Another Guest Post: CIY MOVE

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 diversity of people there is astounding.

            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