On Aug. 8 and 15, more than 1,000 teenagers were encouraged to be “Living Loud” in their faith at the Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC). Students from 87 churches gathered at ten locations around Oklahoma: Ardmore, First; Elk City, First; Enid, First; Guymon, Sunset Lane; Lawton, First; OKC, Putnam City; Pryor, Life Fellowship; Talihina, Kiamichi Baptist Camp; Tulsa, South Tulsa and Woodward, Lincoln Avenue. During the conference, 10 students made professions of faith.

The theme for this year’s YEC was “Synergy,” highlighting the strength in unity believers have in Christ, based on John 17:21, “I pray that they will all be one, just are you and I are one—as you are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in us so that the world will believe You sent Me.”

“SYNERGY” is a call to action for teenagers across the state to unite and shine the light of Christ in a world that desperately needs it. With the sub-theme of “Living Loud,” attendees participated in breakout sessions that covered various topics including testimonials, campus ministry, the Gospel, apologetics and more.

“One of my favorite activities at the sites were the outreach events,” said Todd Sanders, Falls Creek Program Director and Oklahoma Baptists Youth Ministry Partner. “The students engaged in practical outreach projects like serving free ice cream and snow cones, text message-based evangelism and one-on-one street evangelism. These let the students practice what they learned at YEC.”

Previously hosted at Falls Creek Conference Centers, YEC adapted to a new one-day format hosted at multiple locations. YEC is more than just a gathering, it is a regionally unified, statewide movement that ignites hearts, empowers minds and equips teenagers to boldy share their faith.

“With the strategic planning each group does as a part of the event to reach their areas of influence, it will be exciting to see how the Lord continues to use this valuable training in the coming weeks,” Sanders said.

For more information about YEC, visit oklahombaptists.org/youth/yec/.