URBANA.... Where to even start...
After eight hours of driving, we safely made it to our hotel around 4 pm in St. Louis for five thrilling days of the Urbana conference of 2015 (December 27th, 2015)! It was a long fun-filled caravan ride with lovely ladies and gents. Nearing St. Louis we were even able to connect with a random car that was also headed to Urbana with an awkward long stare and then holding up our "Urbana 2k15?" sign.
The Sunday drive was pretty nice and smooth until hitting St. Louis where the rain hit us, which was expected though. The hotel parking was confusing and the check-in line was long filled with others joining together for Urbana (but not as long as it would get later on). We settled into our hotel room and rested in awe of the view our window had of the Mississippi river and the St. Louis arch.
Eventually we motivated ourselves enough to walk through the rain to the convention center in order to register and attend the first plenary session. It was a fun day but was draining and so busy with trying to complete so many various tasks. The first session was amazingly helpful in getting me more excited about what God had for me that week at Urbana. The worship really spoke in itself to show the works God had for us that week at Urbana. Erna Kim Hackett was a wonderful worship lead in her words of already knowing how we felt drained, you can see how God worked through her to liven the energy that evening.
Our God never ceases to surprise us. Patrick Fung showed us how the book of Matthew begins with surprises. The name of four women showing up in the genealogy of Jesus may not surprise us today, but to the Jewish culture back then this would have been a huge surprise. Even bigger surprises are in the background of those women; Tamar was an adulteress, Rahab was a prostitute, Ruth was a moabite/gentile, and the mother of Solomon (Bathsheba) was the woman King David seduced. Why did Matthew choose these four names? To show that the barriers between men and women or gentiles and jews are broken down. Matthew tells us the story of Jesus coming as king and how He was a threat to the authority of the ones in power. It also shows us how Jesus was a refugee and born into a refugee family in little Bethlehem. God does not promise us a risk-free journey, but he does promise us Emmanuel (God with us). The book of Matthew begins and ends with the worship of Jesus, He is no ordinary king but one that is always worthy of our worship. When King Herod died, his power and authority ended and was divided. Death did not limit Jesus' authority and power. So think about what gifts you have to bring to worship our King. This is a thought that really hit home for me, because I'm not the most confident speaker in this world but I am an information systems major who loves learning new technologies. The week at Urbana helped me realize how I could build on that to build on the glory of God in helping to show others all around the world who He is and what He has done for us.
Tom Lin, the Urbana director, welcomed us with engaging the audience in thinking about what our Urbana 2015 chapter will be filled with. God brought us all there, and it started with each of us saying "yes." Being able to let go of our selfish plans is the first step to building in God's story. He introduced the theme of what story we plan to tell in and through our lifetime. Millions cry out wondering if Jesus is here; we are called to tell His story and share His love and bring the light of the Good news. At Urbana, God really meets us and help us build our story in light of Him. We just have to listen, reflect, and DO something. Let's make God's story known among all nations.
Through all the worship, speakers, and drama acts, God made his presence known on that first night. Being just graduated, the questions of "will I let God write my agenda?" and "do I have the courage to let go of my own agenda?" linger. Will my story be towards His bigger story?
The crew in my car :)
That pink elephant at the first gas station we stopped at.
Keep tune for more posts on my Urbana 2015 experience. ♥
P.S. For those who don't know what Urbana is: Urbana is Intervarsity's Student Missions Conference focused on God's global mission. It's one of the largest student missions conference in the world with over 16,000 attendees this year. It is held only every three years, and this year was their 24th conference! (aka. they started in 1946!) Check out more about Urbana on their website www.urbana.org, they also have live-streaming recordings of some of the general sessions available on the site.
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