The Boston Winter Conference

The Grand Finale

2009-01-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

BWC photographer Deb Crane made an amazing slide show the summarized the whole conference. This slide show played on Monday, January 5 during the last meeting of the conference. Deb has kindly posted it on her youtube account. The song is "Your Love is Strong" by Jon Foreman.

Let Me Tell You What He Has Done For Me

2009-01-12T07:15:00.000-08:00

Below is a picture slide show that was made during the conference to recap the Day of Outreach. Photos were taken by Deborah Crane, Emily Miller, Becky Arcadi, and Lauren Knisely. The song is "Come and Listen" by the David Crowder Band.

"We're all in this together"

2009-01-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

Every year on the last night of the conference the emcee performs a dance. This year Nate Miller taunted emcee Jarrod into dancing to the song "We're all in this together" from High School Musical 3.

Thy Will Be Done

2009-01-05T23:52:00.000-08:00

For the last day of the conference guest speaker James White shared two powerful messages on the theme Kingdom Come.

On Monday morning White spoke on Matthew 6:5-13 and broke down The Lord’s Prayer verse by verse. White brought new perspectives to each concept in the prayer. The first thing Jesus talk his disciples about prayer was to call God “Our Father.” This alone was a radical statement at the time considering that Jews didn’t even refer to God by name. But Jesus showed them that God cared about them as individuals, just as a loving father.

White used scripture to show that the coming of God’s Kingdom was not only a theme in the New Testament but very important to Jesus. Jesus desires us to live as citizens of God’s Kingdom.

Monday Night, James White took students to a passage at the end of the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest (Matthew 26:36-46). White showed that Jesus is praying the way he taught his disciples to pray. Most importantly Jesus ends his prayer with “My father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done,” (Matt. 26:42). This just as he taught the disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

God’s will is perfect and it’s perfectly executed in heaven. Therefore if we are striving for the Kingdom of God to takeover the earth, we should be praying for God’s will to be done perfectly on earth. It’s okay for us to ask God to come up with another paln, just as Jesus asked in the garden, as long as we remember that we want His will done more than we want our will.

Sharee Turpin, a junior at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY, realized during the conference that her life is no longer about her, but about God’s will. This is probably one of the scariest but most liberating concepts for a Christian to grasp.

James White is the senior pastor of Christ our King Community Church in Cary, North Carolina, and a former Campus Crusade for Christ staff member.

Servant Evangelism

2009-01-04T23:57:00.000-08:00

“God says to us, ‘I’ve chosen you and I’m going to make you what I want you to be’ – that’s heaven. He’s going to make this day of outreach what he wants it to be,” James White said Sunday morning to encourage students.

On Sunday BWC sent over 200 college students into the city of Boston to serve local churches and help them meet the needs of the community.

Students left the Sheraton immediately after the morning session so that they could get to their assigned locations. Some students were so nervous to hand out flyers on the street for a church that they prayed simply for no one to yell or curse at them. But excitement spread and many students were expecting miracles.

Sunday evening students had the opportunity to share about their experiences.

Laura and Mike, two students from the University of Connecticut, shared about a woman they met on the sidewalk.

“[She’s] a single mom and after we asked a few questions she immediately began to open up,” Laura said. “She shared about what she’s suffering through and asked us about God’s character. We presented the gospel to her. At the end we read the prayer aloud. She said she had never prayed that before, so she did with us.”

Students from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth volunteered for Hope Fellowship Church in Cambridge. They received bags of granola bars to take to subway stations and hand out with info cards about the church. On their walk to the church the students ran into a homeless couple they had shared with one year earlier during the day of outreach at BWC 2008. The couple recognized the students and immediately picked up the conversation where it had been left a year ago. The students gave them food and encouraged them to attend the church. We’re all praying that in another year these students will run into this couple at the church and not on the streets.

Another group of students from multiple campuses went to the Old Colony housing development in South Boston to hand out boxes of food with Grace Community Church. In addition to helping the church serve the community, BWC used this event to reach the entire city. Jennifer Cassel, the BWC public relations representative, wants to spread the story of what God is doing in the Northeast through the media.

“God is impacting people but instead of just impacting 100 people directly, God multiplies that number through the media,” Cassel said. “It makes us more effective in sharing the gospel.”

Cassel invited local news media to cover the day of outreach. Three news stations and one newspaper came to Old Colony to cover the story.

“They were so interested and one station wanted to interview people there,” Cassel said. “[The stations] were so thankful for the story and one station thanked us multiple times.”

The Boston Metro, a free newspaper that gets handed out in subway stations, posted the story on their website.

College Students Save Lives in Boston

2009-01-03T23:37:00.000-08:00

Students lived out the conference theme Kingdom Come on Saturday as they waited in line to give blood, which would literally save lives in the city of Boston.

