Walking onto a liberal campus, college students often experience a mixture of relief and confusion, especially when they have no idea who their “true selves” are. How does the gospel help ones to find ourselves, embrace ourselves, and become ourselves? On 1-2 August, we joined hands with various churches to organize the second Youth Bible Conference, with the theme ‘Monologue’. Through the two-day Bible conference, we aimed to help participants to know themselves better and to become the true selves that God has created them to be.
Below is the sharing of the two participating students:
When I came to the university registration day, I saw many people with all diversity, and I had a better sense of ‘being myself’. Precisely on this basis, it is more important for us to understand our role and what kind of a person we are. “Self-understanding for personal well-being” workshop on the first night gave plenty of space to settle into ourselves and notice our own uniqueness, which served as a good foundation for the journey ahead.
The struggles that come with difference in people are also clearly illustrated in the Bible and are part of God’s creation. Paul and Barnabas, one focuses on team spirit, and the other on understanding and caring. This struggle is found not only in the church, but also in the world. I have discovered that the ultimate answer is probably to be faithful to God so that His plan can be lived out as a ‘you’. As the guest speaker shared, when you embrace yourself well, you embrace others even more powerfully. God blessed both in their evangelistic endeavors so that the gospel could be preached. The Bible seems to provide a certain comfort enabling me to recognize and choose to walk at my own pace.
I tend to believe that living one’s true self is a good attitude, hopefully this freedom is in line with the truth. Thank you to all the leaders and organizers and such a beautiful venue. If there is another one next year, I will recommend it to freshmen and let them learn about university evangelism and fellowships.
Jordi | DSE Fresh Graduates
What is a ‘good person’? Is the measure of my heart compatible with what is good or bad in God’s eyes? God constantly challenges us through Conference. My most profound session was Bible Engagement, looking at the stories of Paul, Barnabas and Mark. They were all important leaders at that time, yet disputes and conflicts still occurred. I reckon myself to be like Paul some of the time, and like Barnabas at other times. Entering their inner world, I understand that it is normal for people to have disputes, and that direct communication with others is essential, no matter what individual’s priorities are.
The conference provided four “Selah” sessions, which allowed me to better settle my thoughts and enjoy the stillness together.
At first, I participated with a ‘serving’ mindset, thinking that by leading the group to commit, my mission would be accomplished. Later I discovered that through these two days of activities, God had enabled me to gain insights in different ways, which also led to reflection.
Daniel I Team Leader, University of Hong Kong
College life is a journey of self-discovery, but various forces in the world seek to shape or even distort us. Only by returning to the gospel, returning to Christ, returning to the Body of Christ, can we find our true selves and become who God created us to be. Through games, Bible study groups, ‘Self-understanding for personal well-being” activities, specially designed Bible Engagement and guest sharing sessions, the conference served to help participants understand the importance of the
Gospel and the community of believers for self-exploration and self-growth. We hope that these two days of learning could be a source of encouragement for the participants to be courageous and be themselves in the future.
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