Communion in Action
- PZ
- Mar 4
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 5
Global Youth Day 2026
Last year in Wisconsin, we planned to kickstart Global Youth Day, an initiative by the General Conference Youth Department to get young people around the world blessing their communities in service on the same day each year. This year, our goal is the same: to increase participation in Global Youth Day. This year, the day falls on March 21