Becoming Chris Kamalski

Humbled to be one of 240,000 people over the past 63 years who has walked through Urbana's doors.

I’ve spent the last week of 2009 in St. Louis at Urbana ’09 representing CRM (the mission organization I have just gone full-time with as a staff member with NieuCommunities South Africa) as a coach and spiritual director for the 16,000+ university students from around the world who are seriously considering God’s global call of mission in their life.

Suffice to say, I return home to San Jose with an awakened heart, a sharpened mind, wide open eyes to the global generation of university students God is stirring to join His work throughout the people groups of the world, engaging worship + justice together in a beautiful expression of a life poured out for the glory of God. I feel centered, slowed, and dependent again on the person and presence of Christ in my life. I am eager to turn my attention forward to the next few months of preparation and fundraising so that I can return to Pretoria, South Africa with NieuCommunities for the next two years. I am called to step out in faith, to believe that God has called me forward, and to obey what is unfolding in my heart as a result of the Spirit’s internal work.

I am ready.

CRM's booth (Apparently, I've got my intense direction 'face of compassion/anger?' on!), where we coached students unpacking God's call on their hearts. A great honor!

Here are a few unedited scribblings, quotes, and thoughts from the past 12 days of FANTASTIC teaching from gifted communicators around the world. I’ll unpack these in greater depth upon a bit of rest and recovery these next few days.

Urbana ’09 Musings

• “J0y and suffering always walk hand in hand. Joy and bitterness do not mix.” (Patrick Fung)
• “Joseph was trafficked into slavery in Egypt.” (Patrick Fung)
• “We must live to be forgotten.” (Patrick Fung)
• “I need a conversion within my conversion. I want to be born again, again. Preaching Christ and doing justice go hand in hand.” (York Moore)
• “We need to incarnate our attitude from pride to humility (an attitudinal incarnation). Humility means listening to the stories of those trapped within poverty. It means keeping our mouth shut long enough to let the poor speak.” (Oscar Muriu)
• “We need to move from a position of power to an incarnation of powerlessness. The gospel does not depend on human power. We must move to the periphery of power. Jesus moved from the seat of power in heaven to life as a political refugee. Jesus left behind all power.” (Oscar Muriu)
• “Jesus walks from the harmony and unity of heaven to the brokenness and chaotic nature of our world. He left order and entered into chaos. He entered into a dysfunctional culture. (Oscar Muriu)
• “We are often in a hurry. God is not. Our hurry hurts the poor. We don’t know how to listen or be silent. We sacrifice relationships for the task. We need to integrate into communities. For 30 years, Jesus simply lived among His people. (Oscar Muriu)

Californians think Midwestern snow in January is fun!

St. Louis, you were a surprisingly fantastic city to explore!