So here we go:
Day three:
Today was the day things started to change! :) We woke up (hardly) and barely missed breakfast! We took it to our Bible study room, however, we were late so we had to split up :( I think today was the day I happened to sit next to this really nice married couple (AWK.WARD.) and they happened to be from San Jose! They were very spiritually mature (being, like, 8 years older than me or something) and made me feel kind of meh (unintentionally of course!) but in general, it was a very growing experience :) Afterward, we went to the convention center and continued our study of John 1-4. The session really made me think about stewarding what we have, for God. It didn't matter how much we have-or how little we have-we should live by stewardship and not ownership. I really got a glimpse of what it was like to "hold [possessions] with an open hand." A valuable lesson indeed :)
After the morning session, TCF SPRINTED TO OUR DESIGNATED EATING LOCATION and went to the St. Louis Bread Company! Which is actually Panera Bread in disguise but it was good stuff :) (I have never been to Panera either!) Anyway, I had a really hard time choosing (my very first!) seminar and after spending the very long wait for our soup and bread bowls pouring over my tracks and seminars booklet, and I finally decided on "Decision Making and the Will of God"
...
So Solanda and I walked the many many blocks to Millenium center and and sat very close to the front with some other TCF-ers and listened to James Choung speak. Not only is he an amazing speaker, what he had to say was very intriguing and honest. He also authored a great book, "True Life," so check it out :) He sometimes visits Steve too so we're hoping to catch him around South Central :D It was very interesting just to consider how God might play into our everyday decisions and life decisions. Ultimately, though, just because He calls us to do something, it doesn't mean that it's going to be easy. What a simple, but hard, lesson to learn.
After that, Solanda and I hurried back to the America's Center (and got a picture with the Arch on the way :D) to attend "Ethical Dilemmas in the world of Christian Development." It was interesting-though not what we expected. To be honest, I had a hard time understanding what he was saying, partially because we were SUPER TIRED at this point, and also because it was just really heady stuff. But he did speak about what Evangelism meant, the core reason we were at Urbana, and also what poverty really meant. Poverty does not mean financial status. It means broken relationships. Furthermore, you can't help someone until you understand them.
They don't care what you know until they know that you care.After those sessions, I was feeling pretty good about feeling spiritually more intelligent :P or some sort of feeling similar to that. We had dinner and really got to explore Global Connexions a bit.
The evening session, Shane Claireborne, who is a great speaker with great experience, spoke about really loving our neighbors. The evening session concluded with many other speakers and we finally went home.
Our family time was really a blessing to me, I really grew closer to my sisters and learned a lot about God and Godly relationships. We ended up talking until 4 or 5 AM and DUN DUN DUN
Day four:
We overslept!! It was a total disaster, although, in retrospect, totally worth it! Wednesday was a special day because they pushed back Bible study half an hour and then the whole day was a bit different because instead of seminars, we would just be having some quiet time, or time with our fellowships, or whatever we wanted.
So anyway, the session started at 11:00AM and someone called us at 10:45AM. Somehow, we managed to sleep over all 5 of our alarms and miss Bible study! Not only that, when we got to the center, we had no seats saved for us and Ben was very angry at us :( I do not like when people are angry at us. Despite being late, we walked joyfully to the Center because it was SNOWING! Being a typical Californian, falling snow was very exciting for me. The flake were so fat !! :) Anyway, our whole situation put me in a not so good mood for the rest of the day. I was somewhat disappointed in myself just because Tuesday was really a very growing day for me and it seemed as though Urbana was going in a positive direction. Sleeping in on Wednesday morning just didn't feel good at all (although a bit rested. I slept more during midterm season that Urbana!!)
One really cool thing that happened when we were sitting up in the nosebleeds was that that morning, they called for those who would commit their lives to Jesus, and the would get glow sticks. From our seats, we could really see the impact that Urbana had on the lives of these people. It was one of the most joyous feelings in the world, just to see who had just entered the Kingdom, how many more sisters and brothers I now had. :)
Anyway, we didn't eat lunch with TCF that day, we went off to some really good steak place and enjoyed ourselves. However, service was super slow and yet again, we were late to our meeting with TCF. BEN FACE -_______-. Anyway, even then, I think our family group made really significant contributions to the conversation about how to spark revival at USC. In general, I felt pretty good after that.
The day really turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After the meeting, us girls really got to explore Global Connexions and learn about the opportunities we had all over the world. We also went to the bookstore and bought lots of things :)) Tehehe A lot of good books to read. I have yet to read all of them but when I do, I will most definitely post a review! :D
I purchased:
"Becoming the Answer to our Prayers"-Shane Claiborne
"How to Inherit the Earth"-Bessenecker
The books were MAD cheap, less than 5 dollars, some of them. But we split them up and decided to swap throughout this semester.
