Reasons to go to BWC!
by Lorenna Ellis (Brown '09)
1. Take advantage of winter break to do something you couldn’t do during school year or during a summer internship/job
2. The teaching from the Bible that you will hear is amazing; the speakers pastors who really have a talent for bringing to their teaching both a deep knowledge of the language of the original text and the historical context but also how these lessons from the Bible personally relevant. so the result is that they effect life change, not just knowledge building. They really challenge you and they build your faith through their wealth of experience of being a Christian.
3. The topical seminars at the conference offer another means of learning and building faith; they’re more specific and they are taught by people who have very specific training or experience or passion for their topic. There will be many options of these one hour seminars for you to attend, a few examples of seminar topics that I remember from last year are: “Sex, Marriage, Relationships with the opposite gender” “Leading a small group or a large group” “How to be a dynamic mentor” “How to start campus movements” “Creation and Evolution and Christ” “Social Justice” “Bringing Your Faith into the Workplace” “Christian Business Ethics” “Time Management” “Discerning God’s Will for your Life/Choosing a Career” “Evangelism” “Sharing the Gospel with Your family” “Addiction” “Prayer” “Forgiveness”
4. BWC is lots of fun; we Brown students room together although you could room with someone from another school if you want to. We get to have hang out time - go to restaurants together, go to shaws to get groceries together, maybe spend some free time in the city, or just hang out in the hotel. the hotel is great; it’s in the financial district of boston and it’s near a Shaws and adjacent to a nice mall; there’ s a starbucks in the hotel. there’re bowls of apples at the hotel lobby that we would always snack on. basically it’s a great little mini-vacation. and since we’re there without any homework and stress and we’re there to invest in our walk with God, we get to know each other in a new way and have way different interaction than when we’re at school, since we can stay up late playing and not have to worry about class the next morning or stay up late talking about stuff and not worry about homework. the whole time we’re there is really relationship building.
5. The worship time during the conference is wonderful; we start off each morning and end each night with it and the worship leaders are from Berkely music so they really know what they’re doing and they’re really into it because they’re Christians too. I remember the first time I attended the worship time really spoke to me and I it’s one of the times I can remember feeling like God was really present with us.
Addressing Possible Obstacles to going:
Obstacle: Want More Time Resting
In my experience, I’ve found that BWC isn’t super restful but it’s really up to you how much rest you want to get. It definitely won’t leave you feeling that you didn’t get rest during winter break; I think by now we all know break is pretty long and 5 days won’t change that. For me, I’ve seen that the whole process of flying over to Boston and attending the conference is kind of a mini-vacation like I said before. An opportunity to have a really good and unique time with my Brown friends but also being there creates the right environment for really encountering God and being aware of his presence and his part in your life.
Obstacle: Want More Time With Family & Friends
Family - For me, I definitely always consider carefully if I’m thinking of giving up any time that would be spent with my family. What I’ve found is that I’ve been able to take what I’m learning and processing from God back home with me and I get to talk about it with my family and it actually creates new ground for us to build our relationship with each other; I guess I’m not always motivated to talk about God with them but coming back from BWC I’m really ready to talk about stuff and excited about God
Friends - I think the same goes for friendships; just telling friends where you’re going and why can open doors for spiritual conversation that might normally be shut. And you come back from the conference having spent all your time around Christians and hearing the Bible and so you’re as ready as you’re ever gona be to share the Gospel with your friends when they ask you how BWC was.
Also, as your walk with God groes stronger, you become a better friend to your friends so it’s like an investment in those relationships too.
Also, the fact that you are going to go all the way back to Boston to attend the conference really can make a statement about how much you value your walk with God. I’m not at all trying to imply that if you choose not to go that your’e not a good person, just noting that your going is a powerful statement to your friends and family whether you mean for it to be or not.
Obstacle: the Cost
I really see the cost of BWC as an investment; that being said, I think that if you really want to go, you will probably find a way to go. The first year I went to BWC I actually worked part time during winter break and part of that was to cover my BWC expenses so that definitely could be a feasible option for you.
Another thing to think about is the fact that your parents or grandparents or ‘ppl’ probably want to give you a Christmas gift or a few gifts and if BWC is something you want to do, then I think that if you explain to them about it they wouldn’t at all be offended if you were to ask for cash as a gift instead of whatever thing they were thinking about getting you. and to be honest, you’re probably not missing out on much, right? b/c even at this point, our parents still have a tendency to get us really hideous sweaters and useless stocking stuffers, right? so why not ask them to put that money into something that will last you your entire lifetime?
Another option would be to use some of your personal savings to go to BWC; again, I think it’s a really worthwhile investment! Also, you can ask some people in church or chc to support you financially to enable you to make this investment in your walk with God. I know people who’ve written support letters to be able to go and I know CHC has offered scholarships in the past.
In Summary, I’ve taken a bunch of time thinking about this and writing it out b/c I think BWC is a really great opportunity; it’s like an investment w a return that can never be taken from you, as I’ve seen in my own life. The first year I went, I was going through a pretty “dry’ patch spiritually and I can honestly say that the way God spoke to me at BWC and the teaching I got was a huge part of the spiritual growth that has happened for me in my time at Brown. So I want you to consider joining me at BWC this winter break.