God's divine appointment (YMLC Day1)

Disclaimer: May God be glorified in & through this post.

Okay. I admit. I registered for Young Methodist Leaders' Conference (YMLC) on impulse. 

It was a last minute sign up. There was a nagging feeling within me asking me to just go for YMLC. YMLC was traditionally meant for youths serving in ministry... (I'm currently in search of a ministry to serve in) I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to find my gifts & talents (to be used for serving in a ministry) while learning from other youths who are serving within their church. Prior to attending the camp, there were so many question & doubts that were running thru my head... attending this camp was indeed a divine appointment.

The first day started out as an adventure. My new found friends and I actually got lost at the Malaysian customs. We couldn't find the bus platform... God was indeed watching over us as He sent us helpful custom officers & camp ICs that came looking for us.

When we arrived at the hotel, we started out a session of praise & worship. Followed by a Plenary 1: Essential Abiding by the conference speaker Pastor Kai. I got 4 things from it. 1) God is our ultimate prize - the promise of eternal life. 2) God has the power to transform you from within. 3) The treasured possession (good news of Jesus) has been entrusted to us. We need to realign ourselves with God in order to fulfill the Holy Calling. 4) When God lives within us, He invites us to enter into His Kingdom & glory.

Our mentor, Sam wrote us a note & a bible verse for each of us. The verse he wrote for me was really timely.
"But He said to me, "my grace is sufficient for you, my power is make perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me." ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

When I first saw the verse, my reaction was like "heh heh, I did somewhat made reference to part of this verse in the disclaimer of my previous blog post." But as the sessions went by, I realised this verse was not a thing of the past but it is ongoing... God didn't choose me because I was so Awesome or anything... He chose me because He saw the potential so that His power can just shine through my flaws. Keep this verse in mind, I'll make reference to it in my next post - YMLC 2014 Day 2.

We had lunch and a time of group bonding time. I'm really blessed to be in group 3 with all the amazing members who are just so inspirational. I honestly experienced God's love within the group. It was nice having 9 other siblings (for 2 days) This is probably like the sneak peek into what heaven may be like... Sharing, caring and worshiping together as a body of Christ. 

We had Plenary 2: Empowered Abiding with Pastor Kai. This session reminded me that 1)God was the main source of strength & energy. 2) Jesus conquered death and we can find strength in God's victory. 3) It is important to draw strength from God's word - the bible. I found this quote that Pastor Kai shared interesting "Modern day Christianity is a mile wide but an inch deep."  How many Christians say they are christians, but they don't really know God or His word...

At the end of the session, He held an alter call for those who wanted to follow Jesus fully, wholly for life. As a symbolic representation, we had to take out our shoes and put them in the centre as an act of surrendering to God. I stepped forward and was prayed for by a lady pastor. She hardly knew me but the prayer that she prayed was so impactful (I believe she was prompted by the Holy Spirit.) it brought me to tears. It somewhat answered the questions/doubts I was having. Her prayer had the effect that God was ready to give me gifts however, it was me, my self doubt (that I wasn't good enough) that was obstructing me in receiving the gifts. She prayed for me to have courage (something that I felt I always lacked especially when sharing the gospel.) so as to use the gifts given to bless the people around me. (A phrase that I truly desire... to be a blessing to people around me.)

Woah... God was talking to me thru her - a stranger. I just felt God's love & peace in my heart. Something that I, a sinner did not deserve.


Look forward to the blogpost of Day 2! It is still work in progress :)

God's love & blessings~

Xoxo
Marissa