#nayc17

It's crazy that we're well into September and I am just now posting this blog post about congress. I literally could not put my experience into words for so long but I tried my best to explain everything that happened.

North American youth congress 2017. It's crazy to think that when my youth group started organizing our trip I didn't even want to go. This was my first year attending congress and when the info came out I wasn't really keen on traveling or paying a large sum of money for this trip. But my friends convinced me and I am so glad that they did.

My youth group met up at our church at 11pm on the day before congress was set to begin. We were traveling with another youth group in our district and they met at our church as well. I was dreading this part of the trip. I really do not like traveling for long periods of time and this drive was 15 hours long. My knees aren't that great so they start to hurt if they stay in the same position for too long (pray for me 😂) and I also cannot fall asleep in moving vehicles so it's easy to say that I started this trip off with a bad attitude. After what seemed like forever we finally arrived at our hotel with about an hour to get ready for night service. The first night I wore a white blouse, a black pleather pencil skirt, tan lace up, fringes open toed heels, and a black floppy hat. I actually had this little boy tell me that I "made the hat look good", it was hilarious.

My youth group was sat in level 100 which were some pretty good seats. On Wednesday night the message was brought to us by Bro Michael Ensey and it was titled the faith factor. He challenged us by asking what if we lived our lives by faith instead of by fear. I enjoyed hearing him speak on this topic because faith is something I struggle with and this was a word that I really needed.

The Thursday morning main session was taught by Tom Ellis and it was called the greatest opportunity on earth. He spoke about the power of prayer and how being able to pray is the greatest opportunity on earth. He spoke about how revival will come through persistent prayer and how we shouldn't just rely on our leaders to pray and that we should commit to prayer for ourselves.

My youth group was sat in level 100 which were some pretty good seats. On Wednesday night the message was brought to us by Bro Michael Ensey and it was titled the faith factor. He challenged us by asking what if we lived our lives by faith instead of by fear. I enjoyed hearing him speak on this topic because faith is something I struggle with and this was a word that I really needed.

After a quick nap it was time to go to night service. For the Thursday night service I wore a blush pink long sleeved midi dress that I got at H&M with black lace up flats. The Thursday night sermon was preached by Bro Sam Emory and was titled "Is this that?". The theme of nayc 2017 was this is that, as in this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. I really enjoyed the Thursday night service and can easily say that it was one of my favourites. He challenged us asking is this was really that in our lives.

For Thursday night dinner a few of my friends and I got Mcdonald's through uber eats and can I just say that American Mcdonald's is insane. For starters y'all call the junior chicken a mcchicken which was super confusing when I was ordering. And your food is so cheap! Like crazy cheap! I'm telling you I got 20 nuggets for $5 usd when it's $11.99 Canadian. I wish we got those kind of prices here.

Friday morning service was taught by Bro Victor Jackson and it was about "a call to greatness". This sermon was also easily one of my favourite sermons that was preached at nayc 2017. I enjoyed the way that bro Jackson preached and the passion and personal experiences he had behind it. I remember he spoke about choosing to follow God's call on his life even though he could've gone on to have successful basketball career and how God has blessed his life since then. He spoke about how God is calling us to a higher level and how the devil tries to get us at a young age so we don't answer that call. It was an amazing sermon which I will remember for a long time.

Friday afternoon I tried Chick-fil-A for the first time in my life. It was great, I had a number one combo I believe. Waffle fries are amazing, just straight amazing. I had some sweet tea too as I did with every meal I had at congress as we don't have that in Canada either. Friday night I wore a yellow blouse with a black pencil skirt and black open toed heels with a diamond embellishment. This was one of my favourite outfits that I wore at congress.

Friday night the worship was amazing. I mean, the worship was amazing the entire congress, but Friday night they sang some amazing songs such as "breakthrough" by Eddie James, and "do it again" by elevation worship. It was also during Friday night worship that Bro Anthony Trimble shared his testimony about how God healed him of colon cancer and as he proclaimed "God's not done moving mountains" the whole stadium was moved by the spirit, it was incredible.

Friday night service was brought to us by Bro Jason Staten and it was titled "I'm the map". And after getting us all laughing as we sang along to the map song from the Dora the explorer he began to speak about the three lines we must have on our map; doctrine - the identity of the apostolic church, demonstration - the power of the apostolic church, and ministry in action - the impact of the apostolic church. After night service I tried Steak 'n Shake for the first time. That burger was so good it was ridiculous. I wish I lived in America solely for the food.

The next morning sadly our trip had come to an end. This trip was seemingly shorter as everyone stayed awake for this ride and we played games and took turns speaking about our most memorable moment of the trip. We arrived home safely in the evening burning with a new fire for God that we were ready to share at our churches the very next day.

North American youth congress 2017 was an experience that I will never forget. I cannot even believe that I considered not going. I hope that those who were there continue to use what they learned and what they experienced at congress in their everyday lives. And to those that weren't there, I hope to see you in St Louis, Missouri for nayc 2019!