This past week some of our Adventures in Missions staff members attended the Passion 2013 conference in Atlanta. They worshipped alongside 60,000 college students from around the world and learned about practical ways to fight against modern-day slavery and human trafficking. This week on this blog and our Adventures updates blog we’re sharing posts from each of them with their perspectives on Passion 2013 and how you can get involved to end slavery.
The roar of 60,000 young adults rose into the night as the lights dimmed overhead. I had finally found my seat and took a deep breath as Passion kicked into high gear. “Welcome to the Dome” flashed across the giant screens as they congratulated how far we had traveled to come together.
I signed up for Passion out of convenience. I live in Georgia, so it just seemed like the thing to do, but I struggled to find a good reason beyond that. I felt too old. I felt assured that my life already had a plan.
God’s okay that I don’t know why I’m here, because he does.
God has a plan over my luke-warm, worn out spirit–my dissatisfied and empty heart. He has a plan, and all he needed me to do was come. I signed up for this conference that I didn’t know much about, I faked excitement and feigned indifference, all the while (unknowingly) following His plan.
From the moment of the first roar, I heard God’s spirit awaken in a generation hell-bent on changing this world. I felt something deep within me shake, disassemble, and rearrange as his hand descended on The Dome.
His plan was coming alive.
It began in the voices of the many as we praised Him in song, in the pain of the masses as we learned about modern day slavery, and in the community of the few as we studied the word in Family Groups. He knew the purpose of every step as I connected with other young adults radically devoted to honoring the beauty of the body we all belong to.
What started as lackluster loyalty became a transformation. The little something within me raged and my heart remembered the why behind my love and service. We are the pieces to His plan.
We are the feet to carry the Word, the hands to carry the torch, mouthpieces to spread the love.
The voices that roared around for four days finally took shape in the blood God placed in my veins – the life I have to live. I remember my purpose for being alive and becoming a part of this body that believes we are here for the making, changing, and shaping of our world and I will no longer succumb to the numbness that had taken seed.
The last night, our hearts set for change, we braced against the cold and took a stand against modern day slavery. We joined together in front of the dome and 60,000 candles were raised into the night sky.
I watched silently, as our small flickers of hope were passed from one to another, lighting each face, spreading like a wildfire of belief. We are enough to overpower the darkness. We are enough to take God’s light to the world, because we are a generation not only ready and willing, but also equipped.
Say yes. Though you may not see the path, trust there will be someone to light the way.
Say yes. Your indifference can not last in the presence of the needy.
Say yes. His plan for you is sweeter than anything you can imagine.
As a World Racer, I didn’t always understand where God was leading me, but I did find His faithfulness in each step, and courage that though I carried my torch myself, I don’t have to carry it alone.
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