Hack4Missions

I’ve somewhat intentionally waited a little over a week to write down my thoughts following Hack4 Missions. It can be easy to write in the emotion of the moment, to ride the high after a week like Urbana, but I wanted to write about what was left after that faded.

Background

I was blessed to have the opportunity to be a Mentor for the first ever (and the second!) Urbana Hack4Missions. This was a 4 day track within the larger conference of plenary sessions, seminars, Bible Studies, groups, etc. It was quite the packed week for students.

The hackathon was structured such that students were able to pick a project they were passionate about and work on it for 3 blocks of 3 hour chunks of time. Hackathons are generally 24–36 hours, so this was an especially adrenaline pumping time. The students did a mind blowing job though — their final presentations were killer.

My job was to roam around, pitch in where necessary, and talk to students who had questions about faith, technology, and ministry. Talking to students was especially precious to me, because it was only a few years ago that I was in their shoes. It was only a few years ago I was college grad who by the grace of God had been given opportunities to do mission work throughout college and now I was making big decisions about my future. This hackathon had left them with many questions, and I could see the distress some had with the new opportunities open to them — what do I do now?

So many there were feeling a pull on their hearts that they couldn’t see their reality allowing.

So I wanted to write down a few things that I found coming out of my mouth to students

1. Rest in God — you don’t have to make a big decision right now. Spend time listening to Him. We’re not asking you to quit your job, or school, or anything and do something radical next week. Maybe He is, but we simply want you to know that you can be in missions if God has called you to it.
2. Think long term — I was at Hack4Missions because of connections God has been putting in place over the past 6 years. You may not have a lightning bolt moment this week, and that’s ok. Refer to #1 above, God may be preparing something that will only be clear when you look back at your Urbana experience. (And now I work at InterVarsity because of connections made at U15 — but that was over a year in the making too!)
3. Most importantly: All work is God’s work — Working at Lockheed, Accenture, Dell, or any other shop does not make your work less valuable than a bible translation programmer, for example. Demolish this false barrier we have between sacred and secular. We all have our jobs to do.

So I guess to sum up, I just want to praise God for what happened. That minds were opened, hearts refreshed, and for the kingdom building work that occurred.

If you’re a student that was there or someone who’s curious about more of the details, I’d love to talk — post a comment, reach out to me, etc.