"What Story Will You Tell?"
This conference was not about comfort. And it's wasn't supposed to be. It's supposed to be challenging; spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically (for me at least... guys the high for Thursday is 38ยบ and I made the mistake of only bringing a rain jacket!).
The goal of this conference was to gather Christians (non-Christians are invited) all over the world from different Intervarsity and International Fellowship Evangelical Student (IFES) groups to learn about missional work and take time out of our vacations to figure out where God is leading us as individuals.
I really enjoyed the fact that there are so many people from different cultures and backgrounds. Other than Bible studies, morning sessions, and evening sessions, we had the option to attend seminars and lounges (smaller groups of people that have something in common). The staff did a fantastic job of making sure traffic inside the convention center flowed smoothly without major problems. We got a chance to hear talks from people like Francis Chan, David Platt and other ministry workers from around the world.
During the last morning session, we got to experience how native/indigenous peoples of the pacific islands worship. It's cool to see that some aspects are very similar to how traditional black churches worship. The music was heartfelt, lively, and gave individuals a chance to pour out their hearts to God in a way that some of us aren't used to. I absolutely loved it. In fact, it makes me want to experience more of that kind of worship.
Despite being cold, many of the hotels are pretty close to the convention center. One of the hotels is very close to the Arch. Downtown St. Louis has a lot of one way streets and buildings that remind me of downtown Cleveland and Chicago. It makes me want to go back and explore. On a much warmer day, of course.
I've talked about what I liked but, here's what didn't make me "fan of it" list. The small group Bible studies were not in fact small. My group easily had around 200+ people each day. And while we did have opportunities to discuss the topic with our neighbors (3-5 people), I still prefer the closeness and consistency of meeting with a group of no more than 10 people every session. Another dislike is that we didn't have very much downtime or personal reflection time. Introverts, like me, need time to think and decompress uninterrupted for much longer than 30 minutes.
Two words for how Urbana 15 celebrated the coming of the New Year: Infectious Worship. The dome was filled with singing, dancing, and celebration. Celebration for the Almighty God that we serve. Celebrating the 681 attendees that decided to give their lives to Christ during the conference. And celebrating the coming of the new year. What a perfect time to sing, "Yes Lord".
How could anyone not be excited after experiencing something like that??
One of the things that I believe that God showed me was that missional work is not exclusively "front-line work", or the more extroverted route. I was reminded again and again that God uses the people who work in the background just as much as he uses the speakers, the teachers and the missionaries. For every called missionary, ministry leader, teacher, speaker, there's a person... a team of individuals that are called to use their skills to help things flow smoothly.
Every individual has a story. We tell it to each other verbally and non-verbally. God has a story, too. As individuals who have decided to follow Jesus and accept him as Lord and Savior, it's our job to tell the world the greatest love story there ever was. As Christians, we need to invite God into the good parts of our stories and the rough, tension parts.
People in other countries have also made the commitment to follow Jesus and experience severe punishment as a result. Their voices aren't as loud and sometimes go untold to the world. As Christians, our job is to pray, help and share their story.
"What Story Will You Tell?"
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