Praying for Exploration 2011

A year and a half ago, I was asked to serve on a Design Team for Exploration 2011.  I quickly said yes, as I was excited to be a part of an experience that will be a “spiritual marker” for some who attend.  Exploration is an “event” (though it seems shallow to call it that—it is more than an “event,” it is potentially an encounter with the Living God in discerning what may be a call to ministry) for people aged 18-26 to explore what it means to be called to ministry, specially related to ordination as a deacon or elder in the United Methodist Church.  Representatives from the 13 United Methodist Seminaries will be there, along with leaders who can articulate various important aspects of ministry. 

I attended Exploration 1996, which seems like a lifetime ago.  It was the first time that I understood what ordination was and was particularly interested in the new order of the deacon (which I would be ordained as in 2010).  I honestly don’t remember many of the details that happened at the event, but I do know that I left that “event” being confident that God had called me to something, even if I didn’t know all of the details.  I look back on that time and realize that it truly was a “spiritual marker” of sorts, as much for setting aside the time to go, but also for verbalizing to others that I had a call to ministry.  (I wrote more in detail about that here). 

Exploration is a time to set aside the other things on the schedule to listen:  to others who are sensing a call to ministry, to the equipping opportunities for ministry, but most importantly to listen to God.  This fall, on 11/11/11, hundreds will gather in St. Louis, and even as the final preparations are approaching, I would love to invite you to pray with me.  The things that I’m praying for in the days ahead are:

• People registering—that God would bring people who are open to the work that God may want to do in their lives
• Speakers and workshop leaders—that they would articulate what it means to live out one’s call to ministry
• Churches and Campus Ministries who are “sending” people—that they would nurture the call of ministry well before Exploration and upon return home

The theme for this year is “Passion and Possibilities” and we are eagerly anticipating all that God will do in the lives of those in attendance.  I work with college students in campus ministry, in fact, 8 of my students will be joining me in St. Louis this year.  They are full of both passion and possibilities.  I am excited for all that God has in store in the days ahead.  And I’m grateful for your prayers joining in for this “event.”

Google+ and College Students

I have been on Google+ for almost a week now and it's been fascinating for me to watch how it is evolving in my "circles," namely the United Methodist Church online world, campus ministry people, and my college students. I scored an invite first from a recent grad, but couldn't figure out how to accept the invite and then a fellow young UMC clergy sent me an invite which I did figure out how to accept! Within a day, I found people that I knew (in real life and in the digital world) and other people found me. It was fascinating to watch how quickly people popped up on Google+. I was actually an early adopter of Facebook (when I started, it was before it was public, as some Southwestern students lobbyed the FB folks for a network. I believe we got one in early 2006.) and a fairly early Twitter adopter. I got pulled in to Facebook by my students and I got pulled into Twitter by UMC young clergy colleagues, and I got pulled into Google+ from people that I followed on Twitter. We'll see how things take off with G+, but here are a few observations that I've made:

• I have been surprised at how many of my college students have already gotten on G+. It seems that with the exception of a couple, most of my students did not jump on board with Twitter. In the last year, a dozen or so (that are in my world) have begun tweeting, but I already have that many students that have signed up for G+. This gives me great hope that all of the collaborative potential that I see for G+ might actually be able to be used!
• I think that people really are gravitating toward the idea of selective disclosure of themselves, ie., the various ways that that they can reveal their online selves by posts going to particular circles. Facebook certainly has that ability, but one must be pretty savvy and disciplined to sort people, add to lists, etc., etc., in order for it to live up to it's potential.
• I'm hoping that G+ stays away from the online games and such that has been the legacy of Facebook. I know that there is a certain kind of community in online gaming, but I don't want another Farmville request! I'm not interested! :-)
• I "follow" many of the same people in FB, Twitter, and G+ and right now, everyone seems to be posting all three places. I'm wondering if that will change with time..if we will figure out where the best audience is for which type of communication and connect there. I'm sure that this will evolve as we figure it out, and I'm curious how it will develop.
• I'm not a Mac devotee and I was pleasantly surprised that the G+ app was on Android first! It is awesome! I can definitely see how I would use G+ different on my phone and I like what I see!

