Some people don’t know what GYC stands for, and I was confused about the acronym myself for a little. It stands for Generation of Youth for Christ, and it is a youth based ministry of Seventh Day Adventists who are devoted “to serious Bible study, intense prayer, uncompromising lifestyle, and boldness in sharing Christ with others.” I had watched them on television, and had always wondered how it would feel to actually attend such a convention. This year, I attended for my first time.
Growing up as a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) was not an easy joy ride. As a child, you don’t always understand certain restrictions. Opening up to the world during your teenage years in an environment with literally zero SDA’s was challenging to say that the least because that is when you most yearn for a sense of belonging. While I had a strong family to lean on, I can’t say I had many friends… which extended on to my early adulthood. It was also challenging when it came to avoiding official examinations on Saturday at the educational institutions I attended. I attended undergraduate college and some of my post-graduate school in a country that is not founded on religious freedom like the USA is, so explaining that I am an SDA to my professors and academic deans was something always to be anxious about. It was not always a given that they would respect my religious beliefs regarding being absent on exams on Saturday, but God was with me throughout the whole process. By His grace, adversity in that sense created strength. To make a long story short, I used to watch GYC conferences on 3ABN via satellite and wonder how it would feel to be among SO many young people who all believed the same way I did. In December of 2011, I finally got to experience it.
To be among, walk between, and see thousands of sincere Seventh Day Adventists, all literally under one roof was amazing. Some people are used to it, but to me, it was an invigorating special treat. But my happiness wasn’t confined to just that feeling, I got to attend lectures that answered questions that I had been pondering in my heart for the past 5-6 years, especially related to the God Head. All the speakers at GYC 2011, and in previous years, have been touched with God’s grace, but being human, I do have a favorite, and he is David Asscherick. Instead of roaming around each day with other amazing speakers I admire, I stuck to all of the modules he co-conducted with Jeffrey Rosario about the God Head and particularly the Holy Spirit. That will be a blog on it’s own soon, but the point is that it was such a privilege to be in that seminar and to see so many other people who were equally interested and studying the Bible together.
I also got to attend another lecture on church leadership headed by Jay Gallimore. This session brought to my attention the complexity of the church system and how necessary it is for a church to work with and pray for their pastor, as well as put individual effort and care in whatever their hands find to do. I was impressed with the organization and care that is involved in ‘behind the scenes’ issues that I often simplified in my mind, prior to that lecture. There was a long period of eye-opening questions and answers. A sense of deep admiration then filled me for pastors and people actively involved in church services and I was inspired to become more involved myself.
This is all to say the least of the major worship services in which everyone registered for GYC got to attend simultaneously for. Kameron DeVasher was filled with the Holy Spirit as he gave sermons that tied together beautifully on the theme of perfecting our character’s here on earth in collaboration with the Holy Spirit, so that we may be filled with it. The whole theme was to unite in prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The cherry on top was how I spent New Years Eve. The convention center we were staying at was in down town Houston, Texas and there was to be a New Years Eve party-bash directly outside the building we were having the meetings at. Despite the noise, it was arranged that those who wished to spend the last few hours of 2011 in prayer and praise could gather together and do so. Hundreds of people gathered and silently prayed together in groups of less than 10 and offered adoration and praise, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving. I was privileged to enter the year 2012 on my knees in prayer, an experience I had never done or thought of doing, but one that I would not trade for anything and I hope to repeat it. There is a beauty and serenity in fellowship with people of like mindedness, and I hope that everyone will have the privilege of experiencing it.
