Ontario Student Leaders Attend ACF Institute 2019
On May 22, 2019, Adventist Christian Fellowship Institute attendees participate in the fourth “Is This Thing On?” live broadcast from Berkeley, California. Photo by Pieter Damsteegt
One word. Twelve letters. Five syllables:
Indescribable — and yet here I am, trying to describe it.
Adventist Christian Fellowship Institute (ACFI) is the North American Division training event for young leaders across North America. It is where we, as students, learn how we can reach our campus and reach the world.
Close your eyes (well…not actually but you know what I mean...) and imagine with me: You hop off the airplane and find yourself, some friends and soon to be friends looking for where to go. You head to the meeting spot where all the other Canadian delegates are awaiting the chariot that is a minivan that is supposed to take you to the University of California, Berkeley. It arrives. You pile in. (Imagine being squished in a van with individuals that you did not know would, by the end of that week, turn into family!)
You head to the university and… well, the rest is where it’s indescribable!
One of the students holding a '“Let’s Talk” sign during outreach on UC Berkeley’s campus.
ACFI is not only a training ground but a community! We recognize our ACF chapters in Ontario but getting to know the ACF chapters within the North American Division takes the cake! ACFI provides a sense of community – a place where leaders with a mutual love for Christ AND ministry gather to learn TOGETHER. The week is filled with workshops, prayer, laughter, games, networking, outreach & phenomenal preachers! It is a life-changing experience that has you leaving the university on fire for Christ!
What I found to be my utmost favourite part of the whole experience was the outreach on the campus, where we were able to congratulate graduates, play/sing songs in the student centre and speak to individuals passing through the campus. Our overall enthusiasm and unity caused questions to arise from passersby!
Prior to going, I asked my peers who experienced ACFI what they thought of it. They all told me it would be absolutely amazing. I thought to myself, “There’s no way that this event could be thaaaat good; they have to be exaggerating…” I am proud to say, I am now one of those individuals.
All the female student attendees from Ontario posing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.
If you have the opportunity to attend ACFI, take my word for it – you won’t regret it… it will be an experience that I can only describe in one word… Indescribable !