So What Do We Really Do in PCB?!

   A week in Panama City Beach, Florida sounds like a pretty sweet perk to any job, but let me assure you that last week was not a vacation.  University of Illinois Cru loaded 63 students and 6 staff into cars and a charter bus to meet 800 other Cru college students at a conference called Big Break.

   The purpose of the conference is to grow students' hearts for Jesus and train and equip them on how to dialogue with people about spiritual things.  Statistically, only 2% of Christians talk about their faith with non-Christians once a year! If Jesus is the most important and impacting part of our life, then we should be talking about him MUCH more! This conference does a great job giving students practice, teaching, and confidence to come back and engage in spiritual conversations with their friends and family.

Here is what our week looked like in pictures:

Every morning, Roger Hershey, shared from the Bible on why it is urgent to engage in conversations about Jesus, how we can be confident because of the Holy Spirit, and then taught very practical skills. One of my favorite mornings of teaching was on How to Listen Well. Instead of just talking at people, we are called to listen, engage, and care for people wherever they are at. 

Every day in the afternoon, our students took big steps of faith to engage with the other Spring Breakers on the beach.  This always invokes the most fear. It is easy to hear a conference message, but then to turn around and do it is one of the most growing parts of the week. The always surprising part is that the Spring Breakers are so interested in talking about spiritual things. We ask them about their religious background, listen to their experiences, and find out where they are doubting or confused about Jesus.  Even after doing this for years, I get a little nervous, but so many times people leave the conversation thanking us for asking question and getting to know them in a deep way. A common thing I hear is, "I've always wanted to talk about this stuff, but I never know who to talk about it with."  That makes me realize that talking about Jesus doesn't have to be taboo. People have questions and are just waiting for people to talk about it.

Two nights of the week we have Creative Dates. First, a boys room asks a girls room out for dinner and then cooks a big delicious meal for them!  This night the girls room cooked stir fry for the boys. As staff, we get to jump in and enjoy the feast and the community. Always a highlight of the trip. 

After dinner, we would meet back up for another meeting. The Worship band led us in a sweet time of praising God for all He did that day and then we would hear more teaching from the Bible from Matt Mikalatos. He is one of Alex and I's favorite speakers.  He is incredibly creative and thinks so uniquely when he talks about Jesus.  Every night, I learned more about the love of Christ and what a true relationship with him looks like.

The last night we go out to dinner for a big U of I celebration. It is so fun to see how close the group of 69 of us got over the week!  Real community happens when we take steps of faith together and are going after the same goal.  These are 2 of the 5 Chinese international students that came with us on the trip. I had so much fun getting to know them throughout the week. Its such a blessing that all 69 of us will go back to the same campus with all that we learned and grew in. 

This is my 3rd Big Break on staff and every year I value it more and more.  I am constantly so thankful for my job and the immense privilege it is to get to invest in students!