That night, we had what is called a solidarity meal. It gave us the chance to experience what it was like to not have enough to eat. We always took for granted that we always have enough to have the choice of whether or not we wanted more. This was really a humbling experience. Plus, I met some cool people from Canada! :D
The evening session was especially important for me because Sunder Krishnan spoke that night. His sermon was a powerful take on how prayer should be executed. Pray big and pray bold. The one phrase that really stuck from that night. He spoke about how the way we pray guarantees results, but real prayer is not fundamentally about getting answers. Intercession is God's gift to us, history belongs to the intercessors. Prayer has always been a really big growing point in my own spiritual life just because I grew up in the church not really valuing it. Prayer was also a big reason I joined TCF, because TCF really seemed to emphasize the connection and speaking to God.
Family time was once again, a large blessing :) But we remembered to sleep earlier (but not my much) that night :)
Day Five:
We made it to our last Bible study! Finally, we had finished our inductive study of John 1-4, and it felt good! The morning session was about how we are called to obedience-and not necessarily to success. A really scary thing if you think about it. The problem with us today is that we see problems, but not opportunities. We need to continue to be on fire and learn how to let go and change our ways if they impede the way to the Kingdom. So many important lessons to be learned! Definitely easier said than done.
Afterward, we went to this quaint little cheap restaurant that was surprisingly empty when we got there. We really beat the rush!
My first session on Thursday that I chose to go to was originally called "Birthing Faith Communities in Missions." I got there early and they had asked me to fill out a survey at the end of the session. When the seminar started, it had actually been changed to "Birthing Mission through Kingdom communities." Something quite different, right? But I had to stay because I had that survey to fill out -___-
To be honest, I was incredibly bored. But I did still learn something (praise God) and that was that in order to really reach out and bless people, I had to live among them as Jesus did for us (the general lesson of Urbana '09, but we had some real life examples). Mission doesn't passively occur (he had the strangest analogy, likening it to childbirth...) and we weren't made to do it alone. Anyway, this really solidified my conviction to serve in the freshman dorms next year.
After that seminar, I went to one that was led by an organization that really sparked my interest. OMF international is an organization that works primarily in East Asia. The people I talked to were very kind and the mission of OMF really interested me. Also, one of their leaders is actually part of my home church in the Bay so yes :) perhaps a part of my future plans :D
Anyway, it was called "Six Ways to Reach God's World." The seminar carefully outlined what exactly, what these six ways were. They then asked us to work with others in carefully crafting how we would go about this. I was the only one from TCF :( So I was feeling lonely. But one of the two leaders actually came over and talked to me and it turns out that she's also from the Bay Area so that was really exciting :)
Anyway, I left feeling pretty good about that last seminar.
The evening session was just really, indescribable. The music was great-as it had been all week. The sermons were great. What was really amazing, though, was the partaking of Communion among 16,000 of your brothers and sisters. I really have no other way to describe it, it was one of the most powerful images/events I have ever taken part in. The things I had learned had really hit home at that moment and my heart started to break for those who were hurting around the world. I couldn't stop crying, and neither could those around me. Afterward, worship was tangibly more joyful (if that was even possible) and the love around me, between strangers, was positively electric. We prayed aloud for revival on our campuses and around the world. I felt as though all barriers were lifted. We truly worshiped in the new year, I could feel that 2010 is going to be good :)
On the way home, we sang and praised God. The lobby of our hotel was full of drunk people and this drunk Asian guy was hitting on me. Haha. Anyway, we had good family time, again, and packed up for home.
Day Six:
HOMEBOUND! When I woke up, the majority of our family had already left. I got all my stuff and made my way to the guys' hotel and had breakfast with some of the guys. Then Cauchy and I got on the subway and went to the airport! It was cool to see all of the people who went to Urbana AND were from the Bay Area! Lot of CCIC kids :P Anyway, I started talking to this cool guy about our experiences at Urbana and it felt good to have this close communion with a complete stranger. The flight home, with one stop in Las Vegas, was very sleepy.
The flight attendant gave a shout-out to those who went to Urbana! Very cool.
Anyway, I went home and showered and slept.
A good end to an amazing journey!
Trojans in St. Louis! :)
I hope you all enjoyed reading this :D The details may be slightly inaccurate just because I waited almost a month to post the last half of our trip.
Anyway, I encourage you to all go to Urbana '12 :D
And I'm so excited for what God has in store for this year :) and for TCF!
Coming up:
Second semester, New Year's resolutions, just general happenings in the life of Steff-o.
Today, we're going to the opening of a Teen Center in South Central. We helped out at this particular organization during Frosh Con, and we really hope to become affiliated with their work. Hopefully we'll get to mentor high school students :) I'm so excited!!
It's a big risk, to open such a luxurious, safe space, in such an area, but I have faith that God will do amazing things with this vision.
Haha I remember running into World Impact (the organization ^) at Urbana and the lady was SUPER excited that we were from USC and really had no words, she just hugged us :)
Anyway, time for hw :(
