Christian Youth Conference is an annual event that takes place in Gatlinburg, TN put on by members of the churches of Christ. This year was my first year attending CYC and the first year that the church at Waynesboro has ever sent a group, it will not be our last. CYC was a positive and motivating experience for everyone who attended, not just the young people. I highly recommend that you make plans now to attend next year.
Our trip afforded us with many opportunities I never imagined at first. My first surprise was running into so many of you who are regular readers of this blog. It was great to finally meet you all! Blogging has added a new dimension to my ministry and has expanded my circle of friends (more about blogging in a few days).
We left Waynesboro on Thursday afternoon immediately following school, with the time change encountered as we hit east Tennessee is was past midnight when we finally got to our cabin. This was the first "bonus" of the weekend, our cabin was awesome! This thing was nice, it was big, and it had a pool table, air hockey, and foosball table; the kids (and some of the adults) kept those things hot all weekend! Friday morning we all got ready and went to eat breakfast at the Log Cabin Restaurant (I recommend the Caribbean pancakes). Following breakfast we went up the mountain to Ober Gatlinburg for some ice skating, we had a blast. The rest of the day the kids and ladies all walked the streets of downtown Gatlinburg for the all important shopping session. My friend, Sam Haines, and I hung out in lieu of shopping and just talked; we learned a lot about each other and became closer friends as a result. Friday night was the first session of CYC and it started with a bang! My favorite part was the singing, very moving!
Saturday was an early morning as we were in session by 8:00 AM for more motivational speakers and awesome singing until the lunch break at 11:30 AM. We were so wore out from the day of travel on Thursday and our all day fun fest on Friday that we went back to the cabin, ordered pizza for lunch and basically "vegged out" the entire afternoon. Saturday nights session of CYC was the best, more great singing capped off by a sermon by Lonnie Jones. Lonnie is always great and this night he was exceptional. I don't think I'll ever forget his story about the snake and the .45 pistol! Hilarious! (Ask me or one of the others and we will be more than glad to share it with you.) After the session we were invited to one of our Wayne County sister congregation's cabin for a devotional. (Collinwood's group was also invited.) This was a great way to cap off the night, Clifton was a great host and this was a spectacular way of promoting unity within neighboring congregations. I love all the brethren at Clifton and Collinwood, both congregations have been good to me and I always love speaking for them. Hopefully, our efforts toward unity will continue and God will be glorified as a result. Jake Wilbanks, one of Collinwood's teenagers and my cousin, spoke at the devotional. I was taken aback by Jake's speaking ability! He did an outstanding job and I pray that he continues to use his talents for the Lord.
Sunday Morning we again woke up early as we were hosting a worship service at our cabin. Clifton's group came over to join us in worship as well as Will Tidwell and three students from Heritage Christian University. Wes, one of the HCU students led singing for us, Jeff, another HCU student, led us in prayer, as well as Chad Love from Clifton. I enjoyed speaking for the group in such a loving atmosphere. We shared a meal and laughter before worship and the family feeling just seemed to carry over into the service. It was great!
CYC provided an awesome opportunity for everyone involved to grow spiritually. The structure of the conference provided the main spiritual food, however, the part I enjoyed the most was the fellowship with friends and learning more about my brothers and sisters in Christ. If your congregation doesn't attend CYC then take it upon yourself to organize the trip next year, I guarantee it will be a huge success. If you had the opportunity but didn't take it this year be sure not to miss it next year. Just some "sage" advice from a one year CYC "veteran!"
2 comments:
Thanks for the nice things you said about CYC. Glad that it was a great experience. We do work hard to make it a spiritual feats as well as a great weekend of fun and fellowship. As always we make some mistakes and sometimes our judgment of what to is questioned but all in all CYC works for the good of our youth and families. Most important we sek to glorify God and exalt Jesus. I really enjoyed meeting you and look forward to seeing you again. Sonny Owens
Thanks Sonny! It was good meeting you as well. In my opinion as a first timer, CYC was ran with excellence. Our only complaint at first was the overflow room for adults which I know was a necessity. It is always a good problem when you have too many people! After each of the adults took turns in the overflow and main hall we all agreed, the overflow room was the best place to be. Better view of the speaker than from the back of the main room.