I’m not even really sure how to describe The Summit 2010. Each day has been an adventure and yet totally different. It’s been sweet, exciting, informational, awe-inspiring at times, and God has very definitely been present in everything.

Following the service tonight, I was sitting on the edge of the platform, breathless and trying to sort out my thoughts and emotions about all that has been taking place. A member of the Student Mission Council came and  sat next to me. She was exhausted but content and, like me, trying to find the way to describe it.

“It’s just been so … organic!”

Yes, I suppose that pretty much sums it up.

Tonight we heard from a young man who was a geography bee winner in his native Washington, D.C. that set the stage for his life. Still in High School, he was a student in Australia. As an ESL teacher he has been to Vietnam, Palestine, Kurdistan, Iraq. He just married a cultural anthropologist and they are currently living in the Dominican Republic while she does research and he is teaching in a university. His ability to minister, serve and share his faith wherever his gifts and training take him is a classic example of what we have called the “New Missionary.”

Again, I am the closer each night, and closed out this evening using the Gospel of Luke to challenge us to enter the story. Our morning sessions conclude tomorrow. There is still time and space for you to come.

Chile Update – Thanks to several who wrote me emails or messages 0n Facebook, I am slowly piecing together the whereabouts of friends.To this point it is an all clear in Santiago in terms of physical safety. Some suffered damages, but I know of none of my personal contacts who suffered loss of life or serious injury. A pastor friend in Talca lost home and church, but he and his family survived. To this point I am getting positive reports out of Concepción, yet the situation there continues to be desperate with food, shelter and other necessities in short supply. I’ll probably end the daily updates unless I hear more specific news or news about how we can make a difference.