This past weekend, middle school and high school students from our church joined together with others from across our state for a Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC) in a nearby city. It was exciting to hear about what took place as over 460 people from 45 different churches gathered together for worship, encouragement, and training. This was the first year that two of my own sons would be a part of this.

As I thought about this weekend, I was taken back to the days when the Lord had me in student ministry. Those were some exciting times. You were always on your toes as changes came quickly. Trying to help teens grasp their faith and be used by the Lord for His glory… good times.

I can remember taking groups to Youth Evangelism Conferences as well. It was a good time to gather students together and have them hear the gospel clearly outside of the usual avenues that one usually had. I do remember feeling that there was always something missing to the YEC’s that we were involved with. The preaching was typically good. The musical worship was good. Yet there was still something that seemed to be missing from the whole deal.

I must commend the student ministry leadership at the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC). I think they have found the missing piece I have been looking for all those years.

While the students and leaders that attended YEC in Jefferson City this year had the opportunity to hear some good preaching and musical worship, it didn’t stop there. They had breakout sessions and training where students learned more about sharing their faith with those they encounter on a daily basis. One of the things that had me most excited was that on Monday, those who had experienced all this goodness at YEC were given the opportunity to break into groups and put it into action. They would go out in the neighborhoods of the area they were in and do what they had been talking about.

While I always seemed to have a good time taking students and other leaders to YEC in the past, the missing piece was that we never had the opportunity to put what we heard to work immediately. Those conferences were more like “Youth Evangelistic Crusades,” where the gospel was shared very clearly, and you brought as many people who did not follow Jesus to hear what was said from the stage. Don’t get me wrong, I believe there is a time and place for that, but where is the time and place to train and deploy the upcoming missionaries? I know that our student ministries within local churches should be doing that, but where is it written that we cannot do that on a bigger scale?

This past weekend, the MBC showed it could be done. I’m already hearing about conversations of students involved this weekend, pondering ways they can put into practice what they were doing at this event. PRAISE THE LORD!!! I am thankful for our Pastor of Student Ministries (Ben Clay) and the other adults who supported and walked alongside these students this past weekend. I am excited to see what spark just might have been lit within our students.