Let me begin by saying that all weekend long we kept hearing people talking about how NYMC is the most relaxed of the youth ministry conferences. If this is true, I will never go to a different one, because the schedule would kill me! We hit the ground running on Friday morning, and it never stopped...
There were a lot of really fun things to do at NYMC. I only took pictures of the fun stuff. You will understand why later. It was a huge plus for me that Caedmon's Call and Derek Webb were there, and even though I did not get to sit in the center section of the front row, our seats were just about as good as you can get. It is always a good day when you are sitting close enough to Caedmon's that you could zoom in on their nose hairs with your camera if you wanted to... which I didn't. Probably the best part of the Caedmon's concert, though was when Cliff was asking whether you are supposed to call teens youth... or teens... or something else altogether, and I shouted out, "whatever", and Andy Osenga actually acknowledged me from the stage. This is the closest I will ever get to being a part of a Caedmon's show, so I was a little psyched.
After the show, Phil and I went to the talkback session with Caedmon's where I met their self proclaimed number one fan who couldn't even think of the names of their albums... or songs. I felt my blood pressure rise just a bit, to say the least... I did get to ask a couple of questions. I am disappointed to say that there is absolutely no where in which you can purchase the demos released before "My Calm, Your Storm". I am happy to say that it is supposedly not complicated to set up a trip to India through Dalit Freedom Network, as one day I would really like to meet my sponsored child and do something physical to help.
The other late night options I took part in were a talkback session with Braddigan, where they showed a documentary of the trash dump where they live (This is absolutely literal. It is astonishing.), and the movie screening of "To Save a Life", which will hit theaters in the Fall. I had the chance to talk with the producer of the movie and to share some concerns I had about it. Overall, I didn't really like the guy all that much, but his movie will hopefully be a useful tool. With that, let me warn you right now that if you work with teenagers, they are going to see this movie, because they see everything that goes to theaters. And... if they see this movie, there will be a lot of issues that surface. That's not a bad thing... at all... unless there isn't anyone there to help them debrief and work through the issues they have. Then, it is a very bad thing.
All of the large group worship sessions were great. I especially enjoyed hearing from Kay Warren. I was rather humored by the fact that even full grown adults still like to compete in ridiculous games during worship services... My favorite was the remote controlled airplanes that were supposed to be shot down by rocket launchers... I did not especially enjoy the texting polls (as I am technologically challenged when it comes to text messaging), and the American Idol spoof was pretty lame... I loved the artistic outlets, and there were these videos from this rapper guy that were absolutely hilarious!
Now... deeper learning tracks...
On Friday afternoon I spent several hours in a seminar entitled, "Church Kids Gone Bad". It was really interesting, and I gained a lot of insight, but I kept going back to the concept that it really isn't just kids who have "gone bad"... it is the entire family structure. That's a lot to think about.
Then, on Saturday and Sunday, I took part in an eight hour workshop entitled, "Helping Hurting Kids". It was rough. I have seen a lot of things in my own life (probably more than anyone would venture to guess), but I sure haven't seen it all. The graphic depictions of self injury, and the messages of hopelessness from kids was overwhelming. I think that even the presenters realized that this was more intense than they had perhaps originally planned, because they made mention to us that there were counselors available for those of us who participated in the seminar if we needed them. Wow... To tell you the truth, it was a draining 8 hours. I have often found myself coming home refreshed after a conference, but that was not the case this time around. This is not really a negative, though, because I learned a whole lot, and it is going to shape some of the things I do in ministry and perhaps even my direction in school and eventually in a career when my own kids are older.
On Monday I decided to go with something a little less intense, so I attended the workshop for YP spouses. Phil isn't really a YP, specifically, where we are at now, but his job description does give him primary responsibility for youth in addition to other things. It was an enjoyable hour and a half. I definitely appreciated what Kathy Fields had to say about balancing family time and working through the unique challenges of raising PKs.
All of this only begins to touch on the conference, itself. We had a great time with Robert, Amber, and Aubrie... except maybe when we walked a mile or so in the cold to get dinner one night... and when Robert smashed a dozen donuts that were supposed to dub as breakfast for the weekend... hehehe...
This is a conference that I would recommend to anyone who is involved in youth ministry (paid or volunteer). It was a wealth of information and will prove to be extremely useful over time.
Here's some pic. highlights:
Lisa
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