Most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive. At that time, we turn around and say, yes, this is obviously where I was going all along. That moment for me came about 3 months after arriving in Gainesville, Georgia. I sensed the call but I wanted time to discern and confirm before committing. These first 3 months I was a volunteer.
This all came to pass out of a season of contentment. I had made peace with not having understanding regarding the the disparate pieces of my life and had chosen instead simply to be intentional about the things I did know. I had moments where I knew He was up to something and found myself expectant about what was around the corner. In coming, I saw at last the wisdom in the ways of God and how everything before had prepared me for this season.
Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. Daily routine and the demands of just getting by tend to absorb our waking hours. It is easy to live reactively and passively instead of discovering what we want from ourselves and what we stand for. There is pressure to conform to an abstract ideal and we’re often told in hundreds of little ways to keep climbing and never be satisfied with where we are, who we are and what we’re doing. At Adventures, the heartbeat of what I do is walk with people through the inner work of aligning their lives with what truly matters to them. I primarily do this in two capacities. The first is as the green light adviser.
- Green light activities are those you enjoy and have a natural gifting for.
- Yellow light activities are not fun, but you don’t mind them and they’re part of the job. You are indifferent to them.
- Red light tasks are those that work against the grain of a your natural gifting
Adventures exists to mobilize a generation of radical Christ followers, discipling and training them to establish the Kingdom of God or simply deeply connecting to Jesus and his movement. This extends to its staff and I’m part of the team that is trying to make this an organization that delights in the gifts and dreams of its people and wants to see them fully expressed. The leadership believes people who are primarily engaged in green light activities will be motivated to do good work.
The second capacity is as a life coach. Where green light is related to work and vocation and falls into the category of Talent Management, life coaching is more about member care and providing space for people to reflect on what matters and make different choices. In life coaching we talk about the rest of life.
While those are my primary hats, there is always so much going on at Adventures that all my past experiences and strengths are brought in service of its mission. Since coming here I’ve advised in wealth building, real estate investing and taught on biblical financial principles. I focus on staff, but I also work with pretty much anyone part of the Adventures community including alumni, supporters, CGA, or those in the Fellowship. I function as connector bringing people together to move projects forward. I gave Chinese lessons for a men’s team that just left this week. We had prophecy rooms and inner healing trainings which I then got to pass onto my women’s group in California. Much of what I work with within life coaching has to do with self-care and I bring to bear the counseling training I received as Western Seminary. I never could make sense of the different roles or seasons I’d had, but they’re all valuable as I talk to people about finding their way. Most of my days are filled with meaningful conversations, learning and listening to a person’s life to discern God’s hand.
It’s holy ground and it requires reliance on God to be the one to guide me in this process.
I miss San Francisco. I’d always said I couldn’t imagine what would possess me to ever leave. However, it’s the sense of call, that He is and has been preparing me for this that gives me the strength to persevere. I’ve never worked so hard in my life, but I’ve also never cared so deeply about what I get to do. I’m frequently in awe as I hear about the way God brought them to this point and excited imagining where He’s taking them.
During the time of volunteering God challenged me more in the area of generosity and giving. It’s something my church in California (RealitySF) prays for regularly, that He would increase our generosity. In so doing, I’ve experienced a greater gladness of heart and found myself enjoying the ability to give more to the ministries and people that I believe in. As I look back I also believe that it was to help prepare me for the other part of my job here, which is that the staff of Adventures adopt a missionary lifestyle of support raising.
I read somewhere that missionaries are more afraid of support raising than being martyred. It made me laugh because it’s so true. While I truly believe the Lord called me to this position, I have accepted this under the condition that I support raise. We’re able to keep our costs for our participants down this way.
Adventures fiscal year ends on September 30th and my need by then is $6,316. After that it’ll be $1580/month. That’s only 32 people at $50/month or 16 people at $100/month. Would you please pray and consider what if any role God would have you play as a member of this team? Even if you can’t give financially, I would covet your prayers and want to know if you’d like to receive updates on life and ministry.
Ways to Give:
Credit/Debit/Bank Draft: click “Support Me” and follow the directions to make this online donation. (There is a processing fee with credit cards).
Check: Make checks payable to Adventures in Missions with “CHIANG, TINA” in the memo line. You may include a fundraising card (see below) with your name and address if you want to make a monthly donation.
Mail to: Adventures in Missions
PO Box 742570
Atlanta, GA 30374-2570
Fundraising Card:
