NYUBF | New York UBF

Be Transformed

April 18-20, 2008

New York UBF Spring Bible Retreat Report
By Shs. Yvette Shin

New York UBF chose to have a Spring Conference rather than an Easter Conference since Easter came earlier this year. God blessed us with many attendants and beautiful weather. The title and theme of the retreat was, “Be Transformed.”

The HBF (High School/Middle School) Praise Band opened the conference with a powerful set that created a mood of joy and worship. The opening message was delivered by Teresa Dombach on John 2:1-11, “Water Into Wine.” She focused on the servants’ obedience to Jesus’ direction, the fact that grace has replaced ritual, blood of Jesus replaced rituals, and that one transformation leads to another. Afterward, we split into fellowships and studied John 2:23-3:21 in preparation for the main message the following morning.

Andrew Lamb delivered the early morning Saturday message titled, “Imago Dei” (Image of God) based on Genesis 1:1-31. We were reminded that each person is created in the image of God and possesses his holy essence, which surpasses all outward traits. Our goal is to overcome the sinful nature by God’s strength and live up to our God-given identity. Later that morning, the UBF Praise Band led an intense praise and worship set, preparing an environment to receive God’s Word. Yvette Shin then delivered the main message, “A New Birth” based on John 2:23-3:16. The point of the message was that it is the power of the Spirit that accomplishes true transformation in us, and that our part is to look at Jesus with faith with a repentant attitude. Directly afterward, each person spent an hour in reflection, writing our own story of transformation.

After lunch, we enjoyed the beautiful weather with free time—resting, playing sports, talking, and practicing for the evening’s programs. Before dinner we gathered fellowship by fellowship to share our written reflections.

The Saturday evening program was begun by another powerful set by the UBF Praise Band, followed by a message by Moses Kang, “Be Transformed” based on Romans 12:1, 2. He focused on the fact that just as ugly caterpillars are transformed into beautiful butterflies, so we are transformed from worldly people into God’s people. Msn. Moses championed prayer, especially early morning prayer, as the key to true transformation, in ourselves as well as in others. Afterward, we heard tearful, cathartic and inspiring testimonies from students, mainly from Queens College, Queens Borough Community, St. John’s University, Fordham University, Columbia University, and University of Illinois-UC. Their stories of transformation were probably the most heart-moving and memorable part of the conference. We thank God for enabling all of us to acknowledge God’s work of transformation in us and pray that we may continue to grow in our journey with God. The program was concluded with a gripping skit by Columbia University, the popular Life House skit to the song, “Everything.” That evening we all lifted our hearts to God in prayer. Afterward, we enjoyed snacks, a campfire and fellowship.

Siegmund Goddard delivered the early morning Sunday message titled, “A New Creation, ” (Galatians 6:15) He explained that circumcision was nothing more than a symbol, such as a wedding ring or tattoo, and that what matters more are those things that are unseen. After breakfast, fellowships studied 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2 in preparation for the Sunday message. The final program and Sunday service was begun by a joint effort between the UBF and HBF Praise Bands. Pastor David Baik delivered the Sunday address titled, “The Ministry of Reconciliation.” We learned that we should be peacemakers, mediating between God and a fallen world. We also learned that we should avoid being burnt out as gospel workers by spending personal time with Jesus. We also learned that as we as new creations in Christ should have new perspectives of ourselves and others as the ones who have the image of God (Imago Dei), regardless of race, ethnicity, skin color, gender and age.

We thank God and we praise God for blessing this conference. We believe that he is doing great work in and through us, and that much more work of transformation has yet to be done. We pray to be completely transformed by His Spirit, beginning with ourselves, our families, our ministry, our campuses, our community and our world. We pray for 2008 Purdue International Summer Bible Conference.