ask them to do it in the rain. I immediately went to check the weather and was felt my heart drop: 40% chance of thunderstorms throughout the entire day.
40% is probably the worst thing that could happen. If it was any higher then we could postpone and feel fairly good about the situation, knowing that it is probably going to rain. If it is any lower than we can continue with our plans and feel fairly good about the situation, knowing that it probably isn't going to rain. But 40% in that point of tension. We don't want to postpone early, but we also don't want to have folk be miserable in the rain.
I talked it over with Will, the other ACF staff, and we agreed that it was probably for the best that we postpone, as it is better to be safe than sorry. I sent out the emails, wrote the texts, posted on Facebook, and watched as the skies immediately dried up as soon as we canceled... unfortunately, we chose wrong.
So there's number one. The second reminder came a little bit later as I went to lunch with a student. This student has been coming somewhat regularly to ACF and has been making great steps toward following Jesus. He texted me a question he had and I knew that the answer couldn't be answered in 140 characters, so we set up a lunch date to talk things out.
The first place my mind went was McVangelism. I was certain that once we started talking over some fast food, everything was going to work out perfectly. It felt like things were already in place because I had been craving a blizzard from the Dairy Queen. We set up a location and I got ready for some sweet Holy Spirit Action.
The Spirit showed up, but not in the way that I expected. As we were talking and he was sharing his process with me, I got the feeling that today was not going to be the day for him. I answered his questions and presented the Gospel but I didn't force the issue to hard and let the conversation go where it led. Through our talking, he shared that one of the things that had turned him off to Christianity early on was that folk tried to convert without trying to build relationship; pretty much what I had almost done just a few minutes earlier. Disaster avoided...
But the question still remains, what then is my role? I know I should still work hard to prepare as much as I can, but I also know that I have to be open to the leading of the Spirit and ultimately give up to God the things that are beyond me (which is a lot...).
A few prayer requests:
- We are still recruiting for Fall Conference. Pray that God will move in the students and they will be inspired to sign up.
- Pray for my student who has questions about Jesus. Pray that God will continue to reward that curiosity.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
One of the things one has to learn when working in ministry is that sometimes things are just out of your control. We can plan and prep and get ready all we want, but the truth is that sometimes things don't go the way that one expects them to go and sometimes you just have to give it up to Jesus. Today was a double dose reminder that ultimately, I am not in charge.
ACF is still a young fellowship so we are just now starting to develop a sense of tradition. One of those traditions is our tailgate. Before one of the homegames, we go to the intramural field and grill out along the side. The face isn't fancy, just burgers and hot dogs, but the fellowship is good and we always attract a good number of people. It isn't unusual for us to have 60 or so students in attendance at any given point. It is one of my favorite ACF traditions because it is a very easy outreach. Regardless of how you feel about Jesus, Christianity, or even spirituality, everyone loves a free burger before a Mizzou football game.
Imagine my dismay when I woke up to cloudy skies and the gentle pitter patter of raindrops falling on my roof. It's one thing to ask students to come out to tailgate. It's something totally different to ask them to do it in the rain. I immediately went to check the weather and was felt my heart drop: 40% chance of thunderstorms throughout the entire day.
40% is probably the worst thing that could happen. If it was any higher then we could postpone and feel fairly good about the situation, knowing that it is probably going to rain. If it is any lower than we can continue with our plans and feel fairly good about the situation, knowing that it probably isn't going to rain. But 40% in that point of tension. We don't want to postpone early, but we also don't want to have folk be miserable in the rain.
I talked it over with Will, the other ACF staff, and we agreed that it was probably for the best that we postpone, as it is better to be safe than sorry. I sent out the emails, wrote the texts, posted on Facebook, and watched as the skies immediately dried up as soon as we canceled... unfortunately, we chose wrong.
So there's number one. The second reminder came a little bit later as I went to lunch with a student. This student has been coming somewhat regularly to ACF and has been making great steps toward following Jesus. He texted me a question he had and I knew that the answer couldn't be answered in 140 characters, so we set up a lunch date to talk things out.
The first place my mind went was McVangelism. I was certain that once we started talking over some fast food, everything was going to work out perfectly. It felt like things were already in place because I had been craving a blizzard from the Dairy Queen. We set up a location and I got ready for some sweet Holy Spirit Action.
The Spirit showed up, but not in the way that I expected. As we were talking and he was sharing his process with me, I got the feeling that today was not going to be the day for him. I answered his questions and presented the Gospel but I didn't force the issue to hard and let the conversation go where it led. Through our talking, he shared that one of the things that had turned him off to Christianity early on was that folk tried to convert without trying to build relationship; pretty much what I had almost done just a few minutes earlier. Disaster avoided...
But the question still remains, what then is my role? I know I should still work hard to prepare as much as I can, but I also know that I have to be open to the leading of the Spirit and ultimately give up to God the things that are beyond me (which is a lot...).
A few prayer requests:
- We are still recruiting for Fall Conference. Pray that God will move in the students and they will be inspired to sign up.
- Pray for my student who has questions about Jesus. Pray that God will continue to reward that curiosity.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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