Anyway...almost a week in and I'm encouraged that Google+ could actually do what FB and email haven't been able to do in my ministry: make communication with my students a little easier (they don't get on FB to "communicate"--it is for entertainment, and many don't read email at all or very frequently!). That remains to be seen...it could just be that it's the shiny new thing, but it looks promising!

Not Alone

It seems, at times, that we are alone. The situations in our lives have played out and we think we know the ending. I'm assuming that's how Mary Magdalene felt as she stood weeping outside the tomb. Alone and disappointed. And then...he was there. Jesus appeared...looking somewhat different than she remembered, or expected. And likewise, the disciples felt abandoned and alone inside their locked doors and self-induced seclusion. And yet, Jesus appeared, twice, to his beloved disciples to remind them that they are not alone. Slowly, at least some of the disciples begin to emerge from their seclusion and they return to their pre-Jesus lives as fishermen.

READ: John 21:1-13

Finally…Simon Peter worked up the courage, either out of confidence, hope, or boredom to go fishing! But even as that first day back on the water drew to a close, they yielded no catch. A long, probably uncomfortable, questioning night that thankfully came to an end with daybreak. They heard a fatherly voice from the shore: “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They didn’t know who it was, but it was a voice that seemed to understand something about them. Then, the voice gave them advice…the advice that they didn’t even know that they needed. The voice told them to put their nets out to the right side of the boat. They were in the right waters, but were approaching it the wrong way. When they obeyed and saw how much fish they caught, the Person behind the voice was revealed. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved knew it first! It was Jesus! And true to form, the impulsive Peter jumped into the water to get to his Lord first of all!

Jesus was there…on the shore all along. I even wonder if he was there the day before in their frustration of a day without a catch. Was he there waiting and hoping that they would notice him? Was he there ready to offer advice, if only they would ask? And then, that second morning, he spoke, only they didn’t know it was him. It was after they obeyed his voice, and saw that it was trustworthy, did they see that he was actually there all along.

Are there times when you are discouraged? Do you think that you’re fishing in the right waters, but things aren’t yielding the result that you’re expecting, that you’re praying for, that you know should happen? Is it possible that Jesus is there, all along?

Mission Accomplished!

In the last several years, we have started making a “time capsule” of sorts in the “mascot” of our mission trips, Al Buho (a.k.a. our plastic owl decoy that is a coveted White Elephant gift at our Christmas parties). This year our note from our trip to the Dominican Republic sums it up well:

Mission Field: Anywhere from Kansas to the DR

Mission: To Be the Hands and Feet of God, Serving His People

We assembled at Wichita airport, packed and ready to begin our journey. Each of us had our own concerns, excitements, expectations, but only one goal—to let God’s will be done. For most of the team, the language barrier was a huge challenge we’ve overcome. Though we were plagued with sickness and injury, we never lost sight of our mission. We taught lessons in schools, sang songs, did crafts, played with the kids, loved the kids, visited people in their homes, lead youth group, were a part of church services, and shared God’s love with all whom we met. It didn’t matter what happened before or after, we gave our all to put a smile on every face we came across. We had come to be a blessing, but in return, have been blessed by leaps and bounds. As individuals, we’ve grown in our own different ways. As a team, we have grown to become a family, striving for excellence in all that we do. Our mission in the mission field has been completed, but our mission for God never ends. Armed with our own stories, as testimonies of God’s goodness, we are ready to further God’s kingdom, by being His hands and feet, wherever we go from here.

Our mission trip reminded us of the power of God at work in the world around us…not that we were bringing God’s power…the Holy Spirit had already done that, but we became aware of the work that is being done in a part of the world far from us, in many ways. We experienced significant ministry within our group, as one of our members was hospitalized with Dengue Fever. We witnessed God’s healing in his life as he was released in time to travel home with us, and we experienced the power of prayer, as we kept vigil for him during a particularly dangerous time for him. And we came away with a reminder that God calls us to be in mission wherever we are. Thanks be to God...and mission accomplished!

Campus Ministry Blog-a-thon

My friend, Guy Chmieleski, the campus pastor at Belmont in Nashville, is hosting a blog-a-thon at his blog, faithoncampus.com. He has a series of posts from various people related to campus ministry from around the nation that he is posting between today and Thursday, June 9. He even asked me to write one of the articles. The series is called "Soul Care for the College Pastor" and has a great line up. Read the articles, chime in and pass them on. Hope to see you there!

