USA (MNN) — The largest teen missions conference in the world, Urbana ’03, has come to an end in the United States. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Urbana ’03 concluded on New Years Eve with a traditional midnight communion.
But, Doctor Soong Chan Rah who presided hopes students will see it as more than a ceremony. “That the challenge of I Corinthians chapter 12, to not take communion in a unworthy manner, and to be able to do that as a diverse body of Christ,” says Rah. He says, “That’s a wonderful gift. And, I think there is something very unifying about us coming as broken people before God and taking communion before God and taking communion together and being unified in that act.”
Following the five days of seminars on cross cultural ministry and evangelism, Alex Hill, President of Intervarsity, hopes students go back to their college campuses with a renewed sense of their role in the kingdom. “For the younger ones, I would hope that they would just commit to the Lordship of Christ and that they would be open to whatever the Lord would lead them in the next step. For those who are in the 21, 23, 25 year old range, I would hope that they’re already through those first couple of levels and they’re looking for a specific sense of calling to a specific task, whether that’s in the marketplace or in Mongolia.”
The 19,000 students also collected some 1.1 million dollars to be divided among some 11 different mission agencies to help provide relief to the poor around the world.
