Love God, Love His People: Kaitlyn's Urbana Story

As I stepped into my first large group session at Urbana 25, I longed for my bed. 

I had just reached the end of a 27-hour road trip from Wisconsin to Arizona with a group of 26 students from UW-Platteville’s InterVarsity chapter. I was exhausted after many failed attempts to sleep in the car and overwhelmed by being in such close quarters with people I had just met. Despite what you likely assumed, this was not the chapter I had been a part of in college –– I joined them because I felt called to go to Urbana, and I figured road-tripping was the most convenient way for me to get there.

That was before I discovered that when you’re functioning on less than two hours of sleep and packed into a room of 7,000 decidedly loud young adults, you’re probably thinking less about what God has to show you and more about the next time you’ll get to enjoy some peace and quiet. 

But God snapped me out of it when Jennie Allen told us to open our eyes. To ask ourselves what was holding us back from receiving what Jesus had for us. To listen. 

I realized that there were more important things than getting enough sleep that night. And by the end of the week, I understood why the Lord had brought me to Urbana: to teach me how to grow in love for him by loving his people. 

Jonah’s Mistake

One of the themes at Urbana 25 was the book of Jonah. 

Though he is known for his disobedience to God, when it came to being the Lord’s prophet, Jonah actually checked many of the boxes. He considered being God’s servant his very identity, as shown by his response to the men on the boat when they asked him who he was (v.1:9). And he knew God’s character just as well, aware immediately that the Lord was the one who sent the storm, that throwing himself into the sea would calm it (v. 1:12), and later admitting that he decided to run away because he knew God would choose to show mercy to Nineveh (v. 4:2-3). 

In the alumni Bible study, my group theorized that Jonah never actually thought he could run from God. Perhaps he ran away because he wanted God to catch him and end his duty as a prophet along with his life.

But why? Jonah had everything going for him, but this particular assignment to Nineveh, and he flakes! What created this misunderstanding between Jonah and the God he knew so intimately?

Because Jonah loved God but did not love God’s people. And that one small detail was enough to shatter his connection with his best friend. 

Adopted Into Community

I almost made the same mistake.

On day two of the conference, my group decided to skip the last large group session. Everyone was tired and wanted time to bond as a community, to pause and reflect.

Not a member of the UW-Platteville chapter myself, I didn’t see any point in such a thing. I thought skipping the night session was a waste. You can be a community any time, I thought bitterly. Urbana only happens every three years!

So I locked myself in my bedroom and wallowed in my annoyance.  

Eventually, my friend came upstairs and announced that everyone was gathering downstairs to share what they learned from the conference so far. I thought long and hard about whether I was ready to come out of my self-inflicted isolation, but when I learned there were brownies involved, I grudgingly got out of bed. 

What followed was surprisingly refreshing. The students shared not only what they had learned at Urbana, but what they had learned about each other. Their love for one another was obvious in the way they delighted in community, and I was surprised by how attentively they listened even when it was my turn to share. I finally got my hands on a brownie, but instead of going back into isolation, I chose to stay and experience more of this love.

A guitar entered the scene, and before long, we were all singing and worshipping together in that small Airbnb. My heart was full of a deeper appreciation for the people I was just beginning to know. But more than that, my heart was full of love not just for them, but for God. 

God’s Love in Every Person

I navigated Urbana with different eyes after that, hoping to experience God’s love for people and in turn grow in my love for him. Phoenix was a beautiful city, but it wasn’t as beautiful as the people we had filled it with:

A 30-year InterVarsity alum at my Bible study who wanted to learn how to serve God during retirement…

An Indigenous group we watched dance out their prayers and worship on the stage…

A missionary in Egypt who talked about her love for Middle Eastern people…

A support group I connected with who were eager to make me feel welcome…

An Israeli and a Palestinian who stood together as friends and proclaimed Jesus as their hope...

Hundreds of students spontaneously worshipping outside the convention center so loudly their voices echoed across the streets…

An old friend I encountered who shared with me where God had taken them…

Not to mention the beauty of dancing and celebrating the new year and everything God is going to do next with everyone!

In every interaction, great and small, God was there. And now that I’m back in Wisconsin, I see him and his love for everyone everywhere. He was there in my joyful reunion with my coworkers. He was there when I hugged my grandparents at church. He was there when my sister and I swung in the backyard like we did when we were little girls. He was even there in the mundane, like in the smile of the woman who checked me out after my oil change and the kindness and honesty of my new dentist. I could feel God’s love for them all, and by joining him in it, I was drawn closer to him. 

In every person, in every culture, nation, and tongue, God’s love shines. 

My biggest takeaway from Urbana 25 is this: if you want to love God deeper, love his people.