Urbana Recap

I touched down in Detroit late yesterday afternoon, and tomorrow I'll be back at the airport – this time to depart for Lyon, France! Before I leave for France, though, here is a quick day to day recap of highlights from my most fantastic Urbana experience!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Flight was smooth and uneventful. Our airplane was about 50% Urbana-bound folks and 50% really really old people. An interesting combination. Uncle James met us at the metro station when we got off in Downtown St. Louis. After getting checked-in and situated, we went on a little expedition to the Arch. The session was loud, and overwhelming, but the expositor – Calisto Odede, a pentecostal preacher from Nairobi – did a phenomenal job. I learned a lot from sitting under his teaching that night about what it means to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Friday, December 28, 2012

“Wow. Well. Today was CRAAAAAAAZY!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously. Crazy. Kathryn's going on major information OVERLOAD but she's also enjoying living with a CONSTANTLY over-saturated sponge mind!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!” (excerpt from journal entry that day).

The morning Bible study (led by the one and only Sara Chang!) was a rich experience. We all learned a lot about Luke 5:17-26. The text came alive in a new and powerful and completely riveting way. I went to two seminars – Getting Ready to Serve: Top Ten Steps to Effective Cross-Cultural Service, and Spiritual Warfare & Missions. Both were led by wise, well-seasoned missionaries. Each sentence that came out of their mouths were like golden nuggets. Both seminars were packed full. Every minute of both seminars I felt like I was chomping down on some of the richest, juiciest steaks you could ever imagine.

And it just got better. The evening session was phenomenal. We got to hear Chai Ling and David Platt talk. Chai Ling was one of the student leaders of Tiananmen Square. After the military brutally crushed these uprisings, she was on the government's Most Wanted Criminals list. She escaped by hiding in a cargo boat for five days that took her across the ocean. She spoke beautifully, humbly, and powerfully as she recounted just a part of her incredible story. After years and years of suffering and searching, she was led to the Lord. She now campaigns against gendercide in China.

David Platt was also a speaker that night. I won't try to summarize the words he said. Just go watch it. Right now.

Chai Ling tells her story: https://urbana.org/urbana-12/videos

David Platt delivers a message on Luke 9: http://vimeo.com/56508165

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Coolest moment of the day: talking to Chai Ling about how much I admire her, and giving her a copy of my book!!!!! I walked away from that conversation floating in the clouds. That whole day was full of cool things, actually.

Another beautiful moment happened when I was wandering through the droves of the massive exhibit hall. This place is absurd. Over 250 organizations were represented. Each exhibitor would talk to me about what I was interested in doing, and let me know about opportunities I might have in the future with their organization. Except one man. This man, from Mozambique, blessed me in a beautiful way that day. We talked for a while – we didn't really talk business, we just talked life. We talked some in French, some in English. We talked about what God is doing in Africa, about what God is doing in America, about what God is doing throughout the whole world. Finally, he asked if he could pray for me. And pray he did. He prayed for me, for my future, for my walk with the Lord. He thanked God for me, and for the work that God has already done through me and for the work that God has yet to do through me. I walked away from his booth feeling refreshed, renewed, and full of peace.

Saturday night, we did a “Join-In”. Meaning we assembled 32,000 medical kits for caregivers taking care of people in the AIDS ravaged country of Swaziland. It wasn't at all about us and anything great we were doing. It was called a join-in because we were joining a whole big group of many different people from all over the world working to bring gospel healing to hurting people. These kits will eventually make their way into the hands of people who have dedicated their time to loving their people in the name of Jesus. We were all blessed to be a small part of something really big. After spreading two full days talking about change, and spreading the gospel, and the global mission of Christ, it was good to actually participate in something of great Kingdom worth.

Picture from the Join-In:

Sunday, December 30, 2012

There were a lot of powerful, beautiful things that transpired on this day. During the morning session, many people responded to God's invitation, and some 800 people dedicated/re-dedicated their lives to Christ. Ram Sridharan offered the invitation, preaching from the text about the prodigal son. God really used him. You can watch what he said here: https://urbana.org/urbana-12/videos

I attended an EPC World Outreach lunch. I enjoyed hearing about the work that people from the EPC are doing in different places all over the world. I also enjoyed the free, delicious food. I went to two seminars: Women in Incarnational Ministry and Cross Cultural Missions as a Crucible for Spiritual Transformation. Both were excellent. 

That night, there were many heartwrenching, challenging, inspiring stories from heroes of the faith. A common theme: all gave up their lives for Christ in very real ways. And none ever looked back and regretted it, even for a second. By giving up their lives for Christ, they gained their souls. 

At the end of the session, over 4,000 people had committed to serving Christ in long term missions!

Monday, December 31, 2012

This day is all a blur of exhaustion and more exhaustion but through it all, an even deeper sense of excitement and anticipation as the conference and the year came to a close. I enjoyed lunch with the Hillsdale students as well as with the Hillsdale Intervarsity staff worker, a Godly man I respect and admire greatly. 

That night, we celebrated the new year as a community of Christ lovers, welcoming 2013 while lifting up the name of Jesus in Hindi! An unforgettable experience...

Now I'm home. But not for long. My apologies for the unseemly large amount of weak adjectives and adverbs and verbs and sentence structures in general that have plagued this particular post. I've rushed my way through this post due to the large amounts of packing that loom formidably ahead of me. Please do take some time and check out a few of those videos - they are just great! 

À bientôt!

Kathryn