Nazarene Youth Conference- “A World UNbroken”

Not too long ago my church’s youth group traveled to Louisville, Kentucky for the Nazarene Youth Conference event (NYC) that only happens every 4 years. Not only us of course, but actually Nazarene teens from all across the United States, Canada, and even some areas of the world came! I never knew what this event was before I went, but I must say, I’m glad I did go. You only get one chance as a High School student to attend and of course i HAD to jump right on that opportunity!

Once our group of teens decided to take this trip, we had to prepare long and hard for it. Raising the money wasn’t easy at all, but it was certainly worth it in the end. There were so many fundraisers and events to help us reach our goals for this trip. All the people that supported us stood by our side, not only financially, but more importantly, through prayer. I can’t tell you how many times I walked into church and there were people there to help me and say, ” I’ll be praying for you and your trip. May God bless your experience.” I have such a heart warming church family and that is an incredible blessing.

As I was doing these special NYC devotionals in prep for the big event, I kept asking God to prepare my heart for something special and unexpected while I’d be there. When we reached Kentucky after the incredibly long bus rides, I knew that God had a lot in store for this week. I just didn’t know what. Each day and evening we would have a session in the Yum! Center and that was probably one of the biggest highlights out of the entire trip. In the arena, came 6,000+ Nazarene teens: all to gather for one purpose; worship our Lord and Savior. We had absolute amazing worship all week with the band Starfield, and then there were concerts with TobyMac and David Crowder Band!!! Ahhhhmazing! There has never been worship like this before. The Holy Spirit just filled the entire place like you can’t even imagine! It was so fulfilling and breath-taking.

Along with the worship came these awesome speakers. Each speaker talked about a different topic that which tied in to the overall theme of, “A World UNbroken: hope and healing for a shattered world.” The topics included: create, broken, promise, presence, satisfied, mission, and restored. They were all ear-catching speakers and had me, especially, on the edge of my seat the entire time. Laughter, holding hands, cheering, jumping, and tears…when teens come together for the glory of God, you never know what’s going to happen. I am just so honored to have been able to hear and listen to what God had to say to me that week through those speakers. I’ve been touched in a new and unbroken way- so that I may go out and help the broken now. That is an incredible concept!

I now want to share what hurt I felt during this week. Before about three days into the trip, I wasn’t really sure what God sent me there for. I knew that the trip cost a lot of money and that I needed to make the best out of everything, but something was wrong in my faith. I didn’t know what. I continued praying about how God would lead my brokenness to help others and I was hoping He would, but I guess my timing wasn’t right. Like I said, the beginning of the week was rough for me because I didn’t understand what I was there to do. I was already a full believer, did daily devotionals, and prayed…what more could I do? Now, as a Christian, I know that my walk with Christ is a never-ending story and that there is always room for me to grow closer to Him, but my heart was yearning for something more. Something new. Something that I could make my own.

Well, the one day from the week we had a block party. It was our district’s job to give a day full of games, food, fun, and fellowship to the community in Louisville. After we were all set up and the day of activities had begun, I was throwing something away in the trash when I saw I girl sitting down and I said “Hi.” She said hi back but as I was walking away, I turned back around to look at her once more and I noticed a tear drop streaming down her face. I then knew that her, “Hi.” was so much of a happy-hi, as it was I-need-someone-to-talk-to-type-of -hi. I quickly went back over to her and sat beside her on the street corner. I began asking her what was wrong, and she just kept shaking her head in rejection. I told her that I was there FOR her, not to judge her and that she could tell me anything. Well, that opened the doors to a very profound conversation. We discussed a lot about life and how there will be those that hurt us, we just must remember who we are in Christ and stand strong upon His faithful promises. I prayed with the girl and we both knew that this was just the beginning to a whole new friendship

Even though I prayed and waited, God still remained faithful . Of course the worship and sermons of this week were so powerful and excruciating for me, but meeting this girl at the block party is what I knew God wanted me to do. My prayer became tangible through God and I knew He wouldn’t fail me. As a follower of Christ, showing love to others shouldn’t be something that I have to look for a situation to do, it should be as natural as breathing air. It’s very hard though. Throughout the week, I had my up and downs of knowing who I was, and why I was there, but God made it all clear to me through that little girl: I am a child of His and I can be a part of his plan to make the world UNbroken.

I’m telling you…that week right there changed my life. I will never be the same. Let the blessings reign down! NYCya later!