Urbana So Far...

It's the end of our second full day at Urbana and so far this conference has been very moving and impactful. I am so thankful to be here! I am so thankful for AAIV and my family at Lighthouse and for God providing me with safe travels and the funds to bring me here. Being away from Washington this past term has been really rough and I have felt a lot of loneliness, but God has really shown me, even just in these last couple days, how much I have to be thankful for - especially for these communities. I got to St. Louis a little later than I had hoped, and since my flight was slightly delayed, we didn't really have much time to settle in. We skipped hotel check-in, dropped off our stuff in our room and headed over to the America Center for the first session. The speakers and the seminars so far have been amazing, but I found myself in need of quiet reflection and personal communion with God. There has been so much information presented to me, so many ways that God has been molding my heart, convicting me and opening my eyes, that it hasn't had a chance to really sink in, and leave the imprint that I think God is trying to put on my life. 

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One of the many things that I am thankful for in this conference is the availability of prayer rooms. I went to one today, and was able to reflect and journal a bit about the things that I think God is trying to teach me: The people who are presenting and those who are worshipping and serving have such an incredible sense of confidence in God's mission and the way that they fit into his plan. Before I left home for Urbana, I thought that I had a plan that fell in line with God's mission. I thought that the goals I am striving for, are beneficial for his kingdom - and they still may be, but even this past day and a half, I have learned about how much I need to grow. Not so much growth in the way of gaining knowledge or experience in the field or knowledge of the Bible, but in confidence and faith in Christ. The confidence that I see in the speakers and seminar leaders, of the missionaries and team leaders, is a confidence that their efforts and good intentions are nothing without God. And that their accomplishments do not praise them, but they praise Jesus and his global mission for change. Before this conference, I was hoping that figuring out ways to plug myself into ministries and missions would reflect my devotion to Christ, but God cares more about the condition of our heart, not our worldly deeds or what we think are accomplishments.

One of the verses that was displayed in the prayer room was James 1:5-8, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." This really reminded me to strive to believe and not doubt God's purpose and movement through me, simply as a tool for his glory.

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Tonight there was a presentation from a businessman who has made a decision to partner with World Vision. He said that he had before just been in the business of medical equipment sales, but after one of his friends from World Vision introduced him to the poverty in Swaziland, he was moved by the Holy Spirit to use his position to make a difference for this country. Tonight we helped make over 32,000 caregiver packs to send to caregivers in Swaziland. They contained basic necessities like latex gloves, antibacterial soaps and cotton swabs that they would not have been able to get. For the businessman who came, this was his moment of determining change - a turning point for his life. For me, it was clear reminder to use my gifts and future skills to make a positive impact, whether it is globally or locally.

One of the questions for tonight encouraged us to reflect on the repeating themes in the past 24 hours. One of the main themes that has been repeating is the story about the Great Banquet and the invitation we have to come to the great party that God has invited us to. Something that really stood out to me is my sense of frustration at the people in the story who made up ridiculous excuses to avoid the banquet, and realizing that sometimes I am just like that. That even though God has an amazing and perfect plan for my life and has tried to give me direction, I sometimes find myself unsure or making up excuses. I think God is inviting me to view the world differently by showing me the needs of others and challenging me to have a childlike faith, fully depending on him for direction and my future. I think he is showing me how view others in love and view the world as a field for missions. I feel him encouraging me with the vast amount of opportunities that I have, and that I just need to trust him.

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Thanks Dsak for starting this! I hope our experiences and sharing can encourage you, who is reading this (: Thank you for your prayers! It's freezing here! But God is moving (: And I'm sleepy.. I probably shouldn't have stayed up this late.. Haha goodnight!

Urbana 2012 - Day 1 and 2

It's 7:30am on our first full-day of Urbana! I'm excited for what today will bring. The first couple of days have already been full of the Holy Spirit. We flew out of Seattle early in the morning on the 26th, and God's grace was with us from the get go. Despite all my fears and worries about the travel logistics, the trip over went about as smoothly as it possibly could. I wasn't able to check in online because the online check in said we didn't have seats guaranteed. The group met at the airport around 4am and we were all able to check in without any problems, and we all got seats on the flight! God is good! The timing was just right too, we managed to clear security before things got busy, giving us a bit of downtime at the gate. I knocked out for pretty much the entire flight from Seattle to Chicago, where we had about a 2 hour layover.

