The Secrets of Urbana

Gene's here with us at the Reach Across stand at Urbana with a guest post.

Eric.

Here in St Louis, at Urbana 2012, the cold, windy streets are full of secrets. Thousands of them, in fact. I went to see if I could uncover one or two of them.

Where have all the people gone?

On Boxing Day (that’s December 26^th to you Americans unfortunate enough not to know) and yesterday the 27^th, students were turning up from all over the place. At the first big meeting in the Dome stadium, the speaker reaped some big cheers by mentioning first Canada then various regions of the USA, and welcoming hundreds of guests from many nations of the world.

Here they are – in the big meeting dome!

I sat down next to a young man from an African nation who has been working in a student organization to reach out to university students in the francophone countries of Africa. He’s travelled here alone, wanting to see how things are done at Urbana and benefit from fellowship with other students from around the world. A Kenyan pastor was the main speaker. His message came from Luke 4, about the people of Nazareth rejecting Jesus because of their familiarity with him. Could we be disconnected with the living purpose of Jesus because we think we know it all? He told of his first time at Urbana as a young man, sent from Kenya to learn all he could so he could organize something similar back home. And he said he was never the same again! I wondered if my neighbor could identify strongly with him, and how his life would be changed in these few days. I didn’t get a chance to ask – he left quickly at the end of the meeting – but I suspect that Jesus had a personal message for him and will lead him into greater challenges and intimacy with himself.

Soon after the ‘Jesus-almost-gets-thrown -off-a-cliff’ story in Luke chapter four, Jesus met Simon in chapter five and they went for a memorable fishing trip. Simon’s life was up-ended and transformed that day. Jesus knew just what he wanted to say, and how to draw him and the other fishermen into his circle of close friends. And he’s the same today. He sees my heartful of secrets and has something surprising to say to each of us.

There are over 16,000 people attending this huge mission conference, and it boggles the mind to think how Jesus knows each of us and is also speaking his secret messages of grace to you, wherever you are, calling you to himself.

Another man I met told me of his ambivalence towards such massive events and the resources and administration and almost obsessive attention to details and logistics: yes, it’s good to be organized, and much good can come of it as students meet up with mission agency members; at the same time, what is most effective, he said, is a personal mentoring relationship, or discipleship if you prefer that term. It’s true, there needs to be ongoing relationships on campus, so that the keenness of youth can pick up some of the wisdom of the experienced. I trust that’s what goes on when everyone goes home from Urbana. In any case, you can always reach out to Jesus and pour out your secrets to him. And he will whisper his secret to you too. Then it’s up to you to follow.

Are you at Urbana? Come over to our stand #1224 to say hi, and consider coming to our seminar on 'Justice and Mercy on the Arabian Peninsula', hosted at the Embassy Suites, Merchantile Ballroom on Sunday (the 30th), from 1pm to 2pm.

Keep in touch with us at Urbana - and after - by following:

@ReachAcross2012    on Twitter

/ReachAcrossMission   on Facebook