NYWC 2015

After resigning from the job, I was pretty excited to have a little bit more flexibility in terms of being better equipped with serving the youth ministry. Since I dedicate such a big portion of my life serving in the ministry, it was a high stress factor for me to constantly not feel equipped nor prepared in my weekly duties. So, first thing I did was to sign up for a leadership convention that I have been so longing to go to all year long. I stumbled upon NYWC and it just happened to have the dates that landed perfectly for me and so on my own I went.

There were a couple of reasons I decided to go alone. I wanted some time away from everyone. I wanted to be equipped to better serve the youth. I was hoping I could connect with some people (but I knew it was pretty unlikely because most people from this convention is not from my area). Anyway, it's been a blessing to come by myself the past couple of days because I have been free to do things on my own time and most of it is bound by the workshops and sessions during the convention time. But I didn't have to rush anywhere, I could walk anywhere I want, I didn't have to entertain anyone it was just nice. I haven't had time to be lonely here because I leave the house so early and get back home so late that it's just for bed.

I used AirBnb for the first time by myself. I used it once in LA but didn't have the best experience but this time around it's been a pretty good experience. The place I'm at is old school yet modern. The person who was hosting ended up not being home for the weekend so I have the whole place to myself (although I did wish I had more chances to talk to her, she seemed really awesome to talk to). I got to hear her story about her life and got to share mine as well. I also used Lyft to get home the past two nights. I've been walking about 3-4 miles a day, which I don't typically do on a normal day to day basis, so by the end of the night, the whole bottom half of my body is sore and I'm just tired. It's been a blessing just to use these different social media platforms to meet different people here and connect with them. It's so much fun meeting new people and it's great because the relationship ends after the business relationship is over but just getting to hear people from different walks of life in such a short period of time is fun.

At this convention, there were some things that stuck out to me:

• I was encouraged about the large population of people who stay serving in youth ministry for over 20-30 years. I don't see a lot of that in the ministries I'm part of so hearing that there are people who care about the youth generation enough was encouraging.
• There is a need for resources to equip leaders who serve the Asian American setting. I realize that we as Asian Americans don't really have our own identity and take from the different cultures, whether it be White-Americans or African Americans, but most of their practices suit their culture and sometimes don't always pertain to the Asian American culture. The issues they face are not always the issues we face.
• There are a lot of leadership networking training events for Christians in the NYC area, but primarily for college and above or young adults but not so much for youth, or at least not many that I know of. And if they are for youth, it seems to not relate to the Asian American setting.
• I'm in a lot of need of soul care. I have so a passion for serving people but because my cup is not full and not overflowing, it's been hard to serve. 
• At the end of the day, praise God that I still love God and still love kids. That might mean I'm meant for this and if it does, then I hope that God would equip me as I learn to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide me, especially in the midst of my weaknesses and insecurities.