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Conference time is exciting. After all that planning, preparing, detail checking and double checking, you can not wait until the weekend arrives. You’ve got your rooming list submitted, your snack supply replenished, a full tank of gas, and your bible ready to go. The students are amped and expecting God to show up in crazy ways. You become laser focused and all you can think about is how awesome it will be.
And it IS awesome, in beautiful and unexpected ways. Students tell you stories about how God spoke a dream into their heart. Others decided to surrender their life completely to Him. Some tell you about hurt or sin that was broken off or how they encountered the Holy Spirit for the first time. Some were blown away by the love they felt in your group, or how crazy it is that they all somehow bonded over three short days. They are enthusiastic. They are experiencing the awesome high conferences bring. They are hopeful. They are changed.
This is the very reason we do what we do as leaders and advisors. We love seeing Jesus change the hearts and lives of the people we have grown fond of. We pray for these students, we believe in these students, we work and plan and give and preach so that they would know the love that Jesus has for them. But we aren’t naïve.
We know that there is such a thing as the dreaded conference after effect. We are there to lead our students when the excitement has worn off and the words to that catchy worship song are starting to fade. Maybe that dream doesn’t seem as clear, or their decision to follow Him doesn’t seem as right. Our job as leaders is to help them navigate this “after” time.
Here are three things I think are helpful to encourage students to do:
- Process
After we experience something awesome, it is always important to take time to process what happened. Everyone processes differently, but encourage students to think about what God revealed to them. Some groups do this together by taking a meeting to discuss what God has done. Others enjoy journaling or going out to talk about it with a friend or mentor. Sometimes making a “take away” list helps us to pin point the areas God was specifically working on. By setting aside time to process, we are letting God solidify the things He has spoken or shown us in our hearts. As leaders, we need to help facilitate the processing.
2. Follow Through
Sometimes in the hype and excitement of a conference, we make bold and audacious promises. Maybe some of your students came back convicted about how little they share their faith and are determined to evangelize more. Perhaps others want to read the Word on a more regular basis or finally break up with that guy who is bad news bears. Encourage students to put action steps to their desires. The God they met at the conference is the God who walks with them still. He is still powerful, still loving, still merciful, and still alive. Help students focus in on what they want to accomplish and remind them that the Holy Spirit they encountered at the conference is still living inside of them, ready to be used.
3. Dream Together
The greatest way to fight off the after effect is to stand on who God is and remember His promises. The truth is, God desires to use you and your group to impact your campus for His glory. Conferences can often be used as a catalyst for change. Take this after time as an opportunity to speak vision to your group and encourage them to dream together. Historically, crazy cool things happen when a bunch of students start dreaming together. We can not possibly imagine the things He has in store for us. As we surrender and seek Him more in the mundane and every day, God will create in us dreams beyond compare. Encourage students to persevere and watch how He opens up new levels of ministry on your campus and new depths of intimacy with Him for your group.
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