NCMSLC

so..was down the past few days. left for cedarville, ohio for NCMSLC (national christian multicultural student leaders conference) kinda reluctantly. didn't wanna go anywhere or do anything. but the conference was really amazing. thank God so much i went.

the car ride there was kinda long..2hrs+..ate, slept, talked. josh (this guy frm argentina) was really funny. he looked thru my ipod and found something to laugh at. cuz right after a limp bizkit song came this song by psalty, the animated bible thingy. so was kinda funny. haha. anw reached there really tired. first session i really couldn't pay attention. was falling asleep. we stayed with pple in cedarville uni's dorms, and my host was reallyyy nice! so warm and friendly :) made me happy.

and whoa. the things we heard abt cedarville n some other universities made me oh-so-thankful i'm here at taylor! never again will i complain about the no-dancing rule here! at cedarville, they are weird rules like NO HUGGING! oh gosh. that's just extreme. and they have a curfew! i'm so glad we don't. they have to pay 1buck for every minute they're late. such strict rules. and they're alrdy adults still treat them like that. but the students don't seem to mind. i guess to each his own. come to appreciate taylor alot now :)

the next day was gd..had a few sessions. like holy hip hop. felt completely out of place cuz there were all blacks n i was like the only asian. haha. but it was cool. watched this series called 'black/white' about a black family who went thru lotsa makeup n stuff to look 'white' and a white family who did the same thing to look 'black' and experience their way of life. was really interesting how different both cultures were and how they had a hard time adapting. i guess i never really thought there existed a race issue before. but apparently it's a real hot topic here. i don't know. didn't feel like it concerned me much. to me, what divides the church of Christ most is the different denominations, not different ethnicities.

but i guess i've learnt that ethnicity can play a part in influencing your denomination. my fren was telling me about african churches here that speak in tongues n worship the Holy Spirit and pray by the spirit n everything, and when i told her that's what my church does at home too, she was shocked. i guess it don't happen often here. someone in my public speaking class gave a speech today on why there are not many americans coming to christ nowadays. he said 9 out of 10 pple fall away after their decision. meaning their follow up isn't gd enough. which i agree. they don't even consolidate pple. just ask them to receive in their hearts n go home n do nothing.

anw, at night we went to this national underground railroad freedom museum. i thought it was literally about railroads, but someone explained to me it was about slavery of blacks. which goes to show how much i know about american history.heh. it was really interesting..took a few pics :) really glad i went for the conference. got to know more pple..and got to talk about issues that concern me. a minority. so weird to say. never been a minority before. but i guess now i understand how minorities feel.

the last day was the best..we went to our own ethnic caucases. so i went for the international students one. didn't wanna go for the asians one cuz i knew it'll be all asian americans, which means they're essentially americans. seriously. asian americans aren't asian at all. they just look it but inside they don't even know anything about their culture. total banana. haha. anw it was wonderful!!! encouraging to know there are pple struggling with the same issues as me..everyone was so nice. and i realized the international student society here at taylor is the BEST! we're taken care of SO WELL compared to other universities. thank God once again for putting me here!!! :)

a few things pple said that touched me. one guy was like, i'm proud of my accent and i won't change it for the world! who cares if americans can't understand me. that's what i like about being in a foreign ctry. it was really cool how firm he was in his own identity. and he also said it's important to FIND yourself first and not let others influence u. so i'm determined to STAND STRONG in what i believe in and who cares about what others say. i know the truth is the truth and that is Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour, and to heck with all the discouraging comments. so what if they don't believe in what i believe in?? i know what i beileve in is right, and that's all that matters. no one should be able to sway me.

and also..cuz i've been strugglin with their style of worship n all..someone said we are the ones who have chosen to come here, and God has put us here for a purpose, so i believe i can get over myself and begin to worship Him wholeheartedly even though the worship style isn't what i'm used to at all. i'm gonna revolutionize the whole worship scene here at taylor!!!! :)

~oh God let us be a generation that seeks
seeks Your face oh God of Jacob~