Anaheim 07

Anaheim ’07 was an experience that I’m sure I will hold close to me for years to come. When our group first stepped off the plane and went out into the 70-degree California weather with the sun shining mildly on our skin, we knew we weren’t in Nebraska anymore. A quick glance around with the palm trees everywhere and flawless green lawns was a constant reminder of the beauty of Orange County. I was amazed at the size of the Hilton that we stayed at. It was huge! This was our home for the next three days where we did all of our worship, singing and even hanging out.

We discussed many topics in the general sessions, from who God loves to how we can help others around us. Our speaker, Roy Crowne, even brought more people into the family of Christ in the opening session. Seeing people accept Christ for the first time is always an amazing experience.

The unique ministry track I chose was Ultimate Frisbee. Here we were introduced to a speaker from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes who shared his life story and what it means to be a Christian in sports. We were taught about the “spirit of the game” and how we can reflect our faith in the way we play as well as through our lifestyles. I learned through this that you don’t have to always be outspoken to change the people around you.

For our Tourformation experience we went to Sunset Beach and cleaned it. It was enjoyable for me to apply my faith to my actions. Being a Christian means doing activities to help out just like this. Time is one of the biggest factors when I am deciding whether to volunteer to do activities like this one, and I was glad the conference made time for us to do something like this.

Before we knew it we had one last communion, packed up and headed back to Nebraska. The below-freezing temperatures that greeted us had me yearning to go back. But I’m ready to apply my newly acquired knowledge to my everyday life in Nebraska.