Jesse Penna | EFC-MAYM Director of Student and Young Adult Ministries
How does one adequately recap a gathering that took two-plus years, hundreds of hours, lots of face-to-face meetings, zoom calls, numerous emails, loads and loads of conversations, and thousands of texts to plan? Short answer: you don’t! However, I will give it my best shot and would like to do so by offering a short recap with a personal focus for this article. Furthermore, I would like to gather a few Friends Summit testimonials for an upcoming edition of eInsights sometime in the future.
In the gospels, we see various small snippets of conversations that Jesus had that changed lives. From the woman at the well, to the disciples “along the way,” all the way to the thief on the cross, these conversations along with many other recorded ones and non-recorded ones, are what seem to me to be the primary strategy of Jesus in bringing heaven to earth: conversations that changed lives! The aspect of Friends Summit that I consider to be the most important: “conversations that could change your life.”
How does one measure a conversation? How does someone know if there has been a conversation that changed someone’s life? Sometimes you know or hear right away, often you don’t know until years later, and sometimes you never know this side of eternity. Conversations that we sought to encourage and facilitate happened primarily through mentors/advocates and mentees. If you sent a group to summit, have you asked them yet about their conversations among this group? Other conversations that happened at Friends Summit 2023 happened between 267 plus attendees, 9 yearly meetings, 42 resource persons, all conversing with each other and most importantly conversing with God the Father, through His Son Jesus, through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit! Amen? Amen! To be continued. . .
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