2009 NYI Convention is here!!!!

Yes, we have been at the Manila site for the 2009 Global NYI Convention since last Saturday, and all we can say is.... God is good all the time! The Church of the Nazarene holds a General Assembly every four years; members come to one place from all around the world to worship together and conduct business. But this year, for the first time, NYI (Nazarene Youth International) is holding its convention in 8 different sites all around the world, connecting by video-conference through the internet!

And we have the amazing privilege to be part of this historic event! Brian is the site coordinator for the Asia-Pacific convention site, which is being held here in Manila, Philippines. Many times delegates elected to the General Assembly cannot attend because of finances and the difficulty of obtaining visas. Since it's very difficult for NYI in Asia-Pacific to ever get together, we decided to take advantage of this opportunity and spend extra time together before the General NYI Convention started. So, our 30 delegates and 40 visitors from 14 different countries gathered on Sunday, and we have been enjoying worship services, workshops, and fellowship with each other. Then last night, we held our first meetings with the other Asia-Pacific delegates at the General Assembly site in Orlando.... and everything worked!!! The internet worked, we could see each other, hear each other, and understand enough to elect a new Asia-Pacific Regional NYI council for the next 4 years - God is so good!

We've also enjoyed some of the General Assembly services which can be viewed anytime at the Church of the Nazarene website. You can also view many of our regional activities from the past few days at the Asia-Pacific NYI website. The theme of our regional site has become "Up all night" since daytime meetings in Orlando are in the middle of the night in Manila... but our delegates are so thrilled to be part of this event and have a voice (many countries for the first time!) that no one has missed a meeting yet! :)

So, to our friends and family who are in Orlando now, we miss you, but we wouldn't trade this experience for anything. God is moving in mighty ways among the youth leaders of Asia-Pacific, and we're so blessed to be a part. We'll write more soon, but I need to get some sleep before tonight's meetings... hope to see you on screen at some point! They will be showing a glimpse of our site at the NYI service Friday morning at 10:30 (Orlando time) and Friday afternoon at the 4:00 service, a drama group from a local church in Manila will be performing. Keep praying for our internet and our eyes to stay open! How great is our God!