CHIC 2012 is in full swing, today being the first full day of events and activities. Last night was an amazing time at Main Stage (where we go each night for incredible worship, inspirational speakers, and a lot of fun!) We learned some new worship songs with the CHIC band, and last night’s speaker Harvey Carey talked to us about finding God. Some of the youth, counselors, and staff here may have had a relationship with God for a very long time. Some here have no idea who God is or what a relationship with him looks like. Some of us may know God but are wondering where he in this season of life, or perhaps we’ve wandered off ourselves. Wherever we are in our spiritual journey, Carey reminded us that each of us are here for a reason.
There are thousands of youth here this week. Last night walking into Main Stage for the first time was pretty amazing — to see so many people in one place, all of us here to worship God. Carey pointed out that thousands of people also go to the same arena to yell and scream about basketball games, people jumping up and down and hugging complete strangers over a game. But how amazing is it that for this week all of the thousands of people who gather in that arena are gathering in Jesus’ name? We were reminded that wherever two or more gather in God’s name, he is there with us. God was definitely there with us last night.
This morning everyone attended focus groups. We will be attending groups throughout the week with different themes. For my group this morning the theme was Respond. How do we respond to what we learn at CHIC this week? How do we respond to God’s work in the world? How do we respond to injustices in the world? There were several focus groups offered with topics such as evangelism, faith in the locker room, global poverty, mission work, human trafficking, and also a couple of service-oriented options such as rolling bandages for the Congo. Students were invited to respond to what they learned in their focus groups by finishing the statement, “God, I will…” Here are some student responses:
God, I will…
- Bring the gospel to my community by starting up an “ask me about Jesus” email address
- Pray for the bandages and their recipients in the Congo
- Play sports for God and through God, not for the fame, fortune, or fans
- Work for the empowerment of girls and women
- Help to create self-sustaining communities through giving to Covenant World Relief
- Spread awareness of injustices in our own community and work for change
