Launch Out Youth Conference

The first week of April, on my spring break, we had the delight of attending a youth conference! It was a 3-day event held at West Coast Baptist Church in Lancaster, CA. The church is pastored by Dr. Paul Chappell. It was our very first time going there, and I’m quite excited to share with you dear readers about it.

The theme of the conference was “Launch Out” at His Command based on the passage in Luke 5:1-5 where Christ told Peter to launch out for a catch of fish.

It was amazing to see how in the middle of a bare Californian desert…

The Lord raised up a testimony of His grace through the establishment of a church and Bible College…

…along with a wonderful aesthetic campus

It was refreshing to see so many conservative youth and people all gathered in one place, and you could see many among them were genuine, respectful, modestly and elegantly dressed…

There was good preaching…

An inspiring and well played drama of the pilgrims combined with a story contemporary of missionaries…

And complete with authentic looking costumes,

It was also nice to see the church promoted God-honoring music to worship the Lord…

Despite these wonderful aspects of the program, there were a few things that shadowed the joy. There were many “game sessions” at the beginning of the services which were loud and got the young highschoolers agitated, some games that were inappropriate, so we did not participate in them. A few other things too, like “funny commercials” that really weren’t funny. I have to be honest and mention these negatives as well, because they were part of the conference, and I must tell my perspective as a first time visitor. In light of this, I  pray for the church and pastor that they will realize the need to change those aspects.

Now back to the positives, here’s a glimpse of their College Choir singing on the last day of the conference…

Oh, but there’s more!

Each person attending receives a little gift…

You can visit the little cafe and bookstore on campus…

We explored the lovely classrooms and premises…

Fellowshipped with like-minded believers…

A highlight of the 3-day conference is that you can attend sessions of classes taught at their Bible College. They have classes on subjects of hymnology, the Life of Paul, Romans, etc. I really didn’t feel like I was studying. It felt like I was in church! 🙂

All too soon we had to say farewell…

And everyone launched out back to our little corner of the world where God wants us to make a difference…

But maybe next year we could go back again…

On a blissful day (The Spanish town in California)

One blissful day on our spring break, my family and I took a trip to a quaint old Spanish town in California. It was a place we’ve explored before, but that was 3 years ago.

San Juan Capistrano.

Just the name sounds inspiring doesn’t it? Wait till you see the places.

We were blessed with clear blue skies and warm sunshine, and we had such a nice time that I wish I could repeat it all over again tomorrow! Leave a comment below to join us for the next trip!  *wink*
It wasn’t a specific part of the town we were visiting…just sight seeing, taking it easy, and enjoying the day. But it was definitely a treat for me in the middle of the busyness of the semester.

An adventure awaiting at the end of the road

Cruising past the beautiful Pacific

Welcome to Old Town San Juan Capistrano 

A variety of paths to take 

San Juan Capistrano has charming Spanish style buildings
and a very old and famous Spanish Mission…

…alongside rustic Western buildings still standing since the 1700s

The little ones also got the chance to visit a small petting zoo.
It was one of the highlights of their day to see goats, sheep, turkeys,
ponies and any other farm animal you can think of- including llamas! 

You can see the delight and amazement on their faces! 

 and stopping to pose…

After the petting zoo, we wandered around the “downtown” area,
which had a variety of beautiful architecture to look at

including adorable little shops 

and charming looking restaurants

 

…and costumed Spanish dancers, to make it look authentic.
(actually we happened upon these ladies who were going to be in a parade
and we asked if we could take their picture. They were nice enough to pose too!) 

after so much walking and sightseeing we needed an energy boost,
so we wandered into a cafe, where everyone shared a mocha 

and I found this little munchkin sitting on the stairs there…lol!

finally we meandered into the quite part of town,
slowly walking down some country style roads with cozy little houses
where birds chirped in the trees 

and then I saw it….

My heart nearly stopped beating at the sight.
Isn’t this just the perfect little house?
It’s right out of the storybooks!  

and this mailbox is another dreamy sight isn’t it…

And this rustic medieval looking door was another one of my favorites…

So ladies and gentlemen, that is how our journey ends.

This has been a post with the most pictures I’ve ever posted- literally. It took me forever to post because of the time it takes for u.p.l.o.a.d.i.n.g, so I hope you do enjoy it. If you do, please leave a comment, it will seriously make my day, and give me the impression that I didn’t just waste my time doing this.  ‘Cause my sister wants to wring my neck because I didn’t finish helping her with the spring cleaning! Gotta skitter. 😉