Sometimes in the midst of chaos there occurs a moment of clarity when the big picture comes into focus. Such a moment happened to Adam Leong in his junior year at Washington University in St. Louis.
Adam was a leader in the InterVarsity chapter and had been invited to consider a staff internship with InterVarsity after graduation. As he considered his decision he faced some resistance from his family. Then on Easter morning the campus was shocked by the sudden death of a freshman student.
Into Focus
Adam spent the whole day counseling and praying with students and wondering what else he could do. “In a moment of clarity I heard God say to me, ‘This is what I want you to do. I want you to serve college students. This is what I’ve called you into.’”
After graduation Adam was assigned to the University of Missouri in Columbia, becoming InterVarsity’s first undergraduate staff on the Mizzou campus in about 20 years. The campus is well-served by almost three dozen different ministries. But there are still groups of students on campus who need to hear the gospel.
“My mentality is to say, ‘Where is the gospel not; let’s go there,’” he said. Adam has planted an Asian Christian Fellowship chapter and is now developing a Black Campus Ministries chapter.
McEvangelism
His experience with InterVarsity has stirred up Adam’s interest in evangelism. “Evangelism is at the core of who Jesus is,” he said. “Through InterVarsity I realized God’s heart is for everyone to know Him.” Adam enjoys meeting with students in fast food restaurants and sharing the gospel with them.
Being a Christian student on a secular campus, surrounded by non-Christian friends, is not easy. Adam notes that Christian students look at the weekend in a totally different way than their non-Christian friends.
“There’s this tension,” he said. “The Christian student feels like, ‘I want to be in their world because I want to connect with them, but this makes me so uncomfortable and what they’re doing breaks my heart.’ They don’t enjoy holding their friends hair back so they can puke into the toilet because they had too much to drink. That’s not fun for them; but at the same time they know that they need to be there.”
Ready for More
Adam is glad to have students who are willing to share the gospel with their fellow students. But campus ministry is so much more than that. Sometimes the bigger picture of campus ministry comes into focus for only one student a year. But this year is different.
“Seeing six to eight students catch the vision, identify themselves with Asian Christian Fellowship, embrace the mission fully, and make a commitment that they were going to pursue it together is memorable,” he said. “When that happens, I can see the light go on. Then I believe God is going to do big things.”
