In addition to the work of the Lord, the greatest resources a student ministry leader has are people, time and money. Brian Baldwin, student evangelism specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, explained the importance of these three resources and gave a challenge to evaluate how important they are in a church’s student ministry.

“Most youth leaders would say that evangelism is a major priority,” Baldwin said. “A quick look at how many people in your ministry you try to get involved in evangelism, how much time is spent on evangelism and how much money is invested in evangelism will tell the tale of how big of a priority it really is.

“This is why it is so important for student ministers to program priorities,” Baldwin continued. “What does weekly, monthly and yearly program rundown look like? How much of it is dedicated to the inspiring and equipping people to fulfill the church’s primary task of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”

Baldwin shared his thoughts on program priorities while emphasizing the 2019 Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC), which will be at Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center, Jan. 20-21. He said YEC offers a simple and practical way to prioritize evangelism.

“This event is not about rock concerts, entertainment and goofing off with friends with an occasional Bible study,” Baldwin said. “It is a focused, two-day event filled with the Holy Spirit, worship, prayer, evangelism training and team-building.”

YEC will feature four general sessions, 18 different breakouts of which students can choose to attend, a youth leader training session and an opportunity for church groups to meet and plan out how to evangelize.

“YEC will have a strategic planning time where each group will develop a custom blueprint for how they will bring the Gospel message back to their communities,” Baldwin said. “Those who attended YEC in the past returned fueled and passionate about bringing the Good News of Jesus to their friends, classmates, family members and others. YEC is a great way to prepare students for future mission trips, leadership in careers and to share the Gospel in the communities where God has put them.”

Cody Dunbar

 

Baldwin announced the theme for YEC for 2019 will be “VELOCITY!” which he said “describes the speed at which something moves in a given direction.”

“Acts 1:8 says ‘…you will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,’” Baldwin said. “At YEC, students will learn how the early church took the Gospel into their world with urgent VELOCITY! Do you want your student ministry to display this same mindset? How important and exciting would it be if your group determined they wanted their ministry to run at maximum VELOCITY! in its effort to advance the Gospel in their communities? What a rush!”

Greg Stier

 

Greg Stier, president and founder of Dare 2 Share Ministries, will be the speaker for YEC. The Cody Dunbar Band, from Bethany, Council Road, will lead worship through music, and the drama group Clear Vision will also be a part of YEC programming.

“At YEC we’re going to inspire and equip students to take the Gospel to their friends, strangers at their school and to the ends of the earth” Baldwin said. “They are going to learn how to go at maximum VELOCITY! with the hope of Jesus Christ to a generation that desperately needs it. We can hardly wait for YEC and hope you will make it a priority to be there.”

For info about YEC and to register visit skopos.org/yec.