Imagine No Malaria

I was listening to NPR yesterday and heard a snippet from a story that they were doing about polio and how it is nearly eradicated. Now, don’t forget “nearly eradicated” fits pretty well along the lines that “close is only good in horseshoes and hand-grenades.” Nearly eradicated means that the world is not done yet with the disease and until every case is gone, the disease still rages. I’m thankful that polio will “soon” be eradicated, but I soberly realize that there are many other preventable diseases that are also on our list. Take malaria for example.

The website for Imagine No Malaria puts it this way

This is a Fight We Must Win, Because…

…every 45 seconds, a child in Africa dies of malaria.

…malaria claims more than 1 million lives each year.

…infants, children and pregnant women are at greatest risk.

…90 percent of malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

And…did I mention that Malaria can be eradicated and thus, is preventable? I am so proud that the United Methodist Church has joined with other organizations and people who are working to eliminate malaria by 2015. Something that has caught my eye is the Imagine No Malaria initiative and the House Party idea. They suggest having a get-together that is aimed at educating people in our circle of friends about malaria and giving them an opportunity to donate toward the cause of education, prevention and treatment of malaria. This is a great opportunity for Campus Ministries or Sunday School classes to be involved with! There are lots of ideas, resources, and other help on the www.imaginenomalaria.org/houseparty website. I’m going to talk to some students soon and see how we can participate. I hope that you’ll join me.

When Normal is Exhilirating

I wrote this yesterday about my day. I've been thinking a lot about recognizing God's presence in the midst of life, rather than seeing God's presence after the fact. Yesterday was a good day.

There are many days in ministry that are difficult: institutions are cumbersome, resistance is inevitable, and people are messy. And there are days when ministry is exhilarating: systems work well, creativity is abundant and people use their gifts to God’s glory. Today has been one of the later. It is exciting to watch the college students with whom I’ve been blessed to work discover and live out their faith. Here is a snippet from my day:

• I woke up feeling rather cranky. In fact, I said out loud (to myself) before I left my house: “Ashlee, why are you so grumpy? Get over whatever your problem is.” (I hope that others have similar habits of talking to themselves. I don’t usually say things out loud to myself, but I was in a foul mood this morning for absolutely no good reason.)
• I got an email first thing this morning from a student who was so excited to tell me some things that God had been doing in her life that she wanted to meet with me. I sought her out this morning soon after I got in my office. She shared with me some experiences that she and some other students had over the weekend in worship and prayer together. She spoke about some things that I've prayed about over the last several years for my campus and I began to see in her testimony of God’s faithfulness in answering prayer. She’s facilitating a prayer forum online for our campus and I’m excited to see where it goes.
• I actually got some work done in my office! Go figure!
• I went to our monthly “Family Meeting” for Discipleship and continue to be blown away by the gifts that my students have. I felt absolutely irrelevant and it was wonderful! Oh sure, I've spent the time with them and they all know what their jobs are. God has matured them in ways that they are powerful leaders and it was incredibly freeing to see the maturity that was exhibited in this group of 13 leaders to the team of 40 others. A visiting religious studies fellow who is in his second year even commented on the maturity that he had witnessed in one of the students in the year and a half that he has been here.

And that was all before noon! The rest of the day, I went to meetings, met with students, and answered emails and my work seemed more connected to God’s mission in the world than usual. It’s easy, especially this time of year, for us to get focused on challenges, problems, and messes that we have to clean up. But let’s not forget that when our work is focused on the Kingdom of God, even our challenges have a new meaning. Today was a day when the veil was thin...when I saw the Kingdom of God in front of my very eyes. The reason it was so notable for me was because while I'm good at seeing God's presence in the "big" days/moments/experiences, it's much harder in the "normal" days. (I wrote about this at the beginning of January.) Thankfully, I think that today was one of those "best days" that I was hoping for more of! Our lives as Christians include many "big" days, but mostly they're just "normal" days when we learn to tune our hearts and minds to God's voice. I can't believe it, but today I'm thankful for "normal."