community

Yesterday, my team and I wrapped up seven months of hard work, meetings, trainings as another year of TC comes to an end. With attendees offering one another hugs, others signing shirts and leaders bursting into tears of joy, I once again stand in awe of the lessons I have learned and the way God had shown Himself to me during this week. In comparison to years past, I can wholeheartedly tell others that I gave this year's conference everything, from interviews to trainings, from administration to accountability. I'm not preaching that hard work will bring upon sweeter and better fruit, but my goodness, I observed and learned a lot. Each year, God presents a new word to me during the conference: joy, unity, mosaic; this year, He gave me the word "community."

1) Authentic Christian Community is shown when we grieve together. 

Day 3 was a rough day for my youth leaders as they watched one of their captain friends struggle mentally. It was an absolute uphill battle trying to work with my team to support him, comfort his co-captain, figure out logistics and coach the youths who were left shocked and disoriented witnessing a friend's emotional breakdown. In that moment and even during the evening sessions, there were moments where I was frustrated by their tears desperately wanting them to focus on their duties and responsibilities, and turn the metaphorical faucet off. However, as I chatted with some, I ultimately recognized that tears came because they felt his pain, they empathized with his struggle, and they felt guilty for not offering enough support. Upon reflection, in a world where individual success and personal gains are prioritized, I realized that these youth leaders are modeling Church (a countercultural community) when they love one another so deeply and grieve seeing people experience tough and difficult moments. In these moments, they refused to live life like the Levite and Teacher who ignored the wounded Samaritan on the road. The next day, I saw a sea of coaches writing letters to their youth leaders. Though they have only known these captains for several months, there was a genuine desire to speak and communicate word of encouragement, love and wisdom to them. This is what Church should be— when we live with a spirit of true togetherness and unity during the good and bad times.

2) Community is about sharing stories and answered prayers. 

If I could describe my seniors team in a phrase, they were "lightning in a bottle." From the first time they cheered, I knew that our group was going to have potential, not to win any awards but be a group where honest conversations could take place. As the conference came to a close, we allotted time for testimonies sharing. We called for answered prayers, God-moments and ways they want to improve their faith. It didn't take long for the stories to roll in— being welcomed into church through sports ministry, being able to find like-minded Christ-centered friends, finding inspiration during the worship sets, overcoming mental health challenges. The conversation even shifted to making sense of current events and church history. Sharing after sharing, we collectively acknowledged and praised God for all the ways He has been showing up in our lives. And for those who stayed quiet, I could tell that they were encouraged by other's stories and vulnerability. In a world of chaos, corruption and war, I walk away (and the attendees do too) with these stories that offer us reminders that God is active, speaking and moving in our midst.

3) Community is about passing the baton. 

During the end of the junior conference, attendees were prompted to speak with their coaches if they wanted to respond to the sermon. Anxiously, my co-coach and I stood at the back waiting for possible opportunities to counsel members of our group. An unexpected junior, one of our most energetic, confidently walked up. I took the cue and followed her to the gym, where she burst into tears and shared about her family and sibling struggles. Just like my captain, she was living in a season of unimaginable suffering, uncertainty and pain. I boldly texted my coach to have my captain join the counseling session in hopes that she could offer some words of encouragement and practical advice. Believing that our testimonies are powerful stories, I couldn't believe that this grade 9's current reality mirrored my captain's conversion testimony. When my captain arrived and heard about the attendees struggles, she couldn't help but share her story. We ended the conversation with prayer and walked to the hallway to send the attendee off. With hands gripped tightly, both girls held onto each other closely as my captain gave her final words of support. Whispers were exchanged and I couldn't hear much but I am certain that the words were powerful. That evening, my captain broke down in tears, empathizing with the pain of seeing a parent suffer with no confidence that recovery is possible. She shared about how hard it is to send someone back home knowing that home is no different from navigating a land mine. With guilt, she couldn't imagine herself coming back to church tomorrow smiling and welcoming a new set of attendees. As I drove home that night, I was filled with regret because I had placed my captain in a position that required her to share her story and carry such a heavy burden. Her heaping tears made me wonder if I should have just prayed and handled it on my own. With encouragement from my mentor coaches, I chose to trust the Holy Spirit's inkling to bring my captain into this tough conversation. 

Fast forward to the final day of the conference, the same response activity happened and I stood at the back of the sanctuary. No attendee from our team approached me, but someone approached her. She confidently walked the attendee to the gym as the response song came on. I didn't feel the need to follow her and remained for the final worship set. I eventually thought it would be the responsible thing to do to check in on her and walked to the gym. In a sea of coaches talking to attendees, I saw her (a youth leader) talking to that one high school student. I didn't feel the urge to join the conversation and left to go back. When she rejoined us, I asked if the talk went well and she gave me a nod and told me that she had to fill in a response form. In that moment, I felt like God gave me complete peace for the decision I made on day 2. By joining that conversation and prayer during the junior conference, she was able to do it independently on day 4. Mentorship is about moving from "I do, you watch" to "I watch, you do," and I saw this progression right before my eyes. I saw this even with my guy captain who spent his entire dinner having faith conversations with one attendee. How beautiful it is to see them do the things "coaches" typically do. As adults, we sometimes cling onto duties and fail to invite the younger ones to join us...but when we take risks and invite the next generation to participate with us, it can inspire and empower.

The beauty of youth ministry is that growth happens so quickly. Many youth are like sponges desperate for advice, lessons and next steps. They are keen on growing and becoming refined and better version of themselves. And it has been an absolute joy being part of some of their journeys this year, especially with the ten leaders in my small group. Personally, I challenged myself to be more intentional this year, focusing on quality discipleship over quantity of conversations. It has been rewarding partnering with T and seeing his unique perspective on situations, being gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love as our small group encounters various fires. 

I know there will be sabbaticals next year and the bittersweet feeling is beginning to surface already. However, as we encouraged the youth during commissioning, I am reminded that the nature of the team will not dictate how well things will go. We shouldn't be creating expectations and burdening ourselves with reaching that "standard" of perfection. God will continue to work and doing His thing...it is our job to do our best and partner with Him as He brings people to the Cross and to pursue Him.

~cho