Jubilee 2011 Reflections

Ashley Harris attended Jubilee 2011:

I went in to Jubilee expecting it to be like a conference that I went to in middle school and high school that was called Vision. It was in Lancaster, and the whole focus was on missions: where you could go and serve, what missions organizations were available, and hearing missionaries from around the world speak. While I learned so much at that conference, and it opened my eyes to all that missionaries do, I knew that I wouldn’t be like all the missionaries they mentioned; I didn’t feel God calling me overseas or somewhere far away. I knew he wanted me to be an Interior Designer. So when I signed up to go to Jubilee, I was nervous that the whole time they would push us to drop out of school, or change our majors, and figure out a way to be missionaries overseas. But it wasn’t like that at all!


All the speakers, and each of the breakout sessions was focused on where students are right now. We’re in school, we’re working hard at what we see as our passion, and now we want to know how God can use us in those fields. I loved the breakout sessions, because I got to learn about different passions I have and how just because I know what field I want to work in, doesn’t mean I can’t use my other passions to serve God. My sessions talked about culture and pop music, working in a secular work place, and how to have true worship. I wish there could have been more breakout sessions because it made the conference such a personal experience.

But, it was so incredible to be in a huge auditorium with 2,500 other people worshipping the same God. I feel like even though we have a Christian group on our campus, it’s easy to feel alone, and that your faith is only this personal connection you have with God. And while it is personal, it’s amazing when you can fellowship with other believers with the same faith; it’s what God commands us to do. Jubilee was awesome, and I definitely want to go again. It was so refreshing, reminding me of things I’ve learned for years but so often forget, and taught me new concepts about Christianity that are sometimes pushed aside.