Jeff Adams

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.

After all this time I am still in awe of how God works. I just got home from the second night of The Summit. It was so totally different in many ways from last night, yet just as powerful and meaningful.

The fact that none of this is being recorded for security reasons is a bit frustrating when it comes to reporting on what is happening. However, the need for this type of sensitivity was underscored tonight as a young couple gave testimony of some wonderful transformation stories that were taking place where they were working in a central Asian country. Their work was so successful, in fact, the entire team they served with was expelled from the country. Now, they are preparing to work in a different (and just as difficult) place with a people who speak a very similar language.

What I can tell you is that we heard from a couple we have supported for years who planted a thriving church in London and are now leading a nine-member team to do the same in Valladolid, Spain. The entire team is in town for training at Avant Ministries headquarters here. What a blessing it was to hear their story and to be able to pray over the entire team tonight. Several of the executives of Avant were also present and prayed with us.

The Student Mission Council asked me to be the “the closer” each night and I have very much enjoyed putting the bow on the package. Our theme is Enter the Story and each night corresponds to one of the four Gospels.

The day sessions begin at 8:30 in the morning. This is a wonderful opportunity to receive training from some of the very special individuals God has brought our way during The Summit.

Some of you continue to ask and pray with me about our contacts in Chile. Santiago suffered immense damage, yet the loss of human life was comparatively limited due to strict building codes and a well-prepared government.

Concepción, the second largest city is a different story. From what I am seeing, the situation is desperate. Access to the area is tremendously difficult. Facebook continues to my best source of information. I did learn today that one of the key leaders of my friends at el CEC in Concepción is known to be OK. There are many other names on my heart that I have not yet heard from. For those of you who understand Spanish, here is a link for direct information from Chile. Click here.

All I can say is thank God! It was truly fascinating to watch God go to work in answer to our prayers, and it was more than we had asked for. For 59 days we have been attempting 24/7 prayer. We have learned much, and today God began answering our prayer.

As you know, we are not able to make recordings or even post the names of the speakers due to the sensitive of their work and locations. Suffice it to say that we were not disappointed in the blessings of this day. Wow! The Lord’s Supper in the gym before the service started was wonderful experience.

Tomorrow night kicks off again at 7:00pm. No day sessions tomorrow; they are Tuesday and Wednesday. You won’t want to miss them either.

On another note, we continue to pray for the people of Chile. I’m still waiting for first work from our contacts in Concepcion, one of the areas hit the hardest. This is the seventh strongest quake ever recorded.

Anyone who follows this blog must know that The Summit begins in the morning. Today, however, has been quite a day. This post will have two distinct parts – Chile and The Summit.

Very early this morning I was finishing getting dressed and ready to head out to teach my mission class in Shepherd School when the news flashed across the TV of a massive earthquake in Chile. The epicenter was near Concepción. I was just there last August. Vivid images flashed through my mind – friends, places, memories. Santiago was affected – airport closed, hospitals down, major highways and bridges ripped apart. At that moment they only had 80 some confirmed deaths. Then, I heard that it ranked 8.8. I stopped in my tracks and grew quiet.

If you know anything about earthquakes, you realize how extremely rare a quake of this magnitude is. As horrible as the Haitian quake was, this is many times more powerful. I don’t expect the same loss of life simply because Chile is a modern country with solid infrastructure and strict construction codes to withstand earthquakes. But 8.8!!!!

When I got done teaching  I sat down at my computer to try and sort things out. By this time the tsunami warnings had been issued. Having just been in both Concepción and Santiago and with many friends there from over the years, my thoughts quite naturally fell to them and their families. Having just been in Argentina last month for a major student mission congress (CIMA2010), over 400 students from Chile participated and I must have met most of them!

Thank God for Facebook! Over the course of the day I heard from a number of my friends, especially from Santiago. To this point, all are well that I have heard from. Some I have not. I still have no word from Concepción. I continue to pray for Chile and ask you to join me.

The other part of the day was a contrast. Most of our special speakers arrived today and this evening we all went to Jack Stack for some great KC BBQ and fellowship. There were 16 of us in a private room and the conversation flowed like water from a fire hydrant. A couple of times I sat back and looked around the room in amazement. Sitting in the same room were men who are working in some of the most challenging situations on earth. The many connections, common friendships and shared vision filled the room with great energy and anticipation. Hearing what God is doing in their respective areas was, as I said in my previous post, like going back to the first century.

It’s going to be a great week.

We often lament that we are living in the age of the Laodicean Church, taken from the seventh letter that Jesus Christ dictates to the seven churches of Asia Minor in Revelation 2-3. Many see these seven letters as being prophetic of seven stages of church history leading up to the Second Coming of Christ. The Lord accused the church in Laodicea with being lukewarm, neither cold nor hot.

Certainly the charge of being lukewarm could be leveled against many churches in the North or West. Looking no further than the church in the United States, there are legitimate concerns – materialism, self-centeredness, superficiality and more.

I fear we are sometimes so ethnocentric and egocentric we fail to notice that the church in many parts of the world is actually in its first century as the Gospel is arriving for the first time. As we have covenanted together to partner with those working with least reached peoples, we have the privilege of catching a glimpse of first century Christianity.

The Summit starts Sunday! The theme is Enter the Story. That’s exactly what we will do as we hear stories of first century Christianity in today’s world from some of the most amazing speakers of whom you have never heard. Remember, this conference cannot be recorded and posted on the web. Be there! And, don’t forget the day sessions.