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Issue 493 - Feature Article | Is There Something Wrong with Seeking to Live Out Mission on Campus? 【Youth Bible Conference Sharing】

Fox Lo, Associate General Secretary

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Our lives may inevitably get "something wrong". The blind spots of human beings can be very big, and we often do not know whether we have "got something wrong" or not. We really need to rely on God's grace to find out the truth of our situation through Bible reading and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. That's why this summer, July 31-August 1, our Inter-school and Inter-college departments co-organized a Youth Bible Conference called "Is There Something Wrong with Seeking to Live Out Mission on Campus?”

It all started at our staff retreat camp earlier in the year, when our team sensed the need to re-establish community amongst a generation that had experienced the pandemic. At the same time, we are committed to passing on the Bible-based core values of student movement, in order that young people themselves may be fed by reading the Bible. As a result, our team decided to organize this two-day day camp on a trial basis, with the theme of the day camp imitating the common names of online light novels.

Exploring Living Out Mission from the Camp

The first activity of the day camp is called "Back to School", a series of puzzles about the meaning of campus ministry. More than 60 secondary and tertiary students entered five different scenarios to explore the different 'causes of death' of individuals who serve in campus ministry. Participants were divided into eight groups for three small group Bible studies led by student leaders to explore the following topics: Christian Identity, Teamwork and Community Values.In addition, the day camp offered a number of workshops, including Social Concern, Campus Mission, Creation Care, Music & Worship, Creative Arts, Theological Reflections, which explored different orientations of mission practice. At the end of each session, the conference also provides "Selah" (meditation time) to help the participants to be still before the Lord and to meditate on what they have learned. We ended the camp with a hymn worship service led by the secondary and tertiary joint school worship team and a message in the evening.

Below are responses from two current DSE graduate participants:

Correcting the Mindset of Serving from the Scriptures

" My greatest impression of the Bible Conference was the sense of resonance. For example, I have the same feelings and situations that was run in the game activities about campus ministry. After that, in the Bible study, we learned the proper mindset for serving through the Bible, which gave me more confidence and strengthened my heart. The whole program is very useful for all involved in campus ministry work, and I am happy to have learned so much from the activities."

Jimmy

Inspiring Mission Thinking from Activities

"At first, I didn't have much idea about Bible Conference, I just thought, the name “Is There Something Wrong with Seeking to Live Out Mission on Campus?” was very long and sounded like a "tongue-twister". I didn't think much about the theme of the conference. During the two days of activities including games, bible study, selah, and workshops, we were able to enjoy fellowship with the leaders and members of the group, share with the group about the pains and joys of serving on campus or at church, and listen to the observations and insights of the group in the bible study, which inspired me to reflect on what I can do for God, and step further to fulfill the mission.

God's guidance was also present in all the activities. For example, through the experience of reading Moses, Ezra and other biblical characters, as well as letting go of ourselves to ponder on God's word in the Selah, we were able to firmly establish our desire to lay down more and dedicate more for God. Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to the organizers for their hard work in preparing for this two-day day camp, which provided us with fruitful learning and enabled us to continue our diligent work in serving God."

Iris

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