SCBC Urbana 06

gordon poon

Jasmine’s Urbana ’06 Blurb
My previous experience at Urbana ’03 left me feeling sure of God’s direction for me at the time. I confirmed a three-month university student ministry with OMF (Overseas Missions Fellowship) in Thailand for the summer of 2004. Urbana ’06, however, did not leave me with such a clear message. Instead, I left knowing that this time around I was seeking a longer calling, a life-long calling to use and surrender all of myself to God’s service.



God may not call me to share the good news to those on the other side of the globe, but I know that my mission field is wherever I am at the moment. Through one of the workshop leaders, I gained the insight that ministry should not be limited by program, structure and location, but should also involve using our creativity. God gave each person different spiritual gifts and material possessions, both of which can used to serve and share with others. The Lord may lead me elsewhere in the near future, but for the time being He has brought me back to Toronto and I am eager to find creative means to extend love to whoever crosses paths with me.

I am also thoroughly encouraged that at a conference of this diversity and magnitude, God has called out to each one of us. I am excited to be a part of the larger and more extensive network of Christ followers who desire to see God’s name be glorified and His Kingdom lifted high. I have learned that God will use us as His vessels no matter how insignificant we are, as long as we are first open to allowing the Spirit to lead us. At this moment, I need to continue learning to listen to the Spirit as my future unfolds.

I still recall making the decision of whether to attend Urbana 06 or not. It was tough having to be away from my family and friends for the holiday and New Year. A part of me wanted to stay in Toronto but a voice from within kept urging me to go! I prayed immensely for God’s guidance and direction. And before I knew it, this desire from within grew even stronger. I wanted to spend this holiday along with 22,000 other attendees from around the world to worship God and to find our purpose in life.

After hearing great stories and experiences from previous attendees and alumni’s I decided to go in with little expectation. A week prior to Urbana I tired to prepare myself for this convention through a time of reflection and prayer. During my quiet time, the thought of Asia preoccupied my mind. I had a great sense and urge to serve globally and hopefully with children’s ministry.

For me, Urbana was an intense and profound learning experience that stimulated and challenged me and even inspired me to ask the question: how does God want me to share the love of Christ to others? After 5 days of hearing inspirational speakers, attending seminars and visiting countless exhibits, God did not deliberately proclaim what he wanted me to do. But yet he opened my heart to the global issue of HIV/AIDS pandemic. One of the many inspiring testimonials made at the conference was by Princess Kasune Zulu. She shared with us how HIV/AIDS has affected her. She lost both her parents to the disease and is HIV positive. On our fourth night, she challenged me to get involve in the fight against this pandemic and to make a difference in the world. She asked us, “to be the visible image of the invisible God.”

God has given each of us a purpose in life. Our duty is to identify and clarify our calling. God is at work in all of our lives. Sometimes we may not realize this, but it is true. God has given us all spiritual gifts and his desire is for us to use them and to bring others closer to him. Consider using your gift and tell others about God. As Rick Warren mentioned, the 3W for sanctify: Whatever, Wherever, and Whenever. We as God’s people are to do whatever He tells you, go wherever to preach the word, and always be ready to answer the hope you have in you.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. (Ephesians 4:1)

Teresa Cheng
January 07

victor’s urbana experience

Christians easily create a structure or a formula for God to work within. “God, I’m in the
situation, so work this way.” Sometimes this is the right way to think of things, but most of the time it is not.

Urbana Conference is one of those times that it is not. Everyone going to Urbana goes in with a set of expectations, and a cluster of ideas as to how they want God to speak to them. God does not require an international conference to speak to you. God does not require handfuls of world-famous Christian speakers to speak to you. God doesn’t even require 22,000 other Christians of 144 different countries, worshiping him in one accord, to speak to you. Our God is not confined to time and space, nor is limited in power or in action. We all go in thinking that Urbana will be life-changing. Yes, it very much can be, but is it not God that reveals to you what you do not see?

