CIY is a wonderful conference that challenges you by taking
you out of your comfort zone. When our group first got there we stuck together
and stayed in a group. As the week went on, though, I started to branch out and
meet different people. From playing Frisbee with some guys from Texas to volleyball with some people from Jacksonville , Florida
The worship
is another amazing aspect of CIY. The sight of a few thousand kids worshiping
together is a sight to behold. The songs sung hit home because of their
relation to the message that the adult leaders had been teaching about all day.
They also did a really cool thing during worship where one group of people said
a prayer that was projected on the screen while another group read a passage
from the bible and the last group sang with the band, then they switched the
groups.
The lessons
that were taught each day were well thought out and asked us to look inside of
ourselves and see were we were at fault and showed us ways we could fix those
things and make ourselves better people.
The best
part out of the whole thing was the guest speakers. Each one of them talked
about the lessons of the day and while their styles were different they were
all monumental. There was a part of Wednesday where you could choose one of
several speakers to listen to and while most were videos several were live
seminars. I went to see Jeff Walling and his talk titled “Love Your Enemies, What!”
His talk was an incredible mix of seriousness and comedy that caught me off
guard and made me think of how I treat others that I don’t like. All the
speakers talked about serious topics that made you look deep down and see who
you really were.
On Thursday
we had extended rec. time and our group went white water rafting. The
experience was exhilarating. The day before we went, there were thunderstorms
so the water was fast and high and the rapids were huge. There were a lot of
class 3 and 4 rapids which are on the high end of the scale. I went out of the
raft six times, four times on purpose and two times unintentionally. By the end
of the trip I was thoroughly soaked and a little sore from when I had hit a
shallow rock.
On the last
day, Matt, our group leader passed out small envelopes and told us that they
were a challenge to each of us to be a kingdom worker. The envelope had a small
card that had a challenge that, if we opened it, we had to complete it. I was a
little intimidated by it because I was uncertain if I could complete what was
on the card. Because of several things that my friends had said to me, I opened
the envelope. The challenge on the card made me laugh because it was something
I had wanted to do all year. My challenge was to pray three times a day. It was
such a relief that I chuckled.
Overall,
the trip was a great “Mountaintop” experience and I can’t wait until next year
to go back again. I recommend going to CIY whether you are confident or
struggling in your faith. Meeting new friends, playing games and getting closer
to God are things that are hard to put together but CIY does it perfectly.
-Coy Fletcher
