WHERE WE GOING IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS?

Tom: How do you envision Asian-American/International student campus ministry in the next 5 years? 25 years? (challenges, praises, etc.)

Jean: Deep question, Tom! There’s actually quite a bit that I can espouse here, but I will choose one word that summarizes it: Complex. More and more we’re seeing on the field that students are coming out of complicated home-life (with divorce on the rise all across the board, AAs and Internationals are no longer the exception.) Of the 31 students at our summer urban mission project 6 of them had parents undergoing a divorce through this summer and that doesn’t count the ones who already come out of divorced homes.
Additionally, our country is becoming more and more globalized. Asian-American ministry now sees a growing number Indonesians, Hmong, Malaysians, Philippinos whereas before it mainly consisted of Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Add to the mix students who are Asian adoptees.

And in the midst of all this complexity, the desire to connect is an incredible felt perhaps more so now than ever. (This explains the rise of online social networking.) And with the popularity of these new mediums (texting, tweeting, and facebook) many students may feel “connected” because on the surface they are, but as we probe deeper, we are seeing that many students still experience a deep sense of feeling unloved and forgotten. Which is why meeting Jesus is such a much needed and profound experience. I suspect that in the next 5 years we as staff need to get more savvy in communicating these deep truths through these medium (text/facebook) that are designed for surface level connection.

In the next 25 years? I can’t know. But I wonder if Americans will start meeting Jesus through refugees, immigrants, and missionaries from other countries coming here. As we slip into our sleepy comfort here in America, it may take someone from a different world to really speak into our hearts.

REFLECTIONS ON MINISTRY

Tom: What do you miss most about on-campus ministry?

Jean: I miss helping students grow from freshman to senior year on a day to day basis. So much can change in these four crucial years. However, in my current role I am able to still engage students on a broader level. A couple of weeks ago, I not only got to see the staff that I work with challenging their students and leading them to faith, I was one of the conference speakers at the Iowa Fall Conference. I spoke on Lordship in all avenues of faith. Students afterwards responded by writing down areas of their life that they wanted to give over to God and praying for God to help them. Some memorable examples were: “Help me forgive my father.” “I want to love my professors better.” “Help me with lust.” “I want to invest in the city.” “I want to know you have a plan for my life.”


Tom: What do you like most about your new responsibilities?

Jean: Probably the most compelling thing about my new responsibilities is being a part of our Region’s vision. We have set the ambitious goal of reaching 50 chapters and planting 1 overseas movement by 2020. Currently we are only at 22 campuses. All the unplanted overseas countries are in semi-intense unreached nations like N. Korea or Iran. Imagine in just 10 years having wide impact in the Midwest and even abroad. I’m privileged to contribute to this global vision through my passion—leadership development. 1/3 of my current role is training and empowering staff/volunteers (for example, I worked with a WashU faculty-volunteer to develop a speaking training for our staff this past summer). 2/3 of my time is helping staff to strategize and work through character issues in fund development. 100% of my work contributes to growing our capacity to touch students’ lives. God is sharpening my skills in teaching, training, speaking, and supervising. It hasn’t all been easy, but I feel like I’m a part of something bigger, grander, and exciting. I suppose this is the joy of saying yes to God’s colossal story.

CRIS’ CORNER

Tom: what has God been showing/teaching you on a personal level lately?

Jean: Cris has a great story to tell on our recent work with the International Student group on WashU’s campus. I’ll let him have the mic.

Cris: I paused to catch my breath. Looking up, I saw there was one more floor to go before we’d be done with the monstrous couch that was causing us so much trouble. Sweat dripped off my forehead and I reflected on why I’d said yes to helping with the International Friends Annual Furniture Giveaway.

Each year, the International Friends student ministry organizes a free furniture giveaway, in which International students are able to gather some of the basic amenities for student life: desks, beds, book shelves, old television sets, etc. We then help the students move that furniture to their apartments. This is what brought me to the tired, sweaty state I found myself in: a couch on my back and an impossibly tight staircase to navigate.

