YEC!

I was looking forward to YEC all week during Spring Break. I have never actually gone to YEC, but I know that God has always done huge things at this conference. I was psyched to finally be involved and be refreshed in Him. Most people know that one of my favorite places to eat is Buffalo Wild Wings, so before heading to help out, a couple of friends and I went to BWW to enjoy those delicious wings.

We got there pretty early to "finish setting up", which really means we just hung out until it was time for doors to open. Doors opened and people flooded in. I was on the "greeting team", so I welcomed the kids as they came in the door. It was a lot of fun, primarily because there was a lot of my friends around me doing the same thing. After the first session started, we went downstairs to set up a mission project area called Change This World. They made a presentation that absolutely broke my heart. One of the startling stats they mentioned is that every 3 seconds, a child dies from starvation. What is so sad about this is that starvation is a preventable disease. "The world produces enough food to feed every human being 2700 calories per day!" Over 1 billion people in the world are undernourished, and change this world is doing something about it.

Change this world schedules events for schools, churches, and individuals who want to help. The school/church raises 12,000 dollars to package 50,000 meals. These meals are then distributed all over the world, including Haiti! 12,000 sounds like a lot of money, but it doesn't require just cold donations. They have a store where you can buy t-shirts, and all of the money that purchased that t-shirt goes to your event. You need at least 150 volunteers on event day, so if all of the volunteers bought a shirt, you've already raised $3,000!

We helped set up the event because several groups throughout the weekend were going to be packaging 50,000 meals. The meals include rice, soy, a dried veggie blend, and chicken flavored vitamin and mineral powder. Once the family receives the meal, they just add boiling water and voila, there is a balanced meal that can save someone's life.

I've always had a heart for the poor, but I really haven't known how to tangibly help. I know several high school students who feel the same way, and Change This World is such a great example to show that you can help. You don't always have to go, sometimes you can package meals.

This shirt from Change This World helps pack 50 meals!

After we finished set-up, and packaged a few meals ourselves, we ate lunch and got ready for the second session. I greeted once again, and this time around, I think I did even better than the first. The night session usually has more people, so we decided to have a little fun with them. We decided to be manikin's then once the group got inside the door we would jump out at them and yell "Welcome to YEC!" I sound like a total dork, but it was A LOT of fun! I was really excited about getting to actually watch the second session. Everyone that saw the first session said it was incredible, so I was excited to see God move this time around. The speaker was Afshin Ziafat. He is a former Muslim, who was disowned from his family for preaching the gospel. He really spoke to students about his experience, and how it paid off for him follow Christ. When we follow Christ, we have to give up a lot, but we gain so much more! It was a fantastic sermon, and when the time came, a bunch of students accepted Christ, and stood up for what they believed in. It reminded me to keep the faith no matter what adversity may come my way, whether it be unbelieving friends, rotten students, or personal attacks on my ministry.

A bunch of friends at the Youth Evangelism Conference
L to R: Patrick, Michael, me, Molly, Adam, Justin, Miranda, Lindsay

That night, the Tennessee Baptist Convention was so wonderful and allowed to stay in a hotel within walking distance of the convention center. I was staying with my friend Krystyne, but I was determined to get some Mike's Ice Cream before going back to Haiti. My favorite flavor is birthday cake! They close at midnight, and it was getting awfully close to that hour, so we literally RAN part of the way. If you know me at all, you probably know that I'm not much of a runner. That night I totally was. I was leading the pack and running my heart out to get to that wonderful birthday cake milkshake. We got there at 11:55 and asked the workers if it was any trouble for us to come in and order. They welcomed us with open arms and I got that delicious dessert I had been wanting.

After gulping my milkshake, we headed to another hotel to visit some friends from Parsons, Tennessee. We are all friends from Super Summer Camp. I never get to see any of those people (probably because I live a plane ride away), so I was extremely excited to visit with them and see how God was blessing them. We stayed for a little while, but after two noise complaints, we decided to jet. We went back to our hotel and all hung out for another 30 minutes or so. We were all zonked, but it's not often that we get to see each other for extended periods of time, so it was worth the tiredness.

A group of us with the Super Summer sign
L to R: Jande, Jamie, Maci, Adam, Jared, Adam, me

Saturday morning we got up early and got ready for another full day. The speaker this time around was Derwin Gray. Derwin used to play professional football, but gave up that life to pursue Christ, and is now a preacher. He is a very emotional speaker, and really affected many of the students with his sermon. He also spoke on giving up everything to pursue Christ. I really related to both speaker's messages and was convicted once again that I need to give up EVERYTHING and pursue Christ with all that I have.

We ate lunch. I greeted again. I definitely think I should persue greeting. Wal-mart won't know what him 'em when I step in the spot! It was a beautiful day outside so we layed around outside and talked with strangers. I really enjoyed my time just relaxing and enjoying the weather. After all the sessions were finished and we packed up what we could, the TBC was gracious enough to take us to Pie in the Sky pizzeria. I really enjoyed the greasy mess of pizza and the fellowship with all of the workers.

After eating we headed out to laser quest for a fun night. I am TERRIBLE, and I mean TERRIBLE. But I still had a wonderful time. We arranged a "girls alliance" and we tried to dominate. We failed. We were all terrible every time. But that's half of the fun.

I said my almost tearful goodbye to the friends I love so dearly and headed home to back for my last round in Haiti. I was eager to get back, but I haven't had such a hard time saying good-bye as I did this time.