Staff Conference - a full update

Here comes an overdue report about Staff Conference!

It is difficult to report on what happened in five days among twelve hundred people. What I can say though, is that God was with us and there was a definite sense that He was calling us to this unique aspect of our ministry: renewing the campus. Hundreds of staff made commitments to establish relationships with the faculty and administration on their campuses, to pray for revival, and to ourselves be renewed afresh through His Word and His people as we live and work.
--------------------

Photo Slideshow - I've collected some photos that feature some of my designs, as well as show my team at work at the conference.


Time Lapse of Setup - our team spent 2 days setting up for Staff Conference. Here's a glimpse of us building the stage, setting up the lights, sound system and cameras!




--------------------

I was particularly blessed to hear the dozen or so testimonies shared throughout the week. It is exciting to hear about all the diverse and miraculous ways God is at work, bringing thousands of new students AND faculty to be followers of Christ, reaching unreached groups (such as urban commuter colleges or the GLBT community), and bringing reconciliation to campuses where racial incidents have occurred. Praise God that we get to be a part of seeing this happen!

 --------------------
One of several videos 2100 produced and showed at Staff Conference - this one tells the story of how God is working among college athletes in New Hampshire.

University of New Hampshire from InterVarsity-twentyonehundred on Vimeo.

(View other Staff Conference videos and testimonies here)

--------------------

Thank YOU for your prayers over the past several months. Personally it has been quite a journey, taking the lead on the design of this conference, as well as picking up extra work during my supervisor's maternity leave. I have indeed experienced God's grace and provision. Perhaps the most exciting realization was experiencing God in creating the designs for the conference. I was and am profoundly aware of his hand on me, inspiring me and giving me the creativity as well as discipline to complete my work. I know that without God's help I could have never created what I did. What a joy to experience God as Creator in my own work of creating!

--------------------

Here are a few of the banners I designed. There were 16 in total and were placed all throughout the hotel during the conference.






--------------------

I now move into a slower pace after Staff Conference, which I gladly welcome. Please continue to pray for our team as we transition into new projects. There are always so many good ideas and a limited amount of time and resources. Pray that we will have wisdom in deciding how best to use our time to be most effective in resourcing our ministry.

Some photos from SC11

Hi Friends!

For those of you on facebook, here are links to a couple of albums with great photos from Staff Conference. You'll be able to see a lot of my work in the photos, including the stage, banners and signs. The first link shows pictures of my team and I at work as well!

SC11 Photos of twentyonehundred

SC11 Photos of program, speaker, etc.

I'll work on getting these photos onto a more public site for those of you without facebook very soon.

Thanks for all your prayers! Stay tuned for some reflections and thoughts from Staff Conference. :)

SC11 is underway

Hi friends!

Staff Conference started last night. I'm grabbing a few moments this afternoon to give you a quick update. Thanks for all your prayers thus far. The travel and setup went smoothly, although everyone is pretty exhausted already. Please pray for my team as we are stretched thin doing double and triple duty in many aspects of the conference.

This afternoon I'm helping lead a seminar about communication in fund development. I'll be helping train staff on how to do good design in their prayer letters and other communication materials. Pray that it is effective and helpful!

I've been enjoying hearing testimonies of God's work on campuses throughout the country. It's exciting to be a part of this large movement, where the ways that God is renewing the campus is not only significant but broad. Faculty who see their position in the university as a calling to serve God, students who are reaching new communities such as athletes, and staff who are taking risks to engage with administration, are just a few examples of how God is moving. Praise God!


On another note, it has been so exciting seeing all my work up all over the conference! I'm posting a few pictures of the stage that I designed. I'll try to show you other pictures later. :)

Please continue to pray that God's presence is with each and every aspect of this time. Pray for the many details we have to work out each day behind the scenes. Pray that God will speak clearly to us individually and as a movement, encouraging and motivating us to be his 'regents' in the university world.

Staff Conference

Tomorrow I leave for Staff Conference! Some of you didn't realize that I am also going to the conference that I've been spending so much time preparing for!  Tomorrow my team (2100) leaves for St. Louis with a big truck-ful of equipment. We'll spend all day Tuesday setting up, and then the rest of the conference attendees (1,200 of my colleagues, to be exact!) will show up on Wednesday for the beginning of the conference!

I'll have limited access to Internet but I hope to post at least a few times, so please stay tuned for some updates. We will be in need of your prayers during the next several days!

Here's what you can pray for tomorrow through Wednesday:

• safe travel of people and equipment 
• good weather on the road
• smooth and timely set up of all the equipment and visual elements (including a bunch of the stuff I designed!)
• God's grace in the last minute preparations
• health for all the staff (I came down with a bad stomach flu a few days ago. Thankfully it came before and not during the conference!) 

oh, and Happy New Year!