Young man says closing session is moment he'll remember "for a long time"
Named 2015 participants represented themselves and Jesus well to people staying at the Hyatt Regency and those they encountered at the Colorado Convention Center. Session host Stephen Humber told attendees about a businessman with whom Humber shared an elevator who commented that the high school students attending Named 2015 were “different” because they were attending a Christian conference. Planning team member Joanna Chapa shares this story about a young adult she met Sunday morning during the closing worship session.
During the last morning session on Sunday, I was standing toward the back of the ballroom. As For All Seasons led worship, a young man in his mid-20s walked in with an amazed look on his face.
“What’s going on here? Is this a Christian event?” he asked.
“Yes, this is a National Youth Conference for the Mennonite Brethren churches across the United States," I explained. "We’ve been here since Thursday, and today is our last day together.”
He paused. Then with the amazed look still on his face, he said, “There’s something special going on in here…something very special…I can feel it.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“I just feel something different and special in here that’s not the same outside those doors,” he said.
He told me is is from China and was in the Colorado Convention Center for another conference (non-religious), but overheard the singing and couldn’t help but come in and see for himself what was going on. I asked him if he knew Jesus Christ. “I know who he is, and I sometimes go to a church to pray, but I am not a Christian …yet,” he said.
I once again smiled, and he continued to say in amazement, “I like how they’re all standing and singing. That’s powerful.”
I explained our Named theme to him and how the standing and singing is simply an expression of what’s going on inside of the students as they get to know who Jesus is and how worthy he is of our everything. He smiled and looked at me, handed me his phone, and asked, “Could you type out the name of your churches—Mennonite Brethren? And also, the name of this band?”
His friends then called him over; it seemed like they needed to go somewhere. He looked at me and said, “Thank you. Thank you for explaining and letting me see this for myself. I will remember this moment for a long time!”
So pray for Collin from China. I pray that this moment will change his life forever and that the witness of Named 2015 may continue to change lives in, through and around the people who attended.
Joanna Chapa was a member of the Named 2015 planning team and works for MB Mission.
This article is part of the CL Archives. Articles published between August 2017 and July 2008 were posted on a previous website and are archived here for your convenience. We have also posted occasional articles published prior to 2008 as part of the archive. To report a problem with the archived article, please contact the CL editor at editor@usmb.org.