In Chicago, we had plenty of time to grab lunch and relax for a bit before our connecting flight. Good thing too, poor Dayna got a bit motion sick on the flight from Seattle. She was feeling a little better by the time we boarded for St. Louis. We also ran into some folks from Wintersburg while we were there! Matt recognized some friends from JEMS Mt. Hermon. Our flight to St. Louis boarded pretty much right on time, I slept for most of this flight too. We got into St. Louis around 3:30 and pretty much as soon as we left the terminal, we saw the Urbana welcome booths. An elderly gentlemen was our guide from the booth to baggage claim and on to the metro. Not nearly as much walking as I had initially anticipated! Which was a God-send. It's cold here! Temperature-wise not too much worse than home, but the wind... man the wind bites you. There's no snow on the ground here (yet) but it's sure cold enough to snow. The metro let us off about 4 blocks from our hotel, a nice easy walk that let us get an idea of what was around food-wise.

We were able to check-in to the hotel without a hitch, and we managed to get both rooms on the 18th floor only a few doors down from each other. The guys' room is actually about 1.5 times bigger than the girls' room, which worked out cause we had 5 of us in here the first night. Leaves plenty of room for me to workout too! =P After we got settled, we decided on Jimmy John's for a quick dinner. Barely a few hour in the city and we already ran into a few people I knew from Mt. Hermon! Got dinner w/ one of my former students, Billy. It's funny how God is using Urbana as a crossroads of sorts, giving me a chance to re-connect with brothers and sisters in the Faith from all over.

After dinner we went back to the hotel, needless to say we were plenty tired. I think the ladies just went to bed (it was about 8pm local time at that point). Jesse, Austin and I went down to the fitness center and worked out for about an hour, Matt and Garrett relaxed and played cards in the room. After showering and washing up for bed, finally got to sleep around 9:30-10.

We slept in til about 9 the next morning, woke up, got ready to go, then went over to the America's Center to register. Once we got everyone registered, we got lunch, half of us got soup from a place called Au Bon Pain, the other half went back for more Jimmy John's. We've found out the majority of eateries in the area are on the pricier side ($$ - $$$$ on yelp). There's almost no fast food places. On the way back from lunch we stopped at a quick mart and picked up some essentials - OJ, pocket tissue packs, and some contact solution for Kristine. When we got back, the lobby was packed with Urbana-ites checking in. Saw lots of familiar faces! UW AAIV and friends from JEMS. I found out that my UW beanie stood out, as I had at least two people ask if I was from Seattle.

After socializing for a bit, we returned to our rooms to rest. I napped until about 4. We met up w/ some folks from AAIV for dinner around 4:45, went to a burger place called Bailey's. It was pretty good! More of a gourmet burger place, definitely fancier than Red Robin. The shakes were amazing, a large shake and you could combine any two of their home-made ice cream flavors. Sooo good! I got brownie crumble and peanut butter. At around 6, Kristine and I met up w/ Susie (Kristine's roommate from UPenn who's staying with us), and walked her from the metro to the hotel to get her settled in. From there we went back to the America's Center to get her registered. By this point, the center was crowded with conference goers. This time around we were running into lotsa folks. We saw Josh and Steven as we were waiting in line. Once Susie was all registered, we made our way to the Edward Jones Dome, finding our seats just as the worship was getting started.

It is exciting to be back here. Worshiping with roughly 16,000 other believers from around the globe is an incredible experience. The image that stands out to me from this night was when we were singing Revelation song, only it was being sung in English, Spanish, French, and Mandarin all at once. Words utterly fail to capture the beauty of that moment - the languages were different, but the praise was the same. Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The first time I came to Urbana, it took me a bit to get comfortable with the worship, as they often worship in songs that reflect the diversity present. This time around, I was just excited to be there. The keynote speaker is Callisto Odede, a pastor from Nairobi, Kenya. I'm excited to see what God will say to us through him.

I could go on and on, but this post is already plenty long! And I wanna sneak in a short nap before we head off to our first morning bible study. Hopefully some of the others will chime in their experiences! Until next time!

PS! Please be praying for health! Between being out in the cold and the early mornings/late nights, staying well may prove to be a challenge.