Your Local ASI
Part of the Adventure
Jesse Johnson
08/30/2011
When I loaded my wife and four children into our truck to head west to the ASI MidAmerica spring meeting in Colorado last March, none of us knew what to expect. We’d attended many national ASI conventions over the years—in fact, I grew up attending them with my father—but we’d never attended a regional chapter meeting.
The two-day trip to Denver seemed short compared to the “Big Trip” we took as a family a couple of years ago before settling on a sprawling farm in Missouri. Over six months, we journeyed 27,000 miles in a fifth-wheel through 34 states, visiting many national and state parks and most of our immediate and distant family members. (Anyone who homeschools understands that sort of thing.)
My background is in business and technology, but I also hold degrees in education and religion. At one point I owned a medical imaging company but felt impressed to get more personally involved with the great commission. I sold the company to work with ASI member businesses and ministries that were benefiting the global church. Currently I run a company called netAserve, which provides support services globally for the netAdventist web services platform. Nema, my wife of 20 years, and our children, Alexandria 18, Mckinzie 15, Jaideen 12 and Roman 9 (our only boy), are well accustomed to the inevitable adventures and transitions that result from combining lifework with mission.
Our trip to Denver was another one of those adventures. Imagine my surprise when I was elected president of the ASI Mid-America chapter. I was reluctant to accept. My wife and I went for a walk to talk and pray about it. We’re already so busy with other things God wants us to be doing. But, in retrospect, I’m excited to be leading our union ASI chapter.
The meetings were an incredible blessing to each member of our family. (Roman especially enjoyed the meetings planned for his age group). The speakers not only were studied and intellectually stimulating, but they also communicated unique views of our last-day priorities.
We returned home, energized to continue the outreach work we’re doing in our local community. We’ve been experimenting lately to find out what works. I preach at our local church twice a month, and we’ve started a Pathfinder club. We did a mailing in our local Zip Code and are following up on 84 Bible study requests. We’re even running a gardening seminar and plan to do a few more if this one is successful. Highspeed Internet and a nearby airport allow me to labor actively from home until He comes—any minute now. We’re looking forward to the international ASI convention in Sacramento, but we’re glad to have finally connected with our local ASI community and to have found out what we were missing.
