intensives: week 1

I'm currently in St. Paul, MN…living communally in a hotel with fellow interns…and logging classroom time for seminary. A major component of the Willow internship is a seminary education, resulting in an M.A. in Transformational Leadership (Bethel MATL) provided by Bethel Seminary. Study is divided into quarters instead of semesters. Though the majority of the coursework is completed as distance work (online), every Spring and Fall we (interns) must come to St. Paul for 'intensives' for two weeks, one course each week. This involves classroom lectures and interaction with the professor.

This week is focused on my Old Testament 101 class - Genesis through Ruth. At this point, we've focused on the Pentateuch (a.k.a. Five Books of Moses, or simply the first five books of the Bible) and themes of 'promise,' 'covenant,' 'law,' 'creation,' etc. This stuff is mentally exhausting and I value my evenings to relax and decompress and otherwise hang out with my fellow interns…running, exercising, conversing in the hot tub, or having chicken-fights in the swimming pool.

Sometimes ridiculous fun is just what it takes to relax and refresh. No?

Student Impact Staff

i'm experimenting with pictures...below should be a picture of the staff i'm a part of from our most recent retreat (i'm in the 2nd row, 3rd from left) -- (click on image for full size view)

summer re-cap

It's time to break the silence of summer…and it wasn't really silent…just in the sense that you haven't heard from me. I actually had a full summer and thought you'd be interested to hear about some of the highlights. So…no time to waste here…read on.

I was able to begin my summer with a short visit home in early June. I was only home for a long weekend and I never get to see everyone I would like to when I'm home…I hope none of you felt slighted. But those of you I got to see, it is always special and you make home feel like…well, home - and that's a good thing!

Shortly after I returned to Chicago, I had to leave for a 9-day serving/mission trip to Waveland, MS (Hurricane Katrina Relief) with 20 students and 6 leaders. Although I was one of two co-leaders for the trip overall, there was great team leadership from all leaders which only enriched the experience. There was no drama or (unhealthy) conflict among leaders or students which is not always the case on serving trips like that. We started the week by attending Little Zion Baptist Church which was a moving experience for all of us and really set the tone for our trip (picture is in front of church). I feel like God did more in our team than we saw him do through our team as we served the people there…though I believe we were certainly able to bless those we served tremendously. I would gladly serve with that same team anytime…anywhere.

One week after, I returned from MS, I left for 4 days of summer camp with roughly 500 students. Chaos and commotion ensued but God was with us and united the Student Impact community (www.studentimpact.com) even more. I am truly grateful for the students I get to serve and team with whom I serve!

Another week after camp…I was able to go on vacation with my dad. We went fishing in Loreto, Mexico and got to experience some world class fishing. At the end of the week, there was a fishing tournament (www.fishinforthemission.com) and 100% of the proceeds (yes, 100%!) went to the local Mision (church), a local orphanage/school, and a new library for the community (a grand total of $24,000). The prizes for anglers are all donated by various companies. Loreto is a small fishing village in the Baja and this tournament is designed to honor and support the local people and economy. Here's a pic from one of our fun-fishing days (1 of 13 sailfish we caught in 2 hours!)…good stuff! - I picked this one because it's a big sailfish and you can see another sailfish that's hooked up in the background…and you could see them swimming in the water around the boat…that's the kind of fishing I like. All in all, it was a great vacation.

The last big event of the summer was the Leadership Summit here at Willow Creek Community Church. Willow Creek was recently selected as the most influential church in America (the church report)…and I would argue, quite possibly the world due to the number of leadership conferences it hosts around the world. The only reason for mentioning this is not to boast, but to give you a sense of the unique environment this internship offers as a place to learn and grow and be exposed to such strong leadership. I do not take this opportunity for granted and if it weren't for the financial and prayer support of many of you…this would not be possible! I am fully aware of and humbled by that fact! Thank you!!!

OK, you've probably had enough for now…I am enjoying not having school work for the month of September and look forward to another short visit to NC later this month. A new ministry 'season' is now underway and I'll bring you up to speed on that next month.