Out Of The Valley 08

I've been at a youth and young adults conference all weekend, with church. Apart from speeding back and forth from uni and work to get into Adelaide Uni (the conference was held at Scott Theatre), the conference involved listening to various speakers from around Australia and one from America, as they shared their views on the community among young adults and youth within a church. Also, we sung and prayed together - sometimes with more decourum and christian mumbo-jumbo than i would like - and scarfed down our snack bags with relish.

By far the best speaker of the conference was Erwin McManus, an American born in El Salvador, with an amazing gift; somehow he managed to keep the entire room completely captivated as he told us stories from his life and related them back to the bible. It was the kind of sermon that i like listening to; one that's based on reality and experience, one that's funny and emotional and captivating.

Erwin spoke about different types of community, and about fullfilling God's will for each of us. Some others spoke on how best to develop a community and get everyone involved. While i'm a little blurry on all of the specifics, and missed some speakers due to work and uni committments, i did learn lots. I also got lots out of the general vibe of the conference; it's such a 'family' place, and the people are always so friendly. That doesn't mean that some of what was said wasn't confronting, and the night rallies were quite emotional; i'm not one of those church-goers who likes to get teary and thankful, throwing my hands in the air and yelling out 'hallelujah'... so when i get emotional at these kinds of things, i generally keep it to myself. However, despite that, the rallies were good, the speakers were great and the weekend was definately worthwhile. Looking forward to next year - which really says something, as i usually detest these kinds of things!!