Gospel for China Conference 2006: Walking with Jesus

2006芝加哥福音大会报名截止日期接近大女儿C（十七岁）因要复习准备一月份的学期课程考试，自己决定留在家里。但我和太太还是鼓励她一起和我们去。经过一个星期的祷告，她最后有感动决定参加。我不得不在会前一周才匆匆为她补报了名。无论会中还是会后，我们和她交谈。她都很兴奋。她说：“感谢神让我参加了这次令我难忘的聚会，感谢神让我明白更多神的心意。”下面是她写的会后心得。
________

Gospel for China Conference 2006: Walking with Jesus

C

There are many things that draw us closer to God; for example, reading the Bible, praying, and doing devotions. Those things are praiseworthy and noble. However, walking with Christ everyday entails us to do more than just actions. We need to draw our strength daily from Him that lives in us. We need to be constantly aware of our Father’s presence. We need to regard the Bible as a source of nourishment – and not just rules and regulations. When my family went to the Gospel for China conference in December 2006, I experienced all those aspects. God taught me to see my relationships in a new angle. God gave me a wonderful support system. God spoke showed me facets of Himself that were previously unknown to me. The conference in Chicago was truly enriching to the soul and to the mind.

The conference greatly improved my relationships with my family, friends and other people. During the conference, there were workshops that dealt with relationship issues with our parents and the opposite gender. The leaders shared their own personal stories, answered questions and gave insightful comments regarding our situations. The stories all emphasized one truth: look to God, for He has the solutions to all our problems. I learned that when our relationship with God is in trouble, all of my other relationships would be in trouble as well. Later on, when we shared in our small groups, I found that I wasn’t alone in my struggles! During the last night, we had the opportunity to talk with our small group leaders and pray together. During that time, I broke down completely. For a couple of months before the conference, I was having an internal struggle with one of my friends. My friend seemed to have everything together – a great family, fantastic marks in school, a great relationship with God, supportive friends – and I was jealous. Not that I would admit that to myself, but I definitely felt inferior and deeply jealous. I resented the fact that God didn’t give me a seemingly perfect life like hers. I could not see it at the time, but it was a major roadblock between my relationship with God. When I shared that with my small group leader Melissa, she reassured me. She explained that it was normal for teenage girls to feel jealousy, but also shared with me her own story of how she battled jealousy. She would get up everyday, look in the mirror and say to herself, “I am a daughter of God; He has made me with a purpose.” She explained that God gave my friend those talents for a reason, but He has also made me with different set of talents that will accomplish a different task for His kingdom. We prayed tearfully about my struggle. Later, God showed up in a big way when He restored my friendship. However, the lesson carries on to my other relationships with my family, friends and other people.

The relationships that were built during those days in Chicago are lasting. Before the conference, I felt a bit of apprehension, as I only knew two other teenagers who were attending the conference. It was even more nerve-wracking when I found out that I missed the introductory night, when people bonded a little bit in their small groups. Being a naturally shy person, I was terrified to walk into the sea of strange faces that morning. However, God knew my insecurities. God provided me with a wonderful, caring small group that I felt comfortable around. He provided me with a wonderful friend, E, who I’ve known for a long time. Over the course of the week, God placed a variety of people in my path. God lead me to meet a couple of amazing, God-seeking girls. We bonded over the week, sharing our struggles and being accountability partners for each other. After the conference, we emailed back and forth, sharing the goodness that God has freely given in our lives. It was a present that I did not expect at all, and I’m so gracious to the almighty God for giving me such amazing new friends on my path to seeking Him. It says in Hebrews 10:24-25 that we should “consider how we may spur one another toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together…let us encourage one another.” And God didn’t fail to make those words true in my life. He placed encouragers in my path, but also moulded me into an encourager for someone else. God established caring, supportive and compassionate relationships in Chicago that would continue to be a wonderful fellowship.

The exploration of who God was drew me closer to the Almighty. The theme for our large group sessions were about the “I AM” statements that Jesus makes in the Gospel of John. We explored “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6), “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11), “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), “I am the true vine” (John 15:1), and “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12) in the sessions. Previous to conference, I had just looked over these “I AM” statements without much thought. I considered them to be entertaining parables about sheep, light and bread. I knew the standard Sunday-school answers regarding these parables. However, during the conference, the speakers made me see these parables in a new light. All these parables suddenly became applicable to real-life situations. I saw that these verses talked about my conflicts with friends and family. The ????ure came alive! They jumped out of the pages and into my heart. John 15:1 challenged me to produce fruit that was close to God’s heart. John 11:25 challenged me to stay close to God in times of difficulty. John 14:6 challenged me to walk with Jesus in order to find true freedom. John 8:12 challenges me to be a light for Jesus. John 6:35 challenges me to seek spiritual food from God. Upon first reading, I would’ve never known that a couple of verses of ????ure contained so much! All these challenges dare me to walk with Jesus and to get to know Him better. Those “I AM” statements opened my eyes to understand more about our glorious and loving God.

God taught me more about relationships, gave me wonderful accountability partners and revealed Himself further to me at the Chicago conference. It was an amazing experience for me – one that I will never forget. God has been so gracious to have arranged all those wonderful experiences for me. He is one great God, and I am truly thankful to Him.

Feb 3, 2007