What to Expect
What exactly happens at MYC? Isn’t it just one more conference involving a lot of boring sitting down and listening? Think again! MYC is totally different to every other conference you’ve been. It’s a jam-packed week of interactive study and fellowship. To give you a taste for how diverse the activities are, here’s what a typical day looks like.
Mornings
After breakfast together everyone splits into their assigned small groups for manuscript discovery bible study. This involves studying a small book of the Bible (eg. Colossians) without any verse numbers, chapters, line breaks or headings. No bibles or external references allowed! Using a double-line spaced printout, the small groups tackle the manuscripts and have lively discussions as they try to figure out the passage. This is heaps of fun, and noone ever knows where it will end up – there is no set bible study leader with answers!
Once small groups have finished and everyone’s grabbed some morning tea, the next big activity is faculty seminars. This is an intense part of the day that always runs out of time. Bibles in hand, everyone gets busy as we look all over the Bible trying to gain an understanding (as much as possible) of what the whole Bible has to say about the conference topic.
This works up a mighty hunger, and after the seminars finish we break for lunch.
Afternoons
Early afternoon is free time. You can wander around looking at the various animals nearby (Llamas! Or is it Alpacas?), join in with the many sport games running, spend some quiet time in the dedicated Prayer tower onsite, or just relax in bed.
Late afternoon there are a variety of different practical workshops and electives running, covering a range of topics. These offer a chance to chat to older Christians and challenge yourself to do the hard work of living God’s way.
Evenings
After polishing off a hearty dinner together, we converge on the main auditorium for the evening sessions. Singing together is one of the great joys at MYC, and we do plenty of it. Each night there are different spots as we learn more about the different things happening on campus, hear from overseas missionaries, and start planning the second semester mission.
The main focus of the evenings, though, is the in-depth bible talks. The main speaker, who has spent weeks and weeks wrestling deeply with the conference topic, takes us on a journey through the Bible as we learn what God has to say. Always exciting, and always challenging, students can often be found quietly praying together afterwards in response.
Much more could be said about MYC, but hopefully this gives you a feel for what it’s like!
