Here's an old post I wrote on Multiply about Campus Harvest (but our Philippine youth conference is now called Ignite)....
When we had our Campus Harvest conference a few years ago in Baguio (May 2004), I had a powerful and unforgettable encounter with God.
It was the last day of the conference, and if you know me, I don’t really cry. But when I got to my seat and the prayer meeting was about to start (30 minutes before the start of praise and worship), I began to tear, cry, sob . . . I could not understand why except I knew I was encountering God. I was enjoying being in His Presence and allowing Him to take charge and speak to me.
I cried through praise and worship, but when it got to the offering and the preaching, I began to feel a bit awkward. Who cries through the offering? I think Rico preached during that last session (I can’t really remember through the tears), and I went to the back because I felt so embarrassed already. My friends even thought I was upset at them because I just left them without an explanation and I didn’t want to talk to them. But I did not know how to explain what was going on. In my years of walking with God, I had never encountered Him that way and I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to stay in His Presence and enjoy my time with Him, but I also didn’t know if I was just being weird. I knew it was different because I was crying until after the conference ended and it was time for lunch. I left my friends in the restaurant and went back to the room because I needed to process what was going on.
I opened my Bible and continued reading through the book of Psalms. I kept reading, highlighting, praying, crying, and finally I got to Psalm 16:2, which I continue to remember to this day:
I said to the LORD,
“You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
“You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
This was my declaration. God has blessed me tremendously and continues to do so, but without Him, I have no good thing. He is all I need and want. After approximately 5 hours of crying, I knew God had done something powerful in my life that day. He was reinforcing who He was in my life and He asked me to trust Him like no other. He asked me to love Him like no other. I recommitted my life to Him and asked for Him to be at the very center of my life.
Since that time, many things have happened—traveling to new places, changing jobs, expanding ministry involvements and responsibilities—but I look back at that time and know that God sealed Himself in my heart that day. I didn’t expect Him to show up the way He did, but I am so glad He reveals Himself in ways we do not understand or can imagine. I don’t always cry during praise and worship even to this day, but I know that He meets me where I am and I can encounter Him every day. I am a different person after having encountered Him. Seeking Him and serving Him is the best thing I could ever do with my life, and I am excited to encounter Him in new ways!
Here is a picture of some of my friends
who were with me at Campus Harvest 2004
SEE YOU IN IGNITE, and GET READY FOR A POWERFUL ENCOUNTER THAT COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER!
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