You’ve no doubt heard the statistics that students are more easily reached for Christ before they are age 18 or perhaps even as young as 13 years old. No matter the age, the urgency of the biblical imperative to reach and make disciples of all people hasn’t diminished. Student ministers, youth pastors and youth ministry leaders all agree that it gets harder to penetrate student culture with the Gospel.
Tough times require tough measures, and therefore student ministry through the local church has responded with new events, technology applications (there is an app for that), high-powered worship and plenty of catchy new ideas on how best to reach this generation with the Good News. While all those methods are effective in some measure, conversations with youth ministry leaders over the past decade reinforce the old premise that students still respond best to an invitation to accept Christ out of relationship.
Today there remains no better way for a student to hear and respond to God’s call to accept Christ than from a parent or grandparent. Beyond that, relationships with godly teachers and coaches, youth ministry leaders, pastors and friends all can lead to students making a decision for Christ. Youth camps and mission trips are also important ways for students to hear and respond.
Every year, Alabama Baptist churches have an opportunity though the Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC) to put their students in a place where they can accept Christ, be challenged to live for Him every day and respond to God’s call to serve him during their student years and beyond.
YEC2014 brings together great preaching and teaching, exciting worship, fellowship and fun but most of all great opportunity for relationships to grow and strengthen and the Good News of Jesus to be shared.
It’s not too late for students and student leaders from your church to be a part of YEC2014, July 25-26 at Samford University’s Wright Center. Conference information can be found on page 13, or you can also find information and register online at www.onemissionstudents.org/YEC or by calling (334) 613-2275 and speaking with Ministry Assistant Debbie Adams. We are praying that God will use YEC2014 to bring students into new and closer relationships with Him!
Mike Nuss serves as director of the Office of Collegiate & Student Ministries.
