Small Groups at Urbana 03

In a place as huge as Urbana—huge both in numbers and in the scope of the ideas—it’s easy to feel lost. That’s why small groups are such a crucial part of Urbana 03. In the midst of the hubbub, they provide a smaller community for sharing, Bible study, and prayer. They are a great place to make new friends and process the many overwhelming aspects of the convention.

Small groups also provide a tangible experience of the cross-cultural mission that Urbana is all about. It’s one thing to worship with 19,000 people of diverse backgrounds; it’s another thing entirely to share and pray daily with just eight of them. One Urbana 2000 delegate had this to say:

“My small group is composed of majority international students from China, Indonesia, Japan… one of the girls prayed in Chinese, and it was just really amazing to see how the God of the universe hears our prayers in any language, in Chinese, in English, or anything. So for me it's been really a cross-cultural experience. That’s one thing that’s really affected my Urbana experience, the small group: the people who I've met there, the relationships that I've begun with those people.”

Preparing for the convention
Your posture coming into Urbana 03 will significantly affect how much you receive from the convention. That’s why we’ve created a Bible study and prayer guide to help you prepare yourself spiritually. Spending time with Jesus in the months prior to Urbana will help you to have a more personal experience of him at the convention.

Quotes from past delegates

“I really love my small group! I didn’t expect my small group to be what it’s like. I think that the rarest thing is the age difference: there’s college kids and then there’s older people. But everyone loves God and is really happy to be here, and even though we’re all so different, by generation or race, we’re still very honest with each other and we really respect each other. I just love the times we just get to talk and it feels like a home. We have fun.”

“The worship, without a doubt, is amazing. But for me I think something even more were the small group times. I met like nine other guys that are absolutely amazing… in just in a couple of days I’ve already built such a love for them and learned so much from them, like their struggles, my struggles… The conversations that I’m having in my small group are about kingdom stuff. For example, some of the guys, they’re talking about how they want to go to Japan. Another guy’s talking about how he wants to start a business in central America… God is doing so much through so many other people and just to get a glimpse of other people’s lives is cool to me.”

“In the small group I’ve learned to relate to people who are from different cultural backgrounds and to accept people for who they are and not to exclude anybody.”

“My small group is mostly Arabians, and I’ve just been realizing… how ignorant I am of cultures in general and how I want to have a better understanding of different races and backgrounds and how much I’m missing out on all the richness of other people.”

“By leading a small group and having people actually look to me for direction and being able to listen to people… and getting new perspectives on everything, Urbana has been, you know what I’m sayin’, basically the bomb so far.”

“I found that the small group bible studies were really good, and I think it’s important here to fellowship with other believers and discuss certain issues that are [important to your peers]. It really changed me and the way I think about things. Hearing other women’s opinions… about certain issues really enlightened me.”

“It’s been really good, the whole racial reconciliation thing. In my small group there is this one girl, for example. She grew up in the Midwest and she’s basically never been exposed to anyone who is not white. And for me to have to have explain to her why certain things are a sin or why there’s injustice and the fact that she didn’t understand any of it was really a surprise to me. I’m from New York, and in New York there’s a great diverse group of people and so it was really challenging that way. And I know that I’m being stretched. And I think that me being able to help share [God’s heart] with her is not an accident and that God is using me.”

“My small group was so rad this morning! [We were] really getting at how great God is and how much power he has. Tonight we’re going to talk about what steps we’re going to take because of that power and what areas we haven’t given to God, so that we can give them over to him.”

“There’s something from one particular passage that really stands out for me. But for someone else in my small group, a different aspect of that same passage sticks out to him. When he shares that with the small group, that passage that spoke to him, then it also speaks to me. It’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t think about this part that way, but God showed that to him, and now God showed to me.’”

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