AF1 - ALL FOR ONE - GROW UP?
AF1 stands for "All For One" and this year's theme was "Grow Up?"
"14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by
the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning
and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth
in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is,
Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting
ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."
--Ephesians 4:14-16
Grace from Calvary College Group sent out an email to some members asking if we wanted to serve @ this retreat. i had no clue what this was. but i read the passage and seeing the retreat theme, i felt like this was what i needed, too. not only did i want it for this growing generation, but i still needed to grow up spiritually. so i came and chose to serve as a counselor. it would've been great if Andrea came and served with me, but she had another retreat to go to.
Pastor Seth Kim was the speaker. He took the theme and broke it into 6 things that will help us grow up.
We neeeeeeed.....
- the right pursuit
- the right perspective on the Heavenly Father
- to be with the right people
- the right passion(s)
- to ask God for the purpose in our life
- to learn how to persevere
all 6 are like... so applicable, right?! just reading the simple phrases you can kind assume what kind of message it would be.
one of the things that i'm thankful for is the right people. whether i'm @ school or back @ home. either way, i'm surrounded by Christians. at school i have 5 other fabulous girls who keep me accountable. @ home, i have church, andrea, and my family. P. Seth talked about the community of believers focusing on Acts 2 an I Peter 2:9-10. A COMMUNITY will... what? seek ways to live together harmoniously. it's a place where people can comfortably say, "I feel safe here. I feel welcome here. I feel LOVE here." I'm looking at the five basic traits of a biblical community and I pray that this will come true for Koinonia. it's such simple stuff. like love one another, minister to one another, get to know each other, care for others, and sacrifice for others. such simple commands, right? but sssooo complex as to how to really act upon it. but that's what i'm praying for. for opportunities to get to know each other, to take care of each other, etc. but that is my prayer. after all, koinonia stands for fellowship does it not? =)
now for some wonderful pics of my small group!~ they rock.
that spells OAK 3. for those of you who can't tell. ^ ^ ellen's also holding up a sign. haha. and the other pic is of our star ! b/c we're stars.... O___o;;
aww. good job. diligently working on their QTs. ^ ^
aren't they beautiful?! so are their hearts ! so are their tears. their encouragements. even their hugs. i wish i could be with them all the time. all of them need an older sister. even though two of them already have one. another one wouldn't hurt, right? =)
i wish i could share more in depth about them... but yea. y'know.
the praise was just awesome. here's a clip that i took from the closing worship.
my prayer is that every word that they sang/shout/screamed/prayed would be a declaration of the truth when they return home. many if not all are afraid of falling even within the same day when they return back home. i fear for them, also. BUT. we aren't running this race alone, are we? we're running it together. we'll help each other get back up. instead of thinking about ourselves and wanting to selfishly claim the prize, we can all claim the prize together.
learning how to persevere seems like the toughest point. but the seven applications that P. Seth challenged us with are practical and makes this tough obstacle seem easy. something like......... spiritual discipline. it was easy to be disciplined @ the retreat b/c we had a strict schedule to follow. we wake up, eat breakfast, do QTs for 30 min. and then worship, lunch, seminar, etc etc. When we go back home we won't come back from school till 2-3pm. and for the late-night class peoples.. then they'll be out for a while. but our schedules are already filled with running errands, working, eating, meetings galore, rehearsals and practices, etc. we need to purposely make time. set an alarm on your cell phone to go off daily @ 9pm so that you remember that @ that time, you will read a chapter in the Bible and then pray or yourself, family, friends, repent, etc. it was hard for me to do my devotional @ the retreat, ironically, b/c i literally had no time to just sit and do it. but i need to commit to a time for everyday so i can take an hour to do my Bible reading and prayin. Just like Paul beat his own body (I Corinhians 9:24-27) to make it obey, I'm going to force myself to cut out that episode of CSI, take less time eating that day (or eat & read @ the same time! haha), or not waste time online checking my email that i already checked 2 minutes earlier. that's one of my commitments. WengTink gave me a one-year Bible. so i will finish it in a year. please keep me accountable !
this is definitely not the end of the AF1 talk. buuut it's the end for now. i have a greater desire for the youth. to serve them. so i'm gonna try harder in 한마당. =)
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in other news ! doods... okay. so i'm realllyyy serious about getting a new haircut. and i'm not saying a trim. i'm saying a dramatic change. so. i'm not gonna ask for opinions. i'm just gonna do it. and surprise y'all. muhaha. i just hope it turns out right. ohmann... if it doesn't. someone's gonna pay. i hope i can still get my hair done tomorrow even though i didn't reserve. i probably should've, right? >_>;; o well.