Before going to Urbana, God had clearly pointed out my own selfishness in this world, living only for my own comfort and well-being. God showed me, through my family how much love and care is needed two generations above me, the North American raised, individualistic teenager. Going into Urbana only showed me that same image of my broken family, prevalent and many times worse in the rest of the world today. Social injustice, slavery and sex trafficking. AIDS, starvation, lack of clean water. And most importantly, lost souls that don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, I did create a structure for God to speak to me in. And yes, I did learn a lot during the sermons, the seminars, and various other activities at Urbana. I had a good time getting to know people at our church, as well as people from around the world. But what I really treasure the most from this Urbana experience is how God showed me that there are people in this world that need to be loved and comforted. There are people that need his blessing and salvation. And I, just a child in this vast planet, have been given the power and privilege to share God’s love and sacrifice to the human race, as well as the people closest to me. All it takes is the courage to grasp onto the calling that the Lord has for me.

Urbana is not just a five-day conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Urbana must last throughout our lifetimes till the day we see the Lord.

mary wong

The two most important things that I learned from URBANA 06 were patience and interdependence. I was really frustrated during the first few days upon arriving in St. Louis. I felt overwhelmed and lost as everything was different and for some reason, I had no sense of direction. Growing up in Toronto, I’d live a life that is fast-paced and I was not used to waiting and walking slowly behind the masses that were in front of me. I know where everything is in Toronto and consequently I am able to accomplish tasks quickly and effectively here in the city. At Urbana, I stayed mostly with my room-mates as I was terrified of being alone and getting lost. As a result I learned the importance of patience and interdependence as we travelled together among the others who were also here for Urbana. I also learned the importance of interdependence during our family group prayers, the big gatherings in the Edward Jones Dome and the daily bible studies. The sermons from the speaker Ajith Fernando reminded me of the importance of the Church to Jesus and this really touched my heart as I have grown a desire for corporate fellowship with other believers. I realized my contempt of the imperfections of the church have kept me from the mandatory fellowship that the Bible values and commissioned. At Urbana, with the help of the Rick Warren, I have also made a pledge to be available for God, “whatever, whenever, wherever,” and I intend to use the rest of this year seeking fellowship with other Christians, study the bible more closely, in order to be the light that I was created to be and to be ready whenever Christ decides to use me.

Venus Ho
Before urbana I have been struggling with what I can do with my major and how I can use it, but as I was at Urbana visiting different booths at the exhibit, one of the guys really encouraged me. He was saying how now a days business people are really needed in the missionary field and how in order to get through to the bottom you first need to get through to the top (people in the office). Also, he really made me feel useful and gave me a purpose to continue on with my studies. Another thing i learned from urbana is not to settle, there's lots of places and people that needs to hear Gods word and if we settle God won't be able to use us to the fullest. After going through all the booths, I hope to serve God by going to abroad for short term missionary either next summer or before I graduate.

Gloria So

Urbana for me was split into two parts. I knew coming into Urbana I had many issues that I had to fix from unconfessed sins to broken relationships and so I wasn't that excited to be going because I knew I would have to confront God. Previously, I had run like Jonah to avoid having to deal with the sins and brokenness in my life. I thought I could just pretend that those things didn't bother me and I could receive God's mission for me fully. However, that night when we were in the concert of prayer, asking to hear God's voice. I heard the word: tell. I knew it didn't mean to go tell the gospel, but to tell my Christian friends about my struggles and be united as brothers and sisters. I realized that God wanted me to live a life worthy of his call. That night I got the courage to share the struggles I was experiencing with Christian sisters as well as try to patch up relationships.

Through this, I realized the joy of obedience to God. In spite of the fears and pride that prevented me from obeying God's word for so long, God still cared about me, his child, and knew what he was doing. The second part of Urbana, I felt such acceptance and joy in the ability to be congregated and united with Christian fellowship. In terms of missions, what I learned in my seminars was that Christianity is not a Western religion, but a world religion. I realized that I could use my vocation as a long-term mission field. After my summer at Urban Promise, I felt God calling me to serve in inner city missions in urban settings in North America and in Africa. I do not know what God has in store for me, but I know that despite my disobedience and silly pride, He still loves me regardless and wants to use me to fulfill His Great Commission.

