By Jelani Greenidge, Missional Storyteller, Covenant Companion
The following was written the morning of Thursday, July 21st, the fourth day of our five-day west coast regional youth conference.
Hey everybody! I bring you greetings from UNITE West, typing from the cafeteria of Biola University in La Mirada, California.
Translated into English, the phrase “la mirada” means “the look,” which is appropriate because there is a distinct look to the participants here, one that transcends gender, ethnicity, age, or fashion choices. The students are mostly bright-eyed, energetic, and most of all, earnest. Even the ones trying to project an image of detached cool can’t sustain it for very long. Bravado gives way to laughing and joking. Crossed arms eventually open up for handshakes, and hugs, and some even eventually are lifted up in worship.
The leaders have a look, too, which if I had to sum it in one word, would be tired. After all, it’s Thursday and we’ve been up to all this madness since Monday. But it’s not a weary, cynical tired. It’s the best kind of tiredness, where you are constantly pouring yourself out, yet also being refreshed as you marvel at what God is doing. It’s like what Paul said in Philippians 2:17: “Even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.”
There was also a distinct look and feel to the worship music, which has been passionate, energetic, and LOUD. Tanya “TT” DeCuir and her multiethnic worship team have been playing and singing various worship hits from groups like Maverick City, Israel & New Breed, and Hillsong Young & Free. One of the big differences between now and when I was a high school student in the 90s is that social media and internet distribution has made it so that students can more easily be familiar with the most popular worship songs. Gone are the days of CHIC2K3, when we had to record an album of original music and distribute the CDs ahead of time so the students would all know the music. These young folks know the music.
And they’re not afraid to show it! During every session, hundreds of teens have been fired up, surging toward the front of the room at the beginning of every song, singing, waving, swaying, and jumping along with reckless abandon. The lights dazzle the room, the bass vibrates your chest, and the sound of hundreds of students singing in unison just hangs in the air. It’s a wonder to behold.
This morning before breakfast, a throng of over a hundred runners did a 5K-style “fun run” as a benefit for FREE, the anti-trafficking initiative of the ECC’s Love Mercy, Do Justice (LMDJ) mission priority. And there are volunteers positioned at various locations along the running path, ready to encourage and cheer these runners on. Honestly, it’s a striking metaphor for what we do as youth leaders. Even as we keep running our own race, we help, encourage, sometimes cajole, sometimes assist, and sometimes even correct these young folks, knowing that each of them exists in different stages of running their own race. We’re here to help them, but in truth, these high school students are the stars of the show. It’s our job to help them to see themselves as we see them – or better yet, as God sees them.
UNITE West is a collaboration between the three regional conferences (Alaska, PacNWC, and PSWC) and Christ In Youth (CIY), which specializes in creating life-changing programming for youth events, which they call MOVE conferences. The theme for this week’s MOVE conference is “BROADCAST,” leveraging our society’s predilection towards digital mass media. And each presentation has been focused on a different parable of Jesus, digging deep into the various layers of each story to reveal God’s heart for each person. Last night was especially moving for the students. During the session presenter Steve Carter brought onstage several volunteers from the crowd to act out the parable of the two lost sons and the Father who continues to lavish love and acceptance onto them.
As youth leaders, we continue to press onward, going deeper in spiritual depth, and battling various logistical and behavioral challenges along the way. We trust that God has gone before us to prepare the way, God is moving even now, and God will continue to sustain the work we endeavor to do.
And even though there hasn’t been a survey or any kind of official ranking on the matter, we believe in the axiom continually affirmed by UNITE West co-host Rici Skei, an axiom expressed through dope beats and stuntin’ dance moves. The west coast is indeed the best coast.