Our prayer had been that this would be a watershed moment for our movement and our campus ministries. Most of all we are grateful for how God’s Spirit moved throughout the entire time.
( Click here for all conference audio and video.) We are grateful for the I COC Campus Service Team, all the speakers and teachers and the worship team members who gave of themselves to make this such an awesome conference. We are so grateful for all the disciples from the Cincinnati, Dayton and Lexington churches and others, who took time off of work to volunteer and serve at the conference. One of the Convention Center staff summed up the impact of the conference: “After seeing all of these young people and how they are, I now have hope for the future.” Over 2800 heard Michael DeAquino, the ICMC director and campus evangelist in Cincinnati, inspire us all with a message on our final goal, heaven. Sunday morning the Cincinnati, Dayton, and Lexington, KY churches joined with the conference participants. The only possible answer was that the Spirit of God moved in the hearts through the time of prayer. We had to pipe the audio into the hall and into two adjoining rooms to accommodate the over 500 students who attended! Someone asked why the response for full-time leadership was so overwhelming compared to previous ICMCs. Every chair was filled, with students sitting on the floor, against the wall, and spilling out into the hall.
After the prayer time, hundreds of students swarmed into the meeting room which had been reserved for this class, “Hear the Call.” By faith, we had set up 340 chairs for this session. He shared the desperate need for a new generation of full-time ministers and he urged students to attend the optional session following the prayer time. Marty Wilkerson led the dynamic final charge for the future leadership of our movement. Each session was then followed by 20 minutes of prayer, with the students gathered in small groups. At ICMC, three introductory messages were given about HOPE worldwide, global missions and leadership. The Saturday morning session of ICMC was modeled after the times of prayer at the 2017 Chicago delegates meeting (ICOC 3.0 “Forward by Faith”). After the worship ended in the ballroom, spontaneous groups continued in prayer and singing throughout the night outside in the streets and in the hotels. The students united for two hours of worship to our Almighty God. Saturday night there was an inspiring time of praise through music with a heart-moving message by Stuart Mains. There were powerful messages and classes delivered by campus leaders to a truly international gathering of students.
The conference had a special focus of relying on God to accomplish this mission of bringing the message of freedom to this generation of college students. Today many are still in chains and in desperate need of the true freedom that only Jesus Christ can bring. Breaking their physical chains, they had hope for freedom. During the days of slavery, crossing over the river from Kentucky into Ohio meant freedom for the victims of slavery. Across the river from the Convention Center is the Freedom Center, home of the Underground Railroad Museum. On July 5-8, 2200 college students gathered at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center for ICMC 2018, “Break Every Chain.” The Convention Center sits on the banks of the Ohio River facing Cincinnati. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.” – Psalm 107:13-15 He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
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