kyle’s testimony
When I first heard about Urbana, I was interested in the event for the purpose of knowledge in Christ’s work in the world. However, I was not sure whether I was actually being called by Christ to go to this event because I was unsure of the difference I can make to other’s lives. However, after much prayer, I felt Christ telling me that I would find the answer at the conference. At the conference, the speakers were really good and seemed to be answering all the questions I had that was holding me back. They gave an explanation of both God’s words in regards to a united church as well as a practical guide that I can follow to achieve that. As well, the workshops that I chose were all very informative with information regarding God’s word and the work he’s being doing in our world I would not receive in any other place. The most memorable workshop was the “Loving Muslims in an Age of Terror” workshop where the speaker discussed the faith of Islam as well as how to reach out to these people. I still was not getting my own calling to make a difference in the world though even after praying daily. I finally got that on the last day of workshops where I attended the workshop on the “Church in China”. They showed a song that the Christians sang that really touched my heart and made me want to reach out to these people. Because I’ll be going back to Hong Kong and China for school exchange, I am slowly finding ways to make a difference when I there. Also, I was really surprised by the amount of books at the bookstore at Urbana. I picked up a few books, and one was the “Cost of Discipleship”. I felt God calling me in every line of that book and it was really encouraging. I recommend anybody interested to go to Urbana because it is truly a life changing experience.

Brian Tsang

I would like to share with you my Urbana 06 experience.

Waking Up
Urbana 06 was an impactive experience for all of us. If Urbana is a refresher in my spiritual life, it is an ultra strong refresher. It opened my eyes to different ways of bible studies, worship and different global issues.

Reaching Up
To study scripture with 500 people was in itself an experience. The inductive process of 1) observation; 2) question and answer and 3) application was inspiring and helpful.

The program of Urbana 06 was built around the Book of Ephesians. We studied the entire book in depth during morning Bible studies and exposition. The themes of the evening sessions also came directly from Ephesians. The worship, drama and dances likewise were shaped by the content of Ephesians. The conference’s focus is doing the Word instead of hearing the Word.

The diversity of the worshippers and the worship experience was the most powerful experience I have ever experienced in my life. It was awesome that we came together as one to worship one God, under one roof, in one nation. Is this heaven on earth?

Lifting Up
The noon session noon on Dec. 30 in the Edward Jones Dome moved thousands. We fasted from lunch for this prayer session. We prayed for thanksgiving. We sought repentance through confession for our sins.

Near the end of the session, the speaker Lisa Laird addressed the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. She led us to pray that we would not allow hatred to remain in our hearts, particularly toward Hussein. She emphasized that she believed hatred was never appropriate for the body of Christ. At that moment, I realized that the execution of Saddam was a soul lost. Am I getting too comfortable and unconcerned for others?

Firing Up
I enjoyed this real voyage of discovery. I came back with new eyes and asked new questions. I prayed about what steps God would call me to take following Urbana 06. Am I courageous enough to ask?

Thank you for supporting us through prayers, and through your contribution to the Mission Fund. Your concern and generosity has made it possible for us to attend this five-day mission conference. The impact will continue. We will share it with students and young people, offering them God’s gift of hope and transformation through the message of Jesus Christ.

Blessings,

Brian Tsang

esther chui

Hi, my name is Esther Chui and I must say that going to Urbana was definitely an eye-opener! I went to Urbana wanting to know what God wants me to do in my life. Currently in my third year, I’m starting to worry about what to do after graduating especially when other people around me seem to know. I thought going Urbana will allow me to know what God’s calling is for me. I thought somehow He would speak to me there.



When I first registered for Urbana I was really excited but later on there were other things that started to come up in my mind. I was worried about not knowing the people in my group. I know there were 31 other SCBC people going however, I didn’t really know a lot of them and none of my fellowship friends are going either. It seems like I’m alone. I’m really thankful that God allowed me to know new friends through those five days. I felt His presence and I was able to focus my purpose of going to Urbana on God and not on other things around me. The reason I went to Urbana was to meet God.

During Urbana we studied the book of Ephesians and heard from different speakers. It was just amazing seeing 22,000 people worshipping and praising God together. We came from all over North America with a different culture and a different background but coming together for the same purpose: we wanted to meet God and let Him shape our direction in life. It felt like a BIG family. In Ephesians, it talked about the idea of unity and we together are the body of Christ. Not only that, but these five days made me became more aware of what’s happening in the world. Even though I can tell you that at this moment I don’t know what God’s calling for me is, but what I know is He has something planned for everyone and we should get ready so that together as a unified body we WILL change the world.

