The last few weeks have been busy. It was Resurrection time; now, you may be thinking "Resurrection? It’s not Easter time yet." The Resurrection I am talking about is a youth retreat held in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Resurrection helps youth grow closer in their walk with Christ or even start their walk with Christ. At Resurrection there is an awesome speaker, a wonderful band to lead worship, and teenagers opening and closing every session with prayer. For me, though, I got more out of serving at the conference then attending it.
I serve on the Conference Council on Youth Ministries (CCYM). We have been looking forward to Resurrection for months. We made videos to advertise conference youth events. As the CCYM secretary, I am the chair of the communications committee which designed the videos. That is also the committee that designed the CCYM T-shirts. Being on CCYM is a lot more than just Resurrection; we plan Discovery, a retreat for youth who have felt a call to ministry; Assembly, a week of discipleship; Youth in Missions, the mission trip I plan on going on. We do a lot of things, and that comes with a huge amount of responsibility.
I went to the first weekend of Resurrection with my youth group, and I walked away thinking, “What did I get out of this?” This year, the speaker, Reggie Dabbs, really focused in on one group of people: teens who weren’t Christians or teens who were suicidal. I didn’t get much out of it at the moment, but what I learned, I could use to help someone else or it might help me on later in my life. Going back the second weekend I knew I would get more out of serving. I was right, I did.
Standing in the back during the session that was about suicide, I was praying for all those teenagers standing up and for the ones I knew when I saw that they stood up. I later answered people’s questions about Conference activities, CCYM and YSF. I worked the band table, and was able to hang out with the band. I prayed on stage in front of thousands of people, which was nerve wracking when my friend forgot to hand me the microphone. I saw the offering buckets stop because people decided “Yeah, I actually am going to put money in.” Afterwards, when counting the money, it was inspiring to see how much money was raised to do God’s work in this world. I helped with communion and watched nearly five thousand people take the bread and the grape juice, some of them taking it for the first time as a Christian. I walked in to a prayer room and just felt the presence of God in it and read prayers of thanksgiving and of healing.
It was humbling to be a part of Resurrection 2012. I watched as all the youth walked away with a stronger faith and hope that God would carry them through. It was inspiring to see God at work through it all. I know God was at work there, and He is at work everywhere. You just have to look for Him. He was at Resurrection; He is here right now, too. Remember to look for Him, and you will find Him. Where have you seen God today, this week, or this year? I know where I’ve seen Him.
God Bless,
Rachel McCausland
Photos Taken By Rev. Don Thomas
