Over winter break I participated in the Impact Movement's National Conference in Atlanta, Ga. It seems that whenever I travel, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. This trip was unfortunately no different.
Based on college campuses across the United States and South Africa, the Impact Movement is a Christian organization dedicated to the fulfillment of the great commission -- bringing people to Christ and helping them in this quest -- with a special interest in equipping and enlightening the African-American community. The week-long conference included performances by Christian artists such as Israel and the New Breed and Michelle Bonilla, as well as seminars and sessions led by fantastic men and women of God. But I am getting ahead of myself.
The University chapter of the Impact Movement chartered a bus to take us down to Atlanta for the National Conference. The bus departed from D.C. on route to Charlottesville, picking up people along the way. We actually left on time and were making even better time as we traveled down Route 29. We were ahead of schedule -- that should have been the first indication that something was going to go wrong.
We stopped in Danville for lunch and were quickly informed that a bolt had broken off the engine. We would not be going anywhere for at least three hours. As we waited for a new bus to come down from Charlottesville -- which was clearly not moving as fast as our bus had -- somebody pulled out Monopoly and Catchphrase, and we quickly created an uproar in the Subway restaurant where we had stopped.
It was kind how enthralled we all were by these games. We were all reduced to the age of seven by a little friendly competition.
So five hours, three movies and some traffic later, we pulled up to the Omni hotel in Atlanta. We cheered, praised God and began to gather our luggage for the mass exodus off the bus that was about to occur, only to find out the hotel had been overbooked and we would not in fact be getting off the bus any time soon. Not only would we be on the bus for another hour, but we would also not be checking into the Omni hotel. We would not be registering for the conference until the next day, and we would most definitely miss all the events of the first night.
About an hour later, we were moved to a Country Inn & Suites. This hotel might have been one of the seediest places I have ever been. I was afraid to sleep under the covers. Needless to say we were not happy.
As Charlene Brown, the president of our Impact chapter, and I went around to check on our group, our peers quickly made us aware of their dissatisfaction, hunger, hurt and anger, all of which were prompted by the fact that we were supposed to be happily checked in at the Omni, but we were left itchin' at the Country Inn & Suites.
The next day we woke up and packed our bags in faith that God would put us in a better hotel, if not the Omni itself. We made it to the morning session on time, thanks to George, one of the best bus drivers ever. Since we hadn't registered, however, many of us missed the intro seminars, which were smaller lectures with more specific topics than those of the main sessions.
We were finally able to register and found out we would be moving to the Airport Hilton, which was fantastic -- except for the fact that it was about 30 minutes, a shuttle, two trains and a short walk away from the Omni, where the conference was being held. Nonetheless, we were ecstatic. It wasn't the Omni, but it definitely was not the Country Inn & Suites either, and that's all we asked for.
We spent the rest of the week learning how to be the "salt of the earth" and about God's plans for us as individuals. Jan. 29 we went out into the community to share the Gospel with the citizens of College Park and brought in the new year with praise and worship. This was an amazing experience. To see 3,000 young people as cool as they come, some in suits, some in jeans and some in baggy pants and Tims yelling, "Jesus! Jesus! What? Jesus!" It was both the coolest and corniest thing I have ever witnessed. I was awestruck.
Despite all the mishaps and speed bumps, the Impact Conference turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. The hotel mix-up was definitely a humbling experience for the entire group, but it was an experience we needed in order to fully receive what God had for us at that conference. It is amazing how hard the Devil had to work to distract us -- all God had to do was show up. And He did. He showed up and showed out, and as Priscilla Shirer, one of the main session speakers, said, "Once you have encountered the manifest presence of God, it ruins you for everything else."
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