I Am Going To Go Until I Go

I had the great pleasure of being able to go to something beyond imagination this Christmas break. I was able to attend a conference known as the World Missions Summit. It is a national convention held by Chi Alpha. It only happens once every four years, so this was my only shot at going. It was in Forth Worth Texas this year. Before I get into the details on the event, I want to write a little about how I decided to go.

What Made Me Go?
So way back at the first week of summer, I was at another XA retreat called SICM. This one was a week long and held on the beach front in Nags Head. Well there was this guy in the same beach house as me named Romico. I just met him because he was from Tech. He is one of the only new people that I met there that I've kind of kept in touch with, but I had a huge impact on me going. He kept asking over and over again if we were going to the summit, and every time I said no with little thought. I thought to myself that there was no way I was going to that. Well he kept asking, and I kept rejecting. Later that summer I visited UVA for a weekend, and we drove down to the drive-in theatre that night. I was talking to one guy in the car on the way down that I'm pretty good friends with, and he spoke of the summit. As of about a week ago, he is in Cairo "giving a year." He told me the idea about giving a year started at the summit four years earlier. That is also when I realized it was only every four years. After that, I was pretty sure that I was going.

The Journey There
So getting there is pretty much up on your own. Normally people form crews and then carpool down there together, but I didn't really have a crew. I just signed up, and said I'll figure out the ride thing later. So about three weeks before the summit, I begin looking for a ride...there were none. Luckily VTXA was taking a charter bus and had room for me, so UVAXA staff member, Cathy, hooked me up with them. So I knew a couple of them from SICM, but I ended up not sitting by either of them on the way down. At first I didn't really speak much, but after a couple hours, I got really involved in conversation with some people sitting by me. Unfortunately I have forgotten most of their names, but as it turns out, Techies can be cool too. The ride there went by super quick although I only slept for one hour out of the twenty hour journey. The way back unfortunately took forever, and I didn't really talk at all. I got stuck in the very front row.

THE SUMMIT
There is way too much to write about here, so I will try to focus on a couple different things. First off, Dick Brodgen, spoke the first night and was just as powerful and convicting as I remember from fall retreat last year. "That man could make a piece of toilet paper feel like it needs to go preach the gospel to the nations." Quote of the weekend from a missionary we ate with. On top of our large gatherings with a speaker and worship, we could go to seven out of twenty some sessions to learn more about regions or just certain subjects such as evangelizing or support raising. I'll write about two of them here.

American Dream
This one was focused on the internship with Chi Alpha, CMIT. The presentation was good but not spectacular. It wasn't the best presentation there, but I left feeling the most excited about that one.

Experiencing the Holy Spirit
This one taught about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is something I am kind of familiar with now, but a year ago, I didn't even know it existed. I am very interested in learning more about it. After they taught on it, there was an opportunity to come forward and to be prayed over to receive it. I got prayed over in tongues by a couple different people, and while I didn't receive the baptism (although some of my friends were), my legs were shaking. That was the most powerful session of prayer that I have ever been in. The way I keep describing it is that it was wild.

Meal With a Missionary
So they supplied four meals, each one eaten with a missionary. It ended up being like six of us and a missionary. They told really compelling stories that encouraged everyone. It was great to see that they are normal people just like you and me. This is something that we can do too. There is so much to write about, but I will focus on one of them, Judi. She is probably about fifty years old, a single lady from Alaska. She has done missions in Ukraine and Russia from the time she was thirty. She spoke of how desperately she wanted a husband many a times. That really struck me because that is somewhat of a worry for me. One of my biggest fears is being alone, although GOD has calmed that fear a lot recently because I know I will always have Him and His love. What if I were to go into missions alone, as a single man? Finding a wife out there would be much tougher than here in the states. It's already tough enough here. Just how obedient she is was really encouraging. She is not a young girl anymore and being in Ukraine, she may never find a man, but she still goes. She is showing what it looks like to die to oneself and pick of one's cross. What a wonderful woman of GOD.

"Give a Year. Pray About a Lifetime"
That is a phrase coined by XA. At the end of the summit, they gave us the opportunity to come forward and drop our name in a bucket of a region that we are ready to give a year to. Over 1,000 people committed to giving a year that weekend. This summit WILL change the world. The impact will be far and wide. As I mentioned before, some of my friends that graduated last year have just left or are about to leave to give this next year to GOD. The kingdom is growing because of what GOD is doing through Chi Alpha. That is an amazing, amazing thing!

Night Time Talks
On top of all the sessions and speakers, one of the most prosperous times for me were the talks we had at night. There were about ten of us that gathered around our staff member, Josh Moran, to hear his testimony about the Holy Spirit. That is how it began, but it became much more than that. It was a great time to listen, ask questions, and learn. We went through several different topics. Certain aspects of our conversation hit me deep and affirmed some of the things GOD has been speaking to me. I'll blog more about that at a later time. On top of the theological talk, it was also just a great time to hang out with and talk with people that I don't normally get to do that with. I knew most of them, although I did meet a couple new people, but I don't see them very much. I will remember those nights for a loooooong time.

There is much more to write about, but it would be impossible to write about all my experiences. I would have to publish a book on it to try to describe how awesome that week was. "I am going to go until I go." This was a quote that really impacted me. It means that I will preach the gospel every moment of my life until I die. Go be the light in a world of darkness.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. ~Matthew 28:19-20