Lastly, I just want to thank you all for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for all of us as we head back to school and that we will be able to learn and tell people about our experience from Urbana and that God will use us wherever, whatever and whenever it may be to change the world.

chi kei lau
At Urbana, I was impacted by a seminar I attended, called “Breaking barriers to intimacy with God”. Ironically, it wasn’t my first choice but the one I originally intended to go was full. God is so good and he revealed to me, spiritual wisdom & truths that I didn’t even know I needed to hear. He knew my needs before I even did. The speaker defined intimacy as “ability to be who you are in front of another person” while referring to the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis. After they ate the forbidden fruit and felt shame from their nakedness, so they used fig leaves to cover themselves in front of God. And so, the speaker posed the question – “What fig leaves have you been sewing together?” as in, what have you turning to; to fill that need for intimacy? And so, that just really brought me back to reality as I thought about my own life, and things that were blocking my own relationship with God and preventing myself from being more personal and real with Him. As Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”. For myself, these words give me hope that as I continue to seek and follow after God’s heart that my own barriers and fig leaves towards God will disappear.

Chris Jong

“Live a life worthy of the calling you have received”. As I sit here two week after coming back from Urbana, I ask myself what the calling I have received is. I even question if I have received my calling.

I was not quite sure what God had in store for me, or if in fact he had anything in store for me. Days leading up to the day of departure, I was somewhat frustrated with God, wondering why I hadn’t really heard from Him in a while. On top of that, I had really been seeking and trying to find out why the life of a Christian was so boring. Isn’t being a son of the highest God supposed to be exciting?

God spoke to me at Urbana, and it wasn’t at all where I expected. Sure, I was moved by the joint musical worship with 22,000 lifting their hands high to Jesus. In the same way big name speakers with big sermons truly spoke on behalf of the word of God with conviction and passion. But just like Elijah found out when he scaled Mt. Horeb, God’s voice is in the small things.

Lying in bed early in the morning reflecting on how far people came to unite and to, together, study and worship the Lord and His word. Applying what I learnt of the gift of grace that was so heavily enforced during Bible Studies to the small portion of food sitting in front of me. God spoke through my eyes; seeing the face of Jesus in the annoyed man on the bus who had heard just about enough of Jesus. As the preacher at the front spoke about taking Christ’s fame to the ends of the earth, I couldn’t help but notice the sole worker in the upper stands of the arena sweeping the floors; wondering if she knew the creator of her heart.

What can I say about Urbana? After several pages of notes, scribbles all over Ephesians, and a stack high of books, I can honestly say that God taught me a lot, and through reflection and reminiscing, I am still learning things about things I heard two weeks ago. But it is through the small things, the things that pass us so quickly, that God penetrated my heart. Through all these things I realized that God was calling me to be something bigger, something bolder than what I was at that moment. That God doesn’t call us to live mediocre lives: that we should be up in the stands rather than in our seats; by exclaiming “how great is our God” by praying for the man cynical about Christ to be transformed, instead of joining along in song with the rest of the bus. He calls us to flee from the norm and everything that is easy to do; challenging us to take on the scary, tough, dangerous, yet exciting mission he has planed for us.

So as I sit here two weeks after Urbana wondering what the calling I have received is, I can honestly say, I’m not sure. I am hoping that my ears will be open and my heart willing when God reveals His plan for my life. I don’t know when God will reveal more to me, nor will I sit on my hands and wait for His voice. However, if there is one thing I learnt from Urbana, it’s this: that God has an amazing and exciting calling for His son, Chris Jong, and it is up to me if I want to embrace it at its full value, or if I want to toss it aside and live a mediocre and boring life. Brothers and sisters of Christ, I hope you embrace it.

Urbana 06 Reflections- Carrie Lam

At the start of this school year, God placed a passion in me to help HIV/Aids patients. This new instilled passion of mine scared me at first, because I knew I would be dealing with an issue that was controversial in most churches. At school, I got involved with a group that advocated and promoted awareness for HIV/Aids. While prepping for World Aids Day events, my heart broke at all the statistics that I heard about the current condition of those affected in Africa and Asia.

