Mid-Atlantic Impact Leadership Institute - Falls Church, Virginia
Over this last weekend I had the amazing opportunity of serving in Falls Church, Virginia at the Impact Movement’s Mid-Atlantic Leadership Institute. Here’s some of the highlights from the weekend!
Bigger Than One Campus
Personally, I believe that one beautiful aspect of The Impact Movement is the ability to fellowship with students from all around the states. Therefore, when local students from UMass Amherst and Westfield State University come alongside students from Howard University, West Chester University, Ball State University, and East Carolina University, I couldn’t help but feel the joy of the Lord knowing that God is doing something way bigger than any one campus or student group.
Attached is a group picture for the Mid-Atlantic Leadership Institute at Howard University in Washington DC.
Good News For Cameron
In addition to fellowship, another major highlight during the retreat was sharing our faith with students at Howard University; and with that I’ll share about an encounter I had with an individual named Cameron.
While walking around Howard’s campus, me and an Impact student met an individual named Cameron; and to our surprise Cameron wasn’t actually a student at Howard, but instead was working in a food truck for the football game. Thus, learning about his situation, we mentioned how we didn’t want to take up his time and how we were simply going around the campus and sharing the Gospel.
“What’s the Gospel?” Cameron responded
(And in that moment I think a realization hit me. I’ve been to a country where near 99% of the nation has probably never heard the Gospel before; And to another country where near all of the country has at least heard the idea before. Yet, when Cameron repeated how he’d never heard of the Gospel, I was hit with the reality that there’s still a lot of work to do at home in the US)
Nonetheless, after presenting us with a powder keg of Gospel curiosity, Cameron humbly listened as we answered his question using a resource called The Passage. Through figures and Bible verses, I watched as Cameron graciously received the greatest new information about Jesus Christ and God’s love for him. And at the end of our conversation Cameron even asked for us to send him The Passage so he could read it over again.
Then during the end of our conversation we shared with Cameron a prayer on how he could start a relationship with Jesus, how he could pray the prayer at anytime, and that God must truly care about him, because God brought two people all the way from Massachusetts and East Carolina to remind him that he was loved! Wow.
So, with all of that being said, whether or not Cameron surrendered his heart to God at that moment is still unclear. Yet, I thank the Lord on high that the results are in his hands, and not mine! I have faith that a seed was planted in Cameron’s heart, and I trust that God is faithful to tend to it.
Learning to Lead
Lastly, one of the final things that I will mention about this weekend was the significance of this being my first ever Impact retreat as a staff member. Being fresh out of college, I sometimes experience moments of imposter syndrome or doubt in my ability or experience, yet with grace and guidance the tenured staff repeatedly remind me of my significance and worth, and with all that being said I’m slowly embracing the process one day at a time! So, as much as these news letters are for you, I’m excited to look back at this retreat and remember the places where God had me (especially considering the conflict that arose at the airport on the way home, but that’s a story for another day!).
Attached is a picture of me leading a workshop at the leadership institute.
My Prayer Requests
1. Pray for Cameron, and that the Lord may continue to work in his heart.
2. Pray for Howard University and the relaunch of The Impact Movement on campus.
3. Pray for the students who attended the institute this weekend, and that they may continue to apply their learnings at their designated campuses
4. Pray for continued TRUST and PATIENCE within Ministry Partner Development to be FULLY FUNDED so that I can focus all my attention towards the students on campus at UMass.