Hope has a voice...YOU

After a week out of the conference and plenty of time to reflect on the experience, I have decided to write a reflection.

The 2008 College Conference at Montreat was held January 3-6. This is the second year the conference has been this weekend instead of late May. And not only has it grown in number, but the energy and enthusiasm has grown tremendously as well. My first and second years attending, they struggled to get 100 students to attend. Last year there were 500 students, largely due to the date change, Donald Miller as a speaker, and much more promotion. This year, 800 students plus some of the most amazing worship/speaker experiences possible made for a life-changing and groundbreaking experience for young adults involved with the Presbyterian Church and beyond.

The theme was "Hope has a voice," and I couldn't help but continually think about how in itself, this weekend was in itself, hope. It was hope for individuals who came looking for answers and peace to troubles in their own lives. It was hope for a church complaining about young adults leaving the church and begging for answers to where they are going. It was hope for the world, desperately in need of people who truly love and care for one another. Finally it was hope for the future.

The weekend began with worship led by Virginia Tech students and pastor Alex Evans, who was deeply involved with the shooting back in April. The students were very honest and open to talking about the day of the shooting, and the horrors they experienced. However, all of them couldn't finish speaking without mentioning the hope they found in their situations. One of the girls had been shot in the leg 3 times, an incident that would crush the hopes of most people. However, her stories of recovery and one in particular of a war veteran tearing up as he related with her pain, gave a true sense of the hope we can give one another. What made this night truly special was that we 800 college students were listening to about 9 other college students tell heartwrenching, seemingly hopeless stories which many of us could hardly realte to, and turn them into powerful messages of hope that we could relate to.

Friday's keynoter was Shane Claiborne, author of The Irrisistible Revolution. Shane could be described as a neo-hippie. I'm sure many describe him as crazy for giving up all he does. However, I, like many were blown away by his humble depiction of what a Christ-like life should truly entail. One of the most powerful quotes I remember was one Shane quoted his friend on, "That Jesus guy, he'll mess you up!" Shane quoted this to speak of the radical work of Jesus, standing up for and living with the poor. Shane told stories of his own, of the community he helped start in Philadelphia, where people pool their resources to live together and pay for each other's needs. He spoke of his travels to Iraq, where amidst bombs going off, he was able to experience the joy of an Iraqi child's birthday. He spoke of how he, and many others, were arrested and taken to court for sleeping publicly in one of the few places available for he and his friends. Upon hearing one of the homeless men speak for the group in court about how wrong the laws were, the judge freed them of all charges, agreeing with what he said. In his stories, Shane presented raw humanity and a raw gospel that has us embrace one another despite what laws and ruling authorities have in place. I think this was really expressed when Shane described how during one of the times he was arrested, they took his Bible away, telling him with a smirk, "it's a dangerous weapon." Shane showed us the hope in the gospel of Christ, how Christ gave and continues to give hope to all of humanity. Hope for a better world where we can love each other more.

Saturday's speaker was Ishmael Beah, author of Long Way Gone. Ishmael grew up in Sierra Leone during the war, and was drafted as a child soldier. His book tells his story, of loss, of chaos and utter destruction, and finally of redemption. It was strange watching a 27 year old speak, the whole while realizing that he had done numerous drugs and killed numerous people as a child soldier. One would think that his experience would destroy his hope in humanity and make him vengeful for all he had experienced. But no, Ishmael was the complete opposite. Ishmael gave us the greatest example of hope by saying all humans have the capacity for good, no matter how far away they have gone. He spoke of his personal experience of finding his humanity again, during the long process of recovery from being brainwashed as a child soldier. As much as he would fight and resist their aid, they would just continue to treat him, care for him, and love him. They would continue to tell him, "it's not your fault." It was these radical actions that helped him to believe that no human can be completely lost. We all have the capacity for good if we just make the effort. Hearing Ishmael say these things, and then plead that we avoid all sorts of violence was incredible. There was no way we could relate with his story, but somehow his story of redemption drew us in and made us consider how we live out our humanity.

One of the most powerful experiences for me personally was my small group. My group of around 25 students had some extremely lively, deep, and personal times of sharing. All were deeply attuned to the messages of hope being expressed. This all came out in the last session as we began to share our own messages of hope. I realized that college students, and young adults in general, carry a LOT of baggage with them, all the time. One of the best things we can give one another is a listening ear to one another's stories. I won't share details of the discussions in my group, but suffice it to say that people were extremely passionate about their times of desperation when they did or didn't find hope. It went both ways. But however, the community of our group, plus the community of the 800 students gathered at the conference was evidence that we were there for one another. Multiply this by a lot and this feeling of hope within the community can be spread to our homes, our churches, the nation, and the entire world. This is not an impossible task. Every time I go to Montreat, I bask in relationships. Being able to communicate with good friends I haven't seen in a long time truly warms my heart and gives me hope. This is the epitomy of the Christian faith and the message of Christ. The fact that 800 college students understood this, or were at least attempting to, was the voice of hope.

And I truly hope the church and the world can start listening.