Saturday, October 11, 2008

Day 2 of the Youth Worker Convention - officially day one

Wow what a day it was! This was a packed and fun filled day. Very inspiring speakers and with wild and crazy thing to do.

Dumbest thing to say while in elevator: "Oh no, there goes the weight limit" - I said this as a joke but did not realize the lady coming in was not here for the youth convention. We were pretty packed when she came in.


What mood I am in I was in pain and anguish for a while there. My lips then burned of the feeling of them being on fire for a while. Why? I ate a nice tasty orange pepper called the habanero (which they use in pepper spray/mace!). It was yummy then bam it hurt, it burned, it tickled in a bad way (I can't explain what that means) I felt dizzy a bit, I could not talk, tears came out, my nose ran, I could not really function other than run around in pain. It was not like a jammed finger or stubbed toe pain but, like almost breaking a bone, but in your mouth pain. I know that's a weird way to describe it, but David just cracked up as I was in anguish. Amara was a trooper and ate a less hot one a serrano pepper. She was sweating and tears coming out of her eyes. I did not see her eat it because I was dying myself. David laughed at her too. We should have recorded it all on video. Why did I do it? I got $60 bones to use on Sermon spice, an illustration, and creative ideas for lessons web source. I am in a good/great mood now. It was a fun day and can't wait for tomorrow!
Here comes the pain & suffering. There is Amara about to eat hers too.



Suffering from pepper



Even more suffering. If you can see I was crying and my nose started to run.




What I did for the day: Well it all started with the early bird seminars. I went to one called Spiritual Sabotage (with an additional longer title. David went to the seminar: Rap it, Tag it, Speak it. Then we all met up and ate lunch and went to the general session. I was supposed to go to a seminar afterward but none of them seemed interesting or I already did not know. So I walked around the exhibit hall where everyone is advertising there organization ans selling their whatnot's. I later found David and Deahna hanging out at the pool, which was a tad cold, but the hot tub was, well hot. We all went to dinner and then to the next general session. After that David, Amara, and I went to the exhibit hall and then back to the hotel room. We were watching a movie but I fell asleep.
Who did I run into: Wow it was several today. First person was Ken Rawson. He was texting me trying to find where I was, he even left his seminar to see me first which was kind of funny and cool. He texted me "look for the fat guy". He's not fat though. It was cool to see him again. It's been over ten years since I have seen him, but we have talked over the phone, e-mailed and trash talked each other on Fantasy sport leagues. We later ate lunch together with his wife Jen, to catch up. Then I ran into a former youth Mike Collins who was there helping out. He is a youth pastor in Tracy. I did not remember his name at first, so I ashamedly asked him. It was cool that he remember me, but I am the type to be unforgettable (hehehe). I ran into another former youth who is a youth pastor at a church in Modesto, Russ Cantu. Then at one of the general sessions, I ran into Kevin Neuner, and his wife Danielle. We went to school and had many adventures together. He is a Youth pastor at Abundant Life in the Bay Area. Sadly there was even some people I did not remember who they were or even recognized their face. I just said hi and the normal hey how's it going stuff.
Where I ate We ate at the popular place everyone seems to go to at these conventions, Upper Crust Pizza. It's all you can eat Pizza and salad. Yummy ( A youth workers dream). For Dinner we went to a Sushi place. I had a Bento box (Teriyaki) and some soup, and everyone else had sushi. It was called Amakari. It was scrumdidlyumshish.
What I thought about the seminars and general sessions: The Seminar I went to was cool, it was about preparing youth beyond their years in Youth group and getting them ready to be in the world and not be of the world. A times we just have them do their time and as they leave they leave behind their faith. David and Amara's was about bringing the Hip-hop culture into view and just using it in a way for youth to express their faith. Which is a cool way to do things with youth.
Wow! The first general session was awesome. Sherwood Carthen was the speaker. He was so intense,uplifting, and very funny. "Amen by myself" - his favorite saying. He spoke on us being in the wilderness (Matthew 4)
The Next seminars I skipped (lazy I know). The next general session was a bit different. We had three speakers, who had about 18 minutes to speak and then we texted questions to be asked after we discussed the subject with people in the crowd. The first speaker was not really impressive, but the next two were cool. The second one talked about reaching out to the gay community (by Andrew Marin), which is probably the last subject you would think about hearing at a youth convention. It was good to hear since we don't even talk about it at our churches. Since we reach out to other sinners, why not all? It's those sexual sins that we seem to frown upon more in church than say gluttony or hypocrisy. Even so it is a hard subject matter, but I do think we must go at it with gusto and not reluctance. After the second speaker, Shane Clairbone came on stage. He is the cross between a hillbilly, a hippie and radical Christian. Which is not bad, just funny and quirkiness all together. He talked about how his ministry/community and some other stuff. His basic idea was we need to be more focused on our people than stuff to reach people. The three speakers and then discussion was unique and cool at the same time.

1 comment:

Ken Rawson said...

dude, it's so fun seeing you around and texting. good times.