Adulting is for Grown Ups

The morning started early on what I knew would be a long day. I stopped by the supermarket on the way to the venue to pick up some donuts for the team. Mine was the first car in the parking lot, but it turns out a few others had beaten me there and were already sweeping and wiping the dust from the chairs in the main hall. Other helpers started floating in and we gathered to pray before things got crazy. For months our small group had been planning and looking forward to hosting a conference on spiritual maturity for the young adults of Windhoek and now the day had finally arrived!

Registration started slow and we were wondering if we'd set our hopes too high. But by the end of the day we had over 120 people come, and perhaps more impressively, 29 different churches were represented!

We all gathered in the main hall to start the day with a welcome, introduction and worshipping together. Likewise, members of the worship band were from 4 different churches. In a nation where denominationalism is so divisive, it was important to us that the team on stage would represent the unity in diversity that we so value. They did a great job leading us in worship, each contributing a bit of their own style. I know some of the attendees were a bit stretched experiencing the music style of different worship leaders!

Our culture has a bit of a love affair with youth. From the 'fountain of youth' to anti-aging cream, etc., the idealism and, frankly, idolatry of youth has given growing up a bad reputation. Or to put it another way, it's given maturity a bad reputation. Yet biblical authors consistently exhort their readers not to stay in the immaturity of childhood, but to grow up in maturity (e.g., Col. 1:28; Eph 4:13; Heb. 6:1)! So in our opening session I gave an exhortation to press on to spiritual maturity. We cast a vision for what spiritual maturity could look like, thinking the way that God thinks, desiring the things that God desires. You can listen to the message here.

Immediately afterward we broke up into small groups to discuss what people took away from the message and how they could apply it to their lives. My favorite part about these discussion groups was that the leaders of those groups were members of the young adult small group that I help lead on Sunday nights. Thus what they experience on Sunday nights, now they were putting into practice themselves in these little discussion groups. And the feedback from all of them was how encouraging and confidence-building it was! Some of the attendees also commented how this was one of their favorite parts of the conference.

Small group discussion

One-on-one prayer time

Following discussion groups we had some fantastic food prepared by other members of our small group. I think some of the attendees may have just come because they heard there would be free food!

Long line for food at meal time. 

Serving lunch

Hanging out after lunch

After lunch we had two workshop slots where attendees could choose which topics to hear. These workshops were mostly focused outward, beyond ourselves. Immaturity is self-centered, but maturity looks outward to others. One workshop focused on missions and helping young people catch a passion for mission where they are, but also among the still many unreached people groups around the globe. Another focused on how to use your particular gifts and passions to start a ministry and reach others with the gospel. Another focused on understanding Islam and how to engage your Muslim friends with the gospel. But by far the most popular workshop was the one about maximizing your singleness for God's glory! I'm not entirely sure if attendees wanted to learn about seeking God's glory, or about who else in the group was single. ;)

"Using Your Gifts for Ministry: A Tale of Two Gamers"

"Mission is on God's Mind. And Yours?"

Another highlight of the day was the Panel Discussion with all the speakers of the day. Attendees had written down questions which were then posed to the panel to hear their thoughts. There were many insightful questions regarding topics of the day like singleness and marriage, dealing with lust, pursuing spiritual maturity, and more. One of the highlight quotes regarding singleness and dating was, "Don't start cooking until you're ready to eat!" But perhaps the greatest applause and cheers came when one workshop speaker mentioned that his wife was the one who proposed to him!

After another round of small groups and dinner, we closed off the day with a last main session. The worship team again led us well in worship. Then our final talk considered the idea that 'adulting is hard.' Pressing on to spiritual maturity is hard because Jesus asks some really hard things of us. Putting fleshly desires to death is hard. Loving God more than we love the things of this world is hard. Yet it's worth it because, like the saints in Hebrews 11, we're not home yet. We're still looking forward to our reward. You can listen to this message here.

Overall it was a fantastic day where young people experienced diverse Christian community and were challenged to continue their spiritual growth. We got lots of great feedback about the day, including descriptions like "life-changing" and "in season." Most people were even asking when the next one will be! Clearly we found a niche where God's Word is desired. Please pray for us as we continue to make ourselves available to help meet that need.

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