Massachusetts is the only state in the U.S. that has to import blood. The state’s high level of specialized hospitals combined with a smaller population creates a desperate need for more blood donors. Alex McReynolds, a registered nurse and Campus Crusade for Christ staff member, decided to organize the BWC blood drive after hearing about Boston’s limited blood supply.

“[My husband] Ryan and I were giving blood and we started talking to the nurse. She told us about their need,” MrReynolds said. “I thought, ‘we gather 260 students every year, why not have a blood drive?’ What a great way to serve the city; what a great way to see the Kingdom come.”

McReynolds hoped to collect 40 units of blood at BWC but instead they received 60 units from over 90 participants, which can help up to 180 hospital patients. The blood drive turned away afternoon walk-ins because they already had more donors than expected.

“I hope we do it every year,” McReynolds said. “I hope to see it at every Christmas Conference.”

The blood drive was an opportunity for college students and Campus Crusade for Christ as an organization to be Christians who serve others. Saturday night Ben Burns spoke about how important it is for people of the Kingdom of God to represent the Kingdom well.

Burns spoke about what Kingdom-of-God people should look like. He described them as lovers of people, servants to all, fiercely loyal to the King, and deeply caring about the Kingdom and the King’s business.

Earlier in the day students had the opportunity to attend seminars during two one-hour sessions. Each one-hour time slot had nine seminar options. For the first time at the conference the seminars were divided into three different categories. The development track was for younger believers to learn about basic principles in Christianity. The leadership track equipped and encouraged student leaders. Lastly, the professional track discussed issues students face after graduation.

“We can really custom build our seminar package, if you will,” said Steve Giordanno, a student at UNH and CCC volunteer.

“I’ve been going through a dry season and maybe that’s not why I signed up but it is why I’m here,” Giordano said.

As students hear from our speakers and begin to realize God’s purpose for bringing them to BWC, seminars are a great option for them to receive advice and training in specialized areas. These seminars help them apply what they’re learning spiritually to their own lives and prepare to take new ideas back to their campus ministry.

https://www.givelife.org

Welcome!

2009-01-02T22:20:00.000-08:00

Over 200 college students poured into the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Boston Friday. They came from trains, planes, buses, cars, and metro stations for the 2009 Boston Winter Conference (BWC).

The Northeast regional headquarters of Campus Crusade for Christ hosts the annual conference for students from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Students benefit from conferences such as this one because the have the opportunity to hear clearly from God through speakers, pastors, and worship leaders passionate about the Gospel of Christ; learn more about the theology behind their faith, receive equipping in ministry and prepare to enter the workforce after graduation as active believers. The best part is that they can do all this and focus on what God has to say to them because they are separated from campus responsibilities such as classes, homework, jobs, and extracurricular activities.

Some students even choose to serve their peers at the conference. Thirty students from the University of Connecticut arrived early to volunteer as event staff and help make registration easier for all the other participants. Kristen Anderson, a sophomore at UCONN, is happy to volunteer and even more excited to be back at BWC for her second time.

“It’s a great opportunity for growth and guidance, if you use it for that; that’s why I’m here,” Anderson said. She is trying to make a decision about what to do with her summer.

“Obviously I don’t need this [conference] to reach a decision but it helps because when I’m home I don’t sit and think about it,” she said.

Looking forward to the rest of the conference, many first-time and returning students were excited for Sunday’s Day of Outreach. Students from Bunker Hill College were interested to do outreach in their own city by serving and sharing their faith with the community.

After a long day of chilly weather conditions, travel, and registration, the conference finally began with a large group session at 7:00 p.m.

After worship music, videos, and games, The Reverend Doctor Stephen Um took the stage and captivated his audience by weaving his testimony of God’s redemptive grace with scripture and the theme of Kingdom Come. Um spoke of two kingdoms constantly at war in our lives: the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of everything else.

As humans, we have a desire to rule our own lives and even though we don’t have that right we try to justify it by listing our accomplishments. However, the apostle Paul tells us that if we want to boast in something we should boast in our weaknesses. Um expounded on 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 by saying, “Know in your very moment of weakness with all of your baggage God says, ‘I will rule gently over your life to bring you to the greatest heights.’”

Um emphasized that the only way we could get into the Kingdom of God was if Jesus left it to come reach out to us. Thankfully, He did and brought us the gospel.

Kingdom Come

2009-01-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

The fourth annual Boston Winter Conference starts tomorrow, January 2nd! Registration for students begins at 3:00 p.m. Rookie emcee Jarrod Lynn takes the stage at 7:00 p.m. for the first evening session. This year's cast of characters include returning guests Dr. Stephen Um, Pastor James White, and the band Cedelife. The conference will also be hosting a concert by the band The Autumn Film (http://theautumnfilm.com).

Check here for a recap of the conference at the end of each day.

Save the Date! BWC Transition Track

2008-08-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

What day with the Transition Track happen:

Saturday January 3, 2009

Watch this space for more information.