Tuesday, January 13, 2009
2009 INDIANA STUDENT LEADERSHIP FORUM
The picture above shows the group participating in the 2009 Student Leadership Forum. God showed up big time and we had a terrific group of students, facilitators and host families. God provided good weather instead of the horrible stuff that had been forecast.
The hotel did a great job of serving us. The meeting room was just right and the food abundant and delicious. Our service project at the Lord’s Pantry was rewarding for all. I had been somewhat apprehensive as this was the first year without Lucious Newsom, who passed away in August. But again, God blessed. That ministry is going forward. The folks there had expected 150 or so to be served with food and we served 300! It was like the “loaves and the fish” in the Bible. We had just enough food for the people who came through. As in other years, the students in our group were immensely blessed and there were changed lives. Our students were terrific servants of the guests who came.
A portion of the afternoon was spent with one of the key volunteers at the Lord’s Pantry. Julie was able to come to the hotel in the afternoon, eat pizza and hang out with our students. It was a great time of sharing.
Also that afternoon Congressman Mike Pence called in and had a conversation with the students and was able to answer their questions. Mike couldn’t be present this year. He has been elected the third in leadership of the Republican party and the leader called a retreat for last weekend. But again God provided and what could have been a disappointing experience turned out to be wonderful. We only had a little razor cell phone with which to receive Congressman Pence’s call. There was only one spot in the room that had any reception at all and just one little cell phone speaker for 25 people. I didn’t think anyone would be able to hear. Wrong! God blessed and it was absolutely perfect. Mike was driving back to Washington, D.C. from the retreat and we had no interruption in signal.
I’m pumped and am getting carried away. I didn’t even get to mention all the great experiences at the Indiana State House Friday night! I’ll just conclude by saying that the host family experience was marvelous for both students and host families. And we had dry roads on which to travel! In our group I think we had one of the best discussions at the host family's house—and we’ve had some good ones! Our final session was with the entire group where we discussed the weekend and asked for input for next year. That was an excellent time of sharing. Thank you, God, for a great weekend!
posted by jim 10:15 AM 1 comments
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