Monday, August 13, 2007
rkh (Rachael) Thank-You for Youth Congress
Wow, Youth Congress is over and it all happened so quickly! I am home now, back with my puppy and ready to start classes on Thursday.
Of all of the things I heard and saw at Youth Congress this year my mind sticks to one question: If I were to disappear off the map, would my world notice?
When I think about it, I ask myself am I really making that much of a difference for the Lord where I am? How can I make the most of the rest of the time I have living here? Whose lives will be changed for Christ because I have showed them the love of God?
On the way back home I had three phone calls from people who are lost. My brother had more than that. I think about those people, those souls, and I realize that yes I can make a difference. God has placed me around people who are in deep sin and hurt. They need healing, truth, love, a way to escape from the world we are all trapped in... And I have within my mind and heart the knowledge and the experience that can bring these people hope for eternal life.
But I'll be honest, I woke up on Saturday morning in my hotel room in Charlotte with heaviness and depression weighing down on me. All I could feel was dread about coming back home. I didn't want to leave Youth Congress. I didn't want to leave the music and the people praying and worshipping. I didn't want to leave the incredible preaching and leadership that I heard and saw there. I didn't want to leave my friends both old and new that I had met there. I didn't want to leave the excitement and come back to the real world.
Going to Youth Congress helps me to know that I'm not alone. I'm thankful for every person that helped make Youth Congress what it was. I am overwhelmed with joy to see people excited about God. To be around other people who believe like I do, and dress like I do, and live like I do makes a huge difference in my life.
You may not be able to relate to what I am feeling or saying, but I hope that you appreciate your church, your youth group, your musicians, and everything your church is. Don't take it for granted. Take advantage of every alter call, every prayer meeting, every outreach, everything that you can be involved with in the body of Christ. Someday you may find yourself in a mission field surrounded by people who need what you have. And you may realize then that you need someone who has what you have too.
The church is a precious thing. The people aren't perfect, the services may have controversial things happen, and everything may go wrong in your eyes. But the truth is that being united with other people is what it is all about. And I am thankful to be a part of this United Pentecostal Church. I am thankful that it is bigger than me and my situation. I'm thankful for what I received from God at Youth Congress; it will be a source of inspiration, strength, and hope for me - it will give me exactly what I need to go back to work today, go back to school Thursday, and be a light in a world that knows nothing of what we just experienced.
Thank you for being a part of Youth Congress. It takes everyone of us together to make it happen. Next youth congress I want to bring someone who has never experienced Pentecost with me. I want them to see your lives and the unity among us. I want them to be overwhelmed by the spirit of worship and prayer that you will bring with you. The world needs us, with our imperfections and disagreements, the world needs our hunger for God.
Thank-you for sharing your passion for God with me. It makes a direct difference in my life and indirectly makes a difference in the lives of the lost that I will witness to this year.
Don't forget to pray for home missionaries and foreign missionaries! You make a difference in our lives.
Of all of the things I heard and saw at Youth Congress this year my mind sticks to one question: If I were to disappear off the map, would my world notice?
When I think about it, I ask myself am I really making that much of a difference for the Lord where I am? How can I make the most of the rest of the time I have living here? Whose lives will be changed for Christ because I have showed them the love of God?
On the way back home I had three phone calls from people who are lost. My brother had more than that. I think about those people, those souls, and I realize that yes I can make a difference. God has placed me around people who are in deep sin and hurt. They need healing, truth, love, a way to escape from the world we are all trapped in... And I have within my mind and heart the knowledge and the experience that can bring these people hope for eternal life.
But I'll be honest, I woke up on Saturday morning in my hotel room in Charlotte with heaviness and depression weighing down on me. All I could feel was dread about coming back home. I didn't want to leave Youth Congress. I didn't want to leave the music and the people praying and worshipping. I didn't want to leave the incredible preaching and leadership that I heard and saw there. I didn't want to leave my friends both old and new that I had met there. I didn't want to leave the excitement and come back to the real world.
Going to Youth Congress helps me to know that I'm not alone. I'm thankful for every person that helped make Youth Congress what it was. I am overwhelmed with joy to see people excited about God. To be around other people who believe like I do, and dress like I do, and live like I do makes a huge difference in my life.
You may not be able to relate to what I am feeling or saying, but I hope that you appreciate your church, your youth group, your musicians, and everything your church is. Don't take it for granted. Take advantage of every alter call, every prayer meeting, every outreach, everything that you can be involved with in the body of Christ. Someday you may find yourself in a mission field surrounded by people who need what you have. And you may realize then that you need someone who has what you have too.
The church is a precious thing. The people aren't perfect, the services may have controversial things happen, and everything may go wrong in your eyes. But the truth is that being united with other people is what it is all about. And I am thankful to be a part of this United Pentecostal Church. I am thankful that it is bigger than me and my situation. I'm thankful for what I received from God at Youth Congress; it will be a source of inspiration, strength, and hope for me - it will give me exactly what I need to go back to work today, go back to school Thursday, and be a light in a world that knows nothing of what we just experienced.
Thank you for being a part of Youth Congress. It takes everyone of us together to make it happen. Next youth congress I want to bring someone who has never experienced Pentecost with me. I want them to see your lives and the unity among us. I want them to be overwhelmed by the spirit of worship and prayer that you will bring with you. The world needs us, with our imperfections and disagreements, the world needs our hunger for God.
Thank-you for sharing your passion for God with me. It makes a direct difference in my life and indirectly makes a difference in the lives of the lost that I will witness to this year.
Don't forget to pray for home missionaries and foreign missionaries! You make a difference in our lives.
# posted by Rachael @ 10:25 AM 