Going into Urbana, I did not know what to expect. One of their major themes this year was HIV/Aids, which was a strange coincidence for me. The very first night of Urbana, I was blown away at the vast amount of people around the world who have such a passion for Christ, and were longing to know more. Looking around at the 22,000 people surrounding me during large group session inspired me to open up my ears, eyes, heart, and mind and be attentive to hear God’s calling during the next 5 days at Urbana.

During the course of Urbana, I attended seminars that focused on AIDS and injustice in this world, was inspired by speakers like Princess Kasune Zulu who was HIV+, had my heart broken by videos and staggering statistics of how those in 3rd world countries lived like, and bought many books about God’s response to the injustice in this world. My perspective on AIDS and poverty completely changed after all these experiences, and I tried to shake off all the stigma that our society today has attached to these problems.

Urbana provided me a chance to know God and His plan for me more. Though I still don’t know exactly where God has called me to go, but I do know God has placed a longing in my heart to help those who are victims of social injustice. God uses each one of us for a specific purpose and goal in His kingdom, and answering His call is of life’s greatest honors. The church is God’s leading lady, and He wants us to work with Him in extending His kingdom to one more person, one more family, one more community. I am excited to see where God will lead me in the future, and I am ready to say “Yes” to His calling for my life!

Keith Mak’s Urbana Testimony

I went to Urbana with high expectations from hearing previous experiences and testimonies. I was seeking to define my own worldview as well as for God to open my heart to missions. What I got out of Urbana was much more than I could have ever expected. Urbana was a life changing experience.

On the very last night of Urbana I committed to do a few things. Two of which I have expanded on.

1) Commit one of my university co-op terms to short term missions. During Urbana I had time to explore the many mission agency booths. I talked to many representatives from various agencies but there was one that really caught my attention. I am currently studying in Waterloo’s engineering co-op program. It is a 5 year program that alternates every four months between work and study. Thus, it means that I have no summers, which would be a great opportunity for short-term missions. The one agency I found was called Engineering Missions International. It originally caught my eye because it would allow me to apply my engineering background directly onto the mission field. As I talked to the representative, I learned that they offered a 4 month internship. Furthermore, it would work perfectly with my co-op schedule and I would count towards a credit. From this, I immediately knew God had a calling for me and that I had found a purpose to my studies.

2) Secondly, I committed to befriend and to share my faith to someone of a different ethnicity or nationality. I currently live in residence with one other roommate. He is from Dubai and is a practicing Muslim. We haven’t talked much over the past semester but when we did, it was always about our religions and the differences. I decided at Urbana that I would try to talk to him more. However, God had different plans for me.

I was studying at the library and saw one of my classmates sitting at another table and I approached him. We talked about our class and he spotted my devotional book and asked if I was Christian. I learned that he was a practicing Muslim and we talked about our faith for a while. He knew a lot about Christianity and seemed interested in finding out more. I also felt the same towards Islam. I have learned the basic differences between Islam and Christianity in Sunday school but it wasn’t enough to give me a clear picture. We had a lot of questions for each other and he ended up inviting me to his community time of prayer in the afternoon. Currently, I am very interesting in finding out more about Islam as well as Christianity. I feel that I have a lot to learn and many more questions to be answered. Never in my life have I ever felt the need to further discover Christianity for myself.

Jim Tebbe said something in his introduction at Urbana that struck me – “we may not remember anything, we may not learn anything, but that’s ok - it’s not the purpose of Urbana. Instead, we should be willing to listen to how God may be speaking to us.” I went into Urbana with little expectations but kept in mind the experiences of past attendees. Throughout the week, I prayed that the Lord would guide me wherever, whatever and whenever. As the days went by, I met some new faces and heard their stories. The college students that I’ve encountered shared with me what God was doing in their lives and the direction they’ve been heading to glorify God’s Kingdom. The seminars and my new friends have shown me how a city is a mission field. The city in which I call home has grown drastically and the plan to see it grow spiritually is profound. I believe He has revealed part of His plan to me but the direction is still unclear. As I continue my journey, I pray that I’ll be listening to how God may be speaking to me and that I will respond to the Lord with wherever, whatever, and whenever.