Hello my dearest friends.
So, last week I went to Messiah College for CIY MOVE. It was fantastic.
Now this whole journal isn't all "religious". I'm a follower of Jesus Christ as most of you know. But it's a relationship all the time not just a sunday morning excursion.
Starting on a good note, I cried all 5 days. Yup. I'm proud of it too because each time I cried was a new release of something that was holding me back with a better relationship with God. I wasn't the only one and it was great to feel and see people supporting each other in their transformations.
*The first night was on Jesus, and it was amazing. I have this great shot I need to post of the cross they put up. It's kind of haunting too. He sacrificed so much for us and He didn't even have to. But anyways, on the first night the speaker spoke of how after people were seperated from God in the beggining but how He still wants to be with us but can't because you cannot mix pure with unpure. God intended us to be intimate with each other and Him, all in harmony. But Jesus helped to get us closer to God without sacrifices and tabernacles.
*On Day two the theme was the Holy Spirit, something I missed and had been ignoring for awhile. The main focus all week was on Acts, which I have now found to be very good. The Holy Spirit does alot such as moves, teaches, reminds, and gives power. We are powerful with God. The Holy Spirit gives us bravery and is evidence that God is with us. Through the Holy spirit 3,000 people in Acts 2:1-4 were saved, in many languages. Amazing, hm? The speaker, Rachel, was powerful. She had such zeal. Oh and there was this video with this girl who was waiting for a phone call to find out which door to go in, but she didn't have patience and got herself lost and didn't trust in Him. Then when she got the chance she picked it up and hung back. I almost screamed at her. Anyways, God created this world so we can go explore it and do things, not sit on the couch and be bored. Sometimes the Holy Spirit leads in odd ways but we have to follow it because its got the big picture. We're the ambassadors of God and if we trust Him we can change the world.
*On wenesday the theme was community. Oh my gosh, it turned the whole place around. You could feel unity the rest of the week. Think of how much powerful any group is with many people. One person can make a great change, but with many great leaps are made. The church should be one heart and one mind no matter the differences. Our greatest thing in common is God, isn't that all that should matter? And as a community, we should give freely. Nothing is really ours, we did not create this world, it's Gods. So ask freely, "Do you need anything?" or "Do you want me to do anything for you?". And also we learned about kingdom workers. The paralyzed who are down and hurting. And then there are the ones ready to work. Those who try to help, who are faithful and ready to go. I'm ready to work, what are you? We also learned that selfishness and things that no one else knows can hurt and kill things through Acts 5. When we hide and when we don't want the best for our community something dies. And thats not exaggeration. Sin earns death, plain and simple and it may not be instant physical death but there is also spiritual death. But we have recieved grace so that we may have another try to get back on our feet and away from sin to bless those around us.
*On thursday We learned about boldness. It's given to us by the Holy Spirit, and doesn't mean being obnoxious. It means doing what you know and feel is right. If you pray for boldness and oppurtunities they will be given, just look. Then the speaker did a doodle of fear vs. faith. That's a great obstacle for many to face today but back then it was worse because for some, if they spoke out they would be killed. In the US we have little or no reason to fear that. He then told the story of Stephen, in Acts 7. Oh my gosh. Go read it. Stephen was bold enough to speak up to the religious leaders when he was on trial for speaking up about Jesus. For this he was stoned to death, but before he died he said he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God for him. Stephen had a standing ovation in heaven for his boldness. WHO DOESNT WANT THAT? And bold doesnt necesarilly mean something that grand either, you could just say "hi, how are ya?" to a stranger and that could possibly affect them for life!
*The last day :[ That was themed Move. We looked into moving where God moves. We asked ourselves how we have grown and what could we do for ministry. I am challenging myself to a. bring my family closer with God and b. work through the fashion industry and be a light for God. We also learned that Jesus is going to ruin our lives. But not in a bad way. He might just totally change our plans and throw us in a place we might not want to be. But we must humble ourselves for that. I would rather have my life ruined in the hands of Jesus than in the hands of the world. That's fer sure. We are the ransomed of the Lord. He paid for us with His blood and I am proud to say I'm covered by his blood. His goals go to the ends of the earth and we are to go to each corner he calls us to. Is it worth it all? Is it worth our lives? As Paul told Timothy in his last days, yes. I truly believe it is. Sacrifice, tell, and love.
"I am His, I want to be like Jesus, I want us to be together like when strangers hold hands in worship, I am ready to move. I am a kingdom worker."
So events at CIY?
I missed the creek, the people, the lunchroom and the energy from worship.
We got to go in the pit and jump around, it was alot of fun.
I remember going and grabing hands next to me and lifting them and soon everyone was connected to another person and lifting them in praise. Pretty amazing stuff.
Growing like flowers every morning with Drew. It's some funny stuff. Just watch out for that Mr. Johnson with his weed b-gone and be resilient!
The Toy Box Gang is SILLY. Darren the monkey makes me lol.
The Alternative (a talent show) was good this year! D:
We met some kids named Jennie, Jenny, Cody and Ricky and learned how to play the hit for hit game. Hooray for being masocistic.
Riding the elevator up and down and meeting some dude from Ohio named Brant that looks like an ex member of Relient K. lol.
Some random dudes harrassing me while I was getting my morning bagel. Sillies.
Heartsupport.com If you have a story or are hurting or want to help give it a visit. Spread the love.
Baht/Raphahouse. Human Trafficing in Cambodia and other third world countries is horrible. Rapha house has saved girls from this terrible crime as young as six. I'm looking forward to running Teens Growing In Faith this year and doing a fundraiser for Rapha house. :]
MOVE Experience. It was fun. There was a man in a gorrila suit with envelopes and when the alarm sounded a bunch of rampant teenagers ran at him. Poor dude. LOL. we played Big Booty but we played it as "Big Daddy" I laughed alot. Me and my friends laura and amanda also made friends with a guy from indiana named Andy. I call him Andiana. haha.
So folks, thats just about it. If any of you got through the whole thing good for you!
If you have any questions lemme know. I'll try my best to answer them as correctly as possible.
God Bless!
Rakka
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