News > North America

Chicago UBF, US
April 3, 2014

Gospel Foundations

On March 28-30, UIC UBF held an Easter conference at Camp Wonderland in Wisconsin. Loop and North Park University fellowships joined us. Altogether, there were 109 attendants. Forty-seven students attended, and among them, 31 were UIC students. Another highlight of the conference was the sharing of 100 life testimonies.

The title of the conference was “Gospel Foundations.” The theme was to lay clear gospel foundations to raise up 30 student disciples and strengthen 12 house churches. To prepare for the conference, students and coworkers formed 6 teams to prepare 6 programs focused on presenting one aspect of laying a gospel foundation. Each team planned one conference program’s message, music, PowerPoint presentations, testimonies, activities, and special lectures.

The first two programs were held on the two Friday nights before the conference. The first program delved into Genesis 3, using inductive Bible study, to help us meditate on the origin of sin and God’s promise of salvation through sending a Savior. Through this, we could understand sin as our fundamental problem and the basis of the need for a gospel foundation for our lives. Then, Missionary Faith Grady gave a special presentation on identifying the idols in our hearts and she shared her own personal struggle of being set free from the idol of holding onto her own will. This helped us to meditate on our own lifelong struggles with sin and idol worship and bring them to Jesus.

The second program laid a gospel foundation of trusting in Jesus as the only solution for our sins by giving an in-depth approach to understanding the Passover in Exodus 12. Using an unleavened versus leavened bread presentation, followed by a Passover food tasting activity, the presenters helped us to understand the potency and bitterness of sin. Then, Cheryl Kramarczyk, who has a Jewish background, delivered a very logical and descriptive message about the Passover. Through it she analyzed how only in Jesus, the Lamb of God, we find the true solution to our sin problems. In his final announcements, Matt Misurac urged us to pray and find the idols and sins hiding in the corners of our hearts and lay them before Jesus and accept his holy blood shed in our places.

For two weeks before the conference, prayer meetings were held Wednesday and Thursday evenings. We memorized and recited the gospel key verses, and then we wrote our life testimonies together. In order to write our life testimonies, clear guidelines were given which focused on repenting our sins and idols and finding God’s grace and direction in our lives. Then we rewrote and reduced our life testimonies to 1000 words.

On the first night of the conference, the third program laid a gospel foundation of accepting Jesus’ forgiveness of our sins. Steve Stasinos delivered the message from Luke 23, “Father, Forgive Them.” He shared how personally Jesus forgave his sins and urged us to accept Jesus’ forgiveness on the cross. Afterwards, there was an altar call, and two students came forward to accept Christ personally as their Savior. Steve prayed with them personally, while we joined in prayer from our seats. Afterwards, Michael Young recited, “Not Qualified,” a testimonial poem reminding us that none of us are qualified to be God’s servants, but Jesus accepts us by his grace and is pleased to reveal his glory through us.

After the message, everyone shared their life testimonies in small groups. Altogether, 100 students and coworkers shared their life testimonies. The testimonies were honest and graceful, and we were bonded together through listening to the powerful salvation work in each other’s life.

The next day, the fourth program laid a gospel foundation of believing in the resurrection of Jesus. After group Bible study on Luke 24, Sarah Little Kim and Eric Lopez (both graduated from UIC) shared a joint message on the passage. Ironically, Sarah Little invited Eric to Bible study two years before, and now they delivered the message together as resurrection witnesses. They shared how believing in Jesus’ resurrection changed them during their college days. Their messages were joyful and powerful, and encouraged us to raise disciples of Jesus among UIC students.

In the evening, the fifth program laid the gospel foundation of baptism and communion. Beforehand, we heard two life testimonies by Stephanie Polvi, a UIC graduate student, and Daniel Errett, a guest from Toledo. Both of them came from dysfunctional Christian homes, and therefore, didn’t trust God. After wandering, they found God was always with them and calling them back to himself. They reminded us that Christian families are far from perfect and need the grace of Jesus to overcome the devil’s attacks within and without.

Then Jacob Kim delivered a lecture on the meaning of baptism. This was followed by Missionary Sarah Sun Ji Jun sharing her testimonial poem, “I am the Lord’s Servant.” Then, Mother Barry baptized Chris Thompson, who also shared his life testimony. Chris was very lost to drug and alcohol abuse and became suicidal and unstable. Our UBF community prayed very much for Chris’ restoration. Chris was so thankful for God’s family, especially Grace A. Lee’s family, who helped him when he was at his lowest. After his baptism, there was a very joyful hugging ceremony, in which we welcomed Chris into God’s family.

Next, Missionary Daniel Park gave a lecture on communion, and Dr. James Joung led a communion service. We solemnly joined in communion as a sign of sharing in the fellowship of Jesus’ suffering and death.

On Sunday, the sixth program focused on laying a gospel foundation on receiving the Holy Spirit and being powerful witnesses of Jesus, based on Acts 1, 2. Missionary Joshua Jung shared a tearful life testimony during his message, revealing the power of the Holy Spirit to transform him from a lost sinner into a powerful witness of Jesus. Through his message, we were strengthened to be full of the Holy Spirit, have God’s dream and vision, and testify boldly about Jesus’ resurrection and life-changing power
We thank God for answering our prayers for 30 UIC students and 12 house churches to strengthen their gospel foundations. Please pray for us to raise up disciples of Jesus with strong foundations in the gospel of Jesus!

By Yvonne Timlin