The prayer Journey is a room we’ve set up for students to have yet another space to Encounter God.  Holly Thomas, one of the folks giving leadership to the prayer journey, had this to say about the Prayer Journey:

Want to experience the conference more fully?   Incorporate what you are learning at Encounter into your time with the Lord.
The Journey allows you to meditate more fully on the theme of the conference:  Encountering Christ the Truth.  It’s called a journey because it is set up in a way that moves you along a path from a garden to the wilderness to the cross and a celebration of what is to come in eternity!  Get away and spend some time with the Lord and be reminded of Christ the Truth!

On the sidebar of this page, I’ve replaced the video that normally sits atop the page with a live feed of a dedicated twitter account where students and staff have been anonymously updating, sharing their experiences from the Prayer Journey. (click the title “The Prayer Journey” if you don’t see that feed)

Pete Selent, one of the local staff here in Greensboro, has helped give leadership to this year’s “Day of Outreach.”  I got a chance to hear from him about the exciting things going on today.  Here’s what he had to say:

The day of outreach has been an integral portion of Encounter in the past, and this year we are excited to combine both acts of compassion toward the Greensboro community and service alongside the local church as part of Encounter Compassion 2009.  Students will be passing out Holiday Care Boxes containing a variety of food items to residents in lower income communities.

We are also partnering with 8 local churches to impact their communities through New Year’s Eve parties for area children, surveys of a community where a church will be planted in the spring, as well as painting the interior of an elementary school that has an ongoing partnership with a local congregation.

Along with each of these projects, our students are equipped to engage those with whom they interact in conversations about spiritual matters.  We are eagerly anticipating how the Lord will reveal Himself as students take steps of faith to share Christ with the Greensboro community.

Pray with us that God would schedule some divine appointments for our students and staff today.  We can’t wait to hear what He planned for today!  Also, pray against head colds.

No matter how much planning we put into a conference like Encounter, God is bound to show in ways we could not have anticipated.  So, wise planning and scheduling includes space for him to do just that.

We plan space in the schedule, and we plan space in the physical layout of the conference.  Our primary physical feature at the conference designed with this in mind is the Global Village.  We put distinct attention into giving students a place to process what God is saying to them.

Make no mistake, we use the space to recruit as well.  We have stations set up around the room for students to have their questions answered about summer projects, going on staff with Campus Crusade, and other opportunities.  But we don’t push the promo angle of the Global Village, we push the social angle.

Students can engage with one another, process with one another, and enjoy hanging out with one another. Tonight there’s an Open Mic Night, and students will be singing, doing slam poetry, and I’m praying God raises up a serious yodeler.  A guy can dream.

When you ask the Art Expression room coordinators for a blurb describing their niche at the conference, don’t be surprised when they get all creative on you.  The following well-done bit explains why there is a room in the conference called “Art Expression.”

We are thrilled to see how God moves in the lives of these students.  The Art Expression room is just one opportunity for God to begin to change the trajectory of a student’s life.

In Campus Crusade for Christ, we’ve gotten a reputation for being up front and honest about recruiting people.  We challenge people to give financially to our ministry, we challenge non-believers to believe, we challenge believers to share their faith, to go on a summer project, and to get plugged in.  It seems that even at conferences like these we are always promoting the next big thing.

We are.

We’ve seen God repeatedly show up and consistently bring fruit out of fruitlessness, faith out of doubt, and knowledge out of ignorance. And we’ve seen it almost exclusively in the context of that next big thing that we are promoting.  At a fall retreat, I will challenge a student to go to winter conference not because I get a cut (I don’t) but because I have seen God move in my own life through a winter conference, and experienced more of who Christ is through a conference.

Have I seen students who didn’t go to that next conference or summer project but still grew in their faith?  Sure.  2 or 3 out of 10 do.  Have I known students to go to a winter conference or summer project and end up not growing? Sure.  1 or 2 out of 10 do.  Additionally, I don’t think we are the only ones to put on quality Christian events for students.  But I do think ours are the best (otherwise I’d work my tail off for another organization).

The bottom line is that when your child comes home from this conference talking about the next one, it’s pretty normal.  And it’s a great sign that they are listening.  Our prayer is never to be underhanded or deceitful in our promotion of events, but following and depending fully on Christ.  We’re not ashamed to recruit to our conferences and events.

So, while your kid is talking to you about summer project, here’s a site that explains more about that.

Barry, one of the staff leaders of the main meeting times here at the conference (and a guy old enough to have a son on staff), stood up before our second meeting and said (to the team putting on the meeting):

“Before the first night, there’s a sense of need for the Lord to show up.  There is temptation after the first night’s meeting goes off without a hitch to start to believe that you can do it on your own.  Let’s continue to trust the Lord”

That’s one of the reasons I love working for this organization.  There’s the wisdom of knowing that even (and especially) when things go well, we’re still totally dependent on God.

Pray with us that not only the staff putting on the meeting, but the students sitting in here, will trust only in Christ.

My life has not always reflected God as the top priority, and I am hoping He not only pulls my heartstrings, but my “life strings” as well. I’ve had a desire to change my life around for quite some time, and I want God to show me what I need to do to ensure that this conference won’t just be a “temporary high” for me.

I got this message a few weeks ago from a student who shows up to the conference today.  We aren’t just signing students up for a few days to hear some speakers and sing some songs, we are giving them room keys, name tags, and a significant chance of God pulling a few “life strings.”  Pray with us for some big things.

The key element in growth is trajectory. The Christian life is more about the destination than the speed at which you get there.

I wrote about this last year, but the issue most at stake at a conference like Encounter is pointing people to Christ.  Not that we mind when God breaks in (a la Saul of Damascus) and wrecks somebody’s life, but in most cases students aren’t going back to their campuses a totally new person.  They are going back to their campuses as the same person, pointed in a better direction.

When I left my first conference, I still struggled with the same stuff, after the conference high wore off.  We are not focusing our attention on overnight change.  We are committed all week long to pointing at Christ; and offering Him as the ultimate destination, prize, and Savior.