Meta Conference 2019

On October 18-20 I had the privilege to go to InterVarsity's Fall Conference for the Florida region called Meta. It's an annual conference bringing around 300 students from chapters all over the state for a weekend of training and fellowship. This was the second year that we were having the conference in Orlando hosted by Calvario City Church.

As a volunteer from FIU, we were able to bring 4 students, one of which gave his life to Jesus on Saturday evening! We traveled together with Miami Dade College (MDC) and I was able to help with driving to and back from Orlando. 

Meta brings such great memories from my time as a student, it was a break between the hectic semester to reflect on how our chapter was doing and be trained to continue working on campus when we went back. I was excited to go back and to participate this time as a staff.

October 18 happened to be IFES World Student Day. World Student Day is an annual celebration where we pray for other sister movements around the world. Because it was going to be the same day as the start of our conference, the Florida team was excited to set time aside to talk and participate as a state in interceding for ABU Puerto Rico. In our state we had one student and me who had participated in this year’s World Assembly. We were given space to share about our experience and to lead the region in prayer for ABU. At the end, the region prayed for me as a sign of sending me to the work in Chile.

October 19 was a day full of worship, teaching, seminars and so much more! In our morning worship I was asked to talk about our IFES offering and invite students to prepare their hearts for giving. After one session of seminars and lunch, I was able to make my way to the room where I would be leading the seminar titled “Engage in God’s Mission Now”. We prayed with the two other staff in the seminar and began. I was able to bring in the biblical foundation and reflection questions as to why God has called us to share the good news with others and some of the things that come in the way of us doing it.

This was the first time I’ve led a seminar before and I’m glad for the topic and staff I was grouped with. Because the 3 of us were scattered in different cities, we had several calls beforehand to talk about the theme and divide into different parts. It was beautiful to experience divine inspiration as we saw our hearts stirred to similar issues and passages. This was the first time this particular seminar was being given at our Fall Conference, so we were glad to see the surveys students filled towards the end. Overall the feedback was positive with one mentioning, “this was exactly what I was needing, thank you!”. Praise God for each student that attended and the conversations that happened in our time there!

As always, worship time was beautiful! One of the things I appreciate from InterVarsity’s worship time is diversity. InterVarsity is an interdenominational organization that also commits to cultural diversity. With this beautiful combination, I’ve learned from Catholic friends in their liturgy of prayer and confession and of the power of the Holy Spirit from my Pentecostal friends. I’ve learned songs from Native Hawaiians, Egypt, and Korean to name a few. I remember the first time I went to a conference and was completely in shock. So many languages, so many styles! With time, I came to appreciate different people groups expression of worship and looking forward to it.

This year’s theme was God’s Metanarrative, “exploring the thread of God's love, pursuit, and longing for reconciliation with people of all ethnicities and cultures, throughout all of God's story as found in the Bible”. We looked at passages like Genesis 11:1-8 and Revelation 21:22-27 and how God’s purpose in diversity in cultures reflects his nature. Although humanity’s sin had been seeking comfort and pride when building the tower of Babel, God’s mercy was shown in creating different languages. Diversity was never meant to be a curse. It was beautiful to see in Revelation that the new heaven and earth had no sun or moon, things from creation that God said were good and a sustenance to life on earth, instead, it included the splendor of the nations. We were left to meditate how we are living in reflection of this kingdom we belong to.

In conclusion, the time at Meta was exciting and life-giving. As an FIU chapter, the students made commitments to doing Bible studies reflecting God’s love of cultures and giving space to learning from the backgrounds of members from their small groups. May God continue to guide us as we continue with what is left of the semester.