Central At Urbana

By Kathy Smith

From December 27th-31st, 2006, 20 people from Central were in St. Louis for InterVarsity's Urbana Missions Conference: 6 staff, 13 attendees, and one volunteer presenter. All twenty of us came to learn about God's work in the world and how he might want us to join him in that work.

Urbana is a triennial missions conference for college and grad students, missionaries, young adults and pastors. For 5 days, we attended seminars and Bible studies, visited the 300 exhibit booths of missions agencies, and gathered for preaching, teaching, and worship through music, dance, and drama.

Julie Hindmarsh was a presenter in the "Open For Business" track, designed to equip students and professionals to pursue their calling to business in light of God's mission. Julie presented her work with Opportunity International in a seminar attended by hundreds of business students, missionaries and other delegates. Rooming with an Indian businesswoman and opportunities to mentor young women were highlights for Julie.

Andy B. went to Urbana hoping for direction and next steps in moving into mission. What Andy hoped for (and I was hoping would happen!) was a clear calling -- to walk into the exhibit hall and perhaps find a booth that said something like, "Come work in a lab in China and share the gospel! This means you, Andy!" God had something else for him -- a much more personal experience! Andy was placed with a South Korean roommate. The immediate cross-cultural experience God had for Andy was to befriend this one man, to see Urbana and American culture through this one friend's eyes. Although different than what he expected, it's fun to think about how this experience might be used by God down the road as Andy continues to work out his calling.

For Rebekah D., Urbana was a much more "personal" experience. In the midst of being with 22,000 people, God called her to spend time with himself, processing issues she'd been dealing with all semester. She's thankful for the time and space to do that, and feels on track with God as she heads into the spring semester.

For several students, Brenda Salter McNeil's talk was a highlight. Marie B. resonated with Brenda's call to not "settle" into a surrounded-by-people-just-like-me life, but to keep pursuing God's call to mission. Step out beyond myself and what's comfortable to me and into loving and serving others!

Many students mentioned feeling this call the very first night, as musical worship began. The style of worship, led by Darryl Black, was pretty different from what we're used to at Central and even quite different from what most of us who "do" InterVarsity are used to. Several students mentioned making the choice to continue engaging in worship, to value the cross-cultural experience, and wound up loving it. You can check out bootleg videos of worship on Youtube (www.youtube.com). Warning: although the quality varies greatly, they are addictive and I've wasted several hours watching them.

Urbana is a place where people not only get great information about God's work in the world, it's a place where people make decisions to put their faith into action. As Bono (yes, Bono) in a special, surprise videotaped message said, this giving "feet" to our faith is what's really important. Urbana serves as a huge eye-opening experience to the need for mission action around the world. Katie M. recognized she was "oblivious" to this need. Allison D. and Renée N. both cited Oscar Muriu, pastor of Nairobi Chapel in Kenya, as a speaker who opened their eyes. Oscar spoke of the interdependency of the global church and the need for westerners to come to the 2/3 world as partners, rather than rescuers. All who attended felt a stronger call to love our close neighbors and not only those far away. Andrew M. was particularly struck by the need for our Jewish neighbors to experience the gospel.

For many of us, Urbana is a place where our own calling is reaffirmed. Judi & Gideon B. served as theater team assistants, making good use of Gideon's day-job skills as a sound engineer. Urbana also reaffirmed Judi and Gideon's call to work with InterVarsity. For me, being part of the theater team and attending seminars for Christians in the arts, reaffirmed my call to serve Central in this area, helped me appreciate how welcoming Central is to artists and how special and unique that is in the church at large. Thanks for praying for me to remember all my lines!

Urbana is a place where people not only get great information about God's work in the world, it's a place where people make decisions to put their faith into action. Anna S. is in Denmark for a semester abroad. God's message to her at Urbana was, "This semester isn't about you or about having fun in Europe. Primarily, it's for me! It's a mission." Her first report form Denmark is that she's felt God's guiding presence in finding her way around and meeting people. For Julie H., putting her faith into action is a commitment to bypass Starbuck's for the next year. She's "fasting" from Starbucks, so that every time she passes one, she will be reminded of the things God spoke to her at Urbana. Invite Julie or any of the rest of us for a smoothie or for tea and we would love to tell you more about Urbana!

*And a 21st person from Central helped us get there but didn't get to attend - many thanks to Jack H. for organizing the Baltimore bus!

**You can watch Brenda and Oscar's talks at www.urbana.org/u2006. Click on the webcast for the December 28th evening session.