I spent the better part of last week in Cincinnati, Ohio at a missions conference. The World Missions Summit is a massive collaboration between the Assemblies of God World Missions and Chi Alpha. The first one was three years ago in Louisville, Kentucky.
The main slogan that you hear at The World Missions Summit (TWMS) is "give a year and pray about a lifetime." As students from all over the country come and meet and listen to AG missionaries from all over the world, they are left with the challenge to give a year to mission and to pray about a lifetime. TWMS 1 had about four thousand people at it in Kentucky and around 700 students committed to a year. At the end of the Summit they asked all the missionaries who need help on their mission field to stand. They then posed the question of who would help, and nearly 700 students streamed forward to fill out a card and say they would give a year. Since that time there have been over 200 students that have upheld their commitment. Some will still fulfill their pledge once they are out of school and others have gone but have not been put into the system yet.
This year there were nearly six-thousand people at TWMS 2. The whole conference is centered around giving a year and praying about a lifetime. The slogan this year was "it's up to me." We had many services where different missionaries spoke and we had times of worship. There were also many opportunities for students to visit 'Windows into the World.' The different missionaries from all over the world had 'experience rooms' set up for students to come and see. They weren't just booths and presentations but really felt like experiences in other countries. And it was such a good opportunity to see what is going on other places, the needs there, and how you could be a part of that. It was incredible.
So the last day they gave students the chance to fill out a card and commit to a year and pray about a lifetime. There were over 800 students who said they would give a year. There was another slogan that Chi Alpha used during TWMS and it was 4for(1)more. The premise is that most students spend four years on a campus building friends, influence, and ministry. So they are challenging students to give a year back to the campus they have spent four years on. 4for(1)more. And in the experience where they challenged students with the idea of 4for(1)more there were nearly 200 students that said they would give a year to their Chi Alpha.
All together there were around 1,000 students who said they would give a year and pray about a lifetime. 1,000 students! As the students flowed forth that morning, filled out their cards, and said into the microphone where they wanted to go, I couldn't hold the tears back. There was so much hope and potential sitting in that room and I couldn't help but be greatly moved. 1,000 students!
Also during the conference some of the worship sessions were lead by the Chi Alpha worship team from Carbondale, Illinois. Their ministry is comprised of something like 90% international students. So their worship team represents many many different nations. So as they took the stage to lead worship at TWMS and TWMS 2 their worship team was dressed in their own native clothings. It was such an amazing experience. My favorite song that they have sung at the two conferences is called "We Speak to Nations." I'll leave you with the lyrics to the song. As you read them think about the impact that 1,000 students giving a year and praying about a lifetime will have on our world. And consider how we could reach the world if everyone knew that it's up to them to do something.
"We Speak To Nations"
Hear the sound
The sound of the nations calling
Hear the sound
The sound of the fathers crying
Who will go for us
Who will shout to the corners
Of the earth
That Christ is King
CHORUS
We speak to nations
Be open
We speak to nations
Fall on your knees
We speak to nations
The kingdom is coming near to you
Oh we speak to strongholds
Be broken
Power of darkness
You have to flee
We speak to nations
The kingdom is coming near to you
We speak to you
Be free be free
Hear the sound
The sound of the nations worshipping
Hear the sound
Of sons and daughters singing
We will go for you
We will shout to the corners of the earth
That Christ is King
You can go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPB3BdTF5M8 and watch a video and listen to the song. It's not from our conference, but it's the same song and a really cool video too. Check it out and allow yourself to be challenged!
Until then ......
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