NYC 2022 | Day #10
It's hard to believe that the trip is almost over! National Youth Conference ended on Thursday morning with closing worship by Jeremy Ashworth, the pastor of Circle of Peace Church of the Brethren in Arizona. He talked about when Jesus tells the disciples to throw their nets on the other side of the boat, comparing their empty nets to our emptiness. He said that we need to go two places: in our neighborhood and outside of our neighborhood sharing the love of Jesus.
During the closing worship service, one person from each congregation that brought a rock to NYC was invited to come up to the worship center, select a different rock to take home, and continue to pray for that congregation. Fraternity got the rock from Mill Creek Church of the Brethren in Port Republic, Virginia — about ten miles east of Bridgewater College.
Once worship ended, it was time to load the buses and start traveling east — nearly 600 miles between Fort Collins and Topeka on the itinerary for the day, with a lunch break at Chick-fil-A (Kennedy/McKinley) and Freddy's (Lydia/Melissa) and dinner on the bus after a quick stop at a travel plaza.
Our group passed the time with some of their new knitting skills, as well as naps (McKinley), listening to music and scrolling through TikTok (Kennedy), and journaling (Melissa). Lydia started a new book that several on the bus are also reading. It's like they have a little book club!
During afternoon devotions, the bus broke up into small groups and shared their highs and lows from NYC. After sharing with small groups, youth had the opportunity to go up to the front of the bus and share with everyone. Both Kennedy and McKinley shared about their experience, and McKinley read the prayer to end the devotional time.
A few snippets from today's Q and A session:
Q: Did you get any souvenirs while at Colorado State University?
A: Kennedy and McKinley did not, but Melissa got several books: one by one of the speakers (Osheta Moore) and another book of children's activities that she plans to use with the Backyard Bible Club.
Q: What speaker/message from the week stands out the most to you?
A: The one that stood out to McKinley the most was one of the speech contest winners, Hannah Smith, who talked about her journey with mental health. The one that stood out the most to both Kennedy and Melissa was brother-and-sister duo Chelsea Skillen and Tyler Goss — Level Up! Naomi Kraenbring's sermon really stood out to Lydia — she has been friends with Naomi's daughter since they were little and it was awesome to hear her mom share. Her message was really applicable to everyone about what it means to be blessed and how we can live to show this blessing.
Q: What is something that you have learned about another Fraternity person on this trip?
A: McKinley learned that Kennedy doesn't like when McKinley uses her washcloth. Kennedy learned that McKinley can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Lydia learned that Kennedy learns new things incredibly fast, like knitting! She also learned that McKinley can braid her hair in less than three minutes. Melissa learned that the Wall girls don't like mornings ... but they are always on the bus on time!
We can't believe the trip is coming to an end! Buses hope to be back at the district office in Roanoke by 6 p.m. on Saturday. Stay tuned for one final post with highlights from the rest of the bus trip (spoiler: Friday's stop at the St. Louis Arch!) and closing thoughts about NYC.
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