Micah Corps Goes to Annual Conference

The Micah Corps' annual conference experience began on Tuesday night with the MFSA (Methodist Federation for Social Action) banquet. At the banquet, Darcy from Nebraska Appleseed spoke about immigration and the Micah Corps enjoyed the good food that was served as well.

On Wednesday, the Micah Corps was asked to help with the Opening Worship ceremonies and we all carried various items, such as the Christ Candle, the Cross, and water for the fountain down the aisle. Later on in the evening we were consecrated as Micah Corps interns for the summer.

Elena introduces herself at the consecration of the Micah Corps

Thursday of Annual Conference was a planning day for Youth Annual Conference and Children's Annual Conference, which we were to present at on Friday. However, on Thursday and Friday we all attended the breakfasts held for our specific districts around the state. The girls also were honored to be able to attend the United Methodist Women's luncheon.

On Friday, we presented for the Youth Annual Conference (YAC), and we had a blast! We began the presentation by introducing ourselves and either why we wanted to be Micah Corps interns, or how the Micah Corps is like worship.

James tells why he believes the Micah Corps is like worship, while Adam and Elizabeth look on.

In our first hour with YAC, we explained some of the United Methodist social principles and a little United Methodist history. Then, we explained to the youth the difference between charity and justice, which we explained with a challenge for a youth in the audience, and with a metaphor of babies floating down a river.

Adam, Tori, and Jonathan carry the babies down the "river" while the volunteer, Matt, grabs them to save them.

Volunteer Matt proudly holds the babies he "saved from the river"

The afternoon session with YAC also went very well. Each focus group introduced their topic, stating with children in poverty, then environmental stewardship, and then immigration. The youth then broke up into three groups to discuss whichever issue they chose further. The group focusing on children in poverty played a game with their youth which required them to try and fit what it costs to live on for a family of four, at the self sufficiency level, into what a person makes on minimum wage, and also what the federal poverty guidelines state. Then they discussed this with their groups and talked about what they left out when not everything fit and why.

Adam and Elizabeth speak with their small group about children in poverty.

The environmental stewardship group, Jonathan and Elena, talked about bottled water and its impact on the environment. In their small group, they discussed what the youth were and can do in order to be more green and to decrease their impact on the environment.

Tori and James, the group on immigration, talked about the DREAM ACT as well as about how immigration can be beneficial for our society. In their small group, they brought in Darling from Justice For Our Neighbors (JFON) to interview and answer the questions of their small group.

Darling from JFON speaks to the youth during the immigration study.

Saturday was Children's Annual Conference and we spoke to them about the Micah 6:8 passage, and about how they can "act justly" with their friends and family. 

The children move over so the Micah Corps interns can fit on the "special blanket"

Then we talked about how some people in Africa have to walk several miles a day in order to get clean drinking water and had a relay race running with gallon jugs of water.

Elena helps out one relay team to finish their race.

We then talked about the things God created and the children did rubbings of the things they could find that he created.

Adam watches his group of kids as they make rubbings on the fence at CAC.

We also read a couple Bible passages to the children to describe why it is important to take care of our world.

Jonathan reads a passage from Job as one of the children hold the pages to keep them from blowing over.

All in all, it was a fantastic week, but it was not all work. We were able to stop every so often and have a little fun throughout the week.

The Micah Corps joins with the counselors from Camp Fontanelle to go  on a "roller coaster ride"