This was a completely worthwhile use of my energy. The furniture giveaway served to connect a tremendous number of students with both InterVarsity Staff and existing Christian students. It served as a practical expression of love that enticed the students to find out more about the fellowship. It opened doors to relationships that would have otherwise never been possible.

So my efforts were more than just exercise. I felt as if I was entering briefly into what Jesus was doing in this community of students and seeing the doors being opened by this practical expression of love. What a great way to spend a Saturday.

Marriage Counseling

Sarah: What have you learned from your past weeks of being marriage counselors? What is the best advice you can give to newly married couples, or what is a crucial lesson you and Cris have learned yourselves?

Jean: Let me catch everyone else up first. Cris and I spent 6 weeks in May and April being equipped by a local psychologist/counselor to help walk with married couples through marital challenges. This opportunity was provided to us by our church to train regular people on how to help deal with this rising need in our world.

I feel that the curriculum surprised me on two fronts:

1) Listening well to your spouse takes A LOT of work and 2) ways that we can hurt each other can arouse old wounds from our childhoods. I realized that many of my conflicts with actually related to how his actions would trigger my past traumas. So small things he did would cause overreactions from me.

Ultimately, the curriculum helped identify ways that we as spouses push each other’s buttons. Additionally, it taught methods of communication and prayerful intentionality to engage healthily in conflict. I feel like we’re still new in trying these methods ourselves, but it has helped our own communication already. We hope to offer these skills to our own church soon.

Challenges of the Road

Sarah: Where have you been this year, Jean!? I hear that traveling is a major aspect of your 'new' job. Can you give us an overview of where you've been geographically, the diversity you've seen, and the bumps and challenges of constantly 'being on the road'?

Jean: Thanks for asking about travels. This year has been marked by it. I’ve been to Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and most recently Wisconsin, training staff from all over the nation. I thank my local library for providing hours and hours of books on tape as I drive cross-country.

Here’s a picture of me at our National Staff Orientation where we were preparing 130 brand new staff to step on the field all around our nation. In addition to helping new staff prepare a solid support network, I guided the 30 or so Asian American staff through engaging their Asian American Churches. One consistent challenge that Asian American staff face are the cultural issues that stem from being bicultural. How do we help the older generation understand our fervor for God? How do we communicate in our often stilted mother tongue the profound and deep concepts of our journeys with Christ? How do we come alongside the many Asian American churches across the nation that desire to help rising AA youth?

Some of the staff came up with these ideas:
• encourage their student bible study leaders to lead a small group of their peers at their church over the summer
• teach their students how to be “cross-cultural” at home to engage their parents more intentionally
• offer themselves up as support to parents and pastors during the summer to help better understand this rising generation
• offer the extensive resources that InterVarsity Press has to offer
• teach a Mark study to the college students over the summer

Do any of you have more ideas to offer the AA staff? It’s been a real joy to help these staff see the church as a partner and supporter of their ministry.

Saying goodbye to class of 2010

I'm sitting here in my now empty living room trying to put together my feelings. I just had 15 of the graduating class over to my house. I've had friends/donors helping me give "advice" to this class to prepare them for college.

In their normal collegey way, they whispered, gawked, and fell asleep as my dear friends tried to help them with their transition. It reminded me of the days I sat in the back of Simon 120 passing notes to May in Finance class thinking that my prof wouldn't see us being blatantly rude. Going to WashU doesn't automatically indicate that you're intelligent nor socially apt.

But as I bid these Seniors farewell, with good food in their stomachs and hopefully scripture in their heart I felt a twinge of something that I still can't figure out. Jesus taught on Spiritual Blindness, challenging the overly religious to wake up and see the heart behind the ritual and at the same time challenging the tired weary and bitter people caught in self-destructive patterns to see hope. This class and every class before and every class after represents these two populations. And I wonder, as I sit studying with them, which population I belong in. I suspect I swing both ways. That sweet spot in between where we just trust in our Good Shepherd, loving people and receiving His love is so elusive sometimes.

But I can only pray that they'll experience that sweet spot sometime in their lives beyond their undergraduate years. And such an amazing feeling that will be.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10b)

Cris' Corner on Jean's Blog

Sometimes, folks want to get Cris' perspective on things. I thought it'd be fun to have Cris answer some questions from my donors & friends.

Eileen: How is God challenging you personally through your marriage?

Cris: It’s fun to be able to help answer a question here and there. :) Jean and I have been married for over a year now (time flies by so quickly!) and if you asked me on any given day how our marriage was going, I'd respond with two thumbs up and positive comments. But this doesn't mean there isn't room for growth in how we love each other.

Over the past 5 weeks we've been taking part in a training course on communication within marriage. (The goal is to be trained in how to guide other couples in the techniques provided by the course and to foster improved communication.)

What I was surprised by was an exercise where we wrote down the behaviors that our spouse does / once did that made us feel loved. When I saw Jean's list, I found that most of the things on her list were things I was doing presently. However, two items (planning special dates and giving thoughtful gifts) were in the "once did" column.

After some reflection and prayer, I came to the understanding that those were the two behaviors that required the most time and personal effort to do - all the other items came more naturally. So I feel God asking me, "Why do you no longer do those things? Are you willing to love just a bit more self-sacrificially? Are you willing to love a little bit more like the way I love you?" It's hard to say no when He puts it that way. :)

Simply put, God is challenging us to continue growing in our capacity to love each other selflessly.

God's Harmonious Changes?

Eileen: How do you mesh church life / ministry and your staff ministry, and in what ways do you see God working harmoniously between the two?

Jean: You assume that God is working harmoniously. :-) I suppose that the overarching melody that God is weaving throughout my church life/ministry life… my life in general is the melody of CHANGE. And though it is the same theme, it hasn’t been smooth sailing.

I’ll be honest, this year has been a hard year internally for me.

Externally, things are going well. Cris and I have a nice new home, we’ve found a church that we feel excited about, and I’ve enabled 3 new staff to be on 3 different campuses. But taking on this many transitions in one year has been difficult. First marriage, then a job change, then a church change, then a new neighborhood.

All of these things have been supreme blessings and yet at the same time, there are these piercing moments of nostalgia. My leaving the ministry at WashU ACF to help our Region increase its capacity has been a primary source of those feelings. I can’t help but wonder if I left too soon or if they still need me, despite my head knowledge that God takes care of things. Most of my year has been ridden with guilt as I watch the chapter try to move forward with young leaders and no solid vision. And I think about Jesus leaving the throngs of people seeking to be healed at the end of Luke 4. “Why didn’t you just snap your fingers and heal them before heading out?” is my question. “How did you not feel guilty, Jesus?” is my second question, especially knowing that He was capable of doing it.

And He answers, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” My supervisor Tom says that there’s never a good time to leave, there’s simply God calling us elsewhere. This is something that I’m still working out in my mind. With Nebraska that was just replanted last year (no work since the early 90’s) and with staff starting ministries at schools with NO HISTORY of Christian Ministry it’s no doubt in my mind that we need to increase our capacity here in the Midwest. And the need is in support networks for our staff. We need funding, we need supervisors, and we need people to leave their 1 post to enable 3-6 more posts to be active.

On the personal front, the transition continues. Cris and I have moved churches and neighborhoods to see how we can be more available to God. Our neighborhood is stretching us beyond belief as we’re learning how a Chinese and Cuban American can learn to connect to a mostly African American community. Additionally, our church has grown from a 12 person small group to near 40 people, all yearning to know God and see Him move.

Can I mimic Christ when people ask me why I must leave? Can I say too that I’m leaving because “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns also…”? I’m not sure, but my heart hopes so. In the meantime, I’m still trying to make sense of these changes and God’s working in them all. Can I say definitively what He’s doing through all of it? No. Can I say that He’s working on me and stretching me? Yes. Can I say that He’s present and with me in all these changes? Yes. And sadly I know no more than that. :-)

Hosea at the Union

Written by staff from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (a chapter barely a year old)
E was fascinated by how committed our group was to God and to each other. As we continued to broach the subject of spirituality, my core students were listening and participating until they had to leave for class.

The lunch hour passed and it was just me, Hannah (one of the student leaders) and E. I asked her if Jesus was sitting right here with us and you could ask Him one question, what would it be? She said “Would I go to heaven?” Wow.

Now that a couple of hours passed she felt comfortable sharing with us. She said since she’d come to college, she hadn’t been herself. She started sleeping around when she got to UMSL, and the crowd she rolls with treats her like garbage. She started crying and I started sharing some truth to her about her value in God’s eyes. Hannah caught onto what was happening and started sharing scripture and truth as well.

The funny thing was I had asked E earlier in the day if she wanted to follow Jesus again, and she said no, she wasn’t ready. But by the end of the day, God had really broken her down to see her need. As she was crying, I told her about God waiting for her to come back to Him without shaming or condemning her - that he wanted to love, protect and forgive her of her sins. Hannah is one of my core. She’s a gifted evangelist and she shared the beautiful story of Hosea. After lots of truth speaking, I finally asked her again if she wanted to commit her life to following Jesus again and making Him the Lord of her life and heart and she said yes. We prayed with her, and she prayed out loud with her head down, lots of tears and shaking as we held her on both sides agreeing with her prayer.

After that, lots of people came up and asked what was up and we had E tell them what had happened. “I just committed my life back to following Christ.”

Ch-ch-changes

How have you changed as a person of Christ this past year?

Live to be forgotten" was the advice one of the speakers at the Urbana Conference shared. The speaker was not asking us to be average, unlaudable, couch potatoes, but rather servants that are willing to love without self-interest nor self-gain. This impossible lesson happens to be the one I've been trying to grasp for the better part of my year. A supervisor in InterVarsity is not a glamorous jobs. We’re not having the heart to hearts with the students, and we’re not witnessing their testimonies first-hand. And yet, even as I serve in this more forgettable role, I see that God gets His work done. Students’ lives change, faculty want to know more about God, and staff finances come through. I think this past year God is teaching me that I may be living to be forgotten, but He will always be remembered.

My "big" advice..

“What do you have to lose?”

“Everything.”

“What do you have to gain?”

“...everything.”

This is the conundrum that I think most students encounter when they come face to face with our faith. It’s costly to be a person of faith... our resources, our talents, our lives no longer belong to ourselves, but to God. Yet at the same time we gain the peace, companionship, and love of an Amazing Supernatural Father. My biggest “advice” to students is simply to pose the question... “What do you have to lose?” It’s a question I ask myself daily when I feel selfish, anxious, angry, fearful. And I am made to confront the anemic state of my faith. And in that confrontation, I am offered a trade - to trade my anemia for hope, a hope in God. I pose the question so that students might see not only what they’re clinging to, but also the hope they receive if they let go.

What I love most...

"I'm a freshman. I'm missing God in my life. Can you help me find him?" was the email one of my staff (Amy) received earlier this semester.

After weeks of observing the Christian community on campus, the freshman (Sam) decided she wanted to say yes to Jesus. Amy, in her wisdom, brought one of her new Christians (Courtney) to pray with Sam. Courtney proceeded to share how her life hasn’t been the same since saying yes to Jesus. Sam then prayed to do the same. Now Courtney believes that sharing her joy in following Christ is a normal part of being a Christian.

These stories are what I love most. I know the 7 staff workers that I mentor across the region are having interactions just like Amy’s, whether it’s in Big 12 schools, small private colleges, or community colleges. We are seeing people give up addictions, become incredibly generous, and be freed from fear. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.