Campfire Stories

Sweet!

Coolest thing happened this week. I have been trying to figure out how to get out to the Youth Specialties conference next month in Atlanta, GA. These conferences are incredible - an entire semester's seminary course on youth ministry is packed into five days. In addition, you are surrounded by five thousand other youth ministers that all remind you through your actions that you are in fact not weird, but youth ministers in general are a different breed of people. And lastly, there is a ton of bands (Caedmon's Call, Jars of Clay, and Bebo Norman this year to name a few) which plain rock. In my limited experiences the youth specialties conference has been one of the greatest catalysts to my ministry.

Attending these conferences in Cali was a piece of cake. For one, I worked at a large church with many volunteers and a large budget - and a tradition of attending. Secondly, one of the three national conferences is ALWAYS in Cali - alternating between north and south every year. However, I am now at a small church - with one volunteer - one tenth the budget - no tradition of going - and no close conference. The biggest budget I could muster up was $250 - and the cost of registration for an individual is $350. And thus a dilemma is faced. I don't have much of an income, and forking up another $500 of personal bling bling would be VERY difficult (impossible?) to swing. So I started beating the bushes - looking for connecions, networking, seeking any kind of help possible. Peak 3 is going out - I tried to hitch a ride, but they're leaving too early. I finally found somewhat of a lead from a church in town. They're going out with several of their church staff, and they found me an extra spot in the hotel room. Sweet!

But check this out - I asked if I could register with them - dropping the registration cost from $350 to $265. I mentioned my tight budget and how it would be helpful. Know how they responded? They responded with my registration confirmation! They paid for my registration - without even being asked. WOW. What an incredible example of BEING the church - supporting a ministry that they have no direct involvement in such a practical way.

How cool would it be if we could shift this paradigm to our daily lives? Jesus always took care of the needs of the individual - whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. He always did so unconditionally. He never said, "Well, I'll heal your sight, but only if you devote your life to me." He looked beyond the sin and shortcomings of the individual to see the person themselves - and He loved them exactly where they had need. He often told those that He healed to keep it a secret. Sometimes the people were so grateful that they were incapable of keeping the secret - they had to tell about how stoked they were about what Jesus had done for them. Other times they said, thanks, see ya later. But that didn't matter - Jesus saw their need and took care of it.

See you in Atlanta!

posted by Devo @ 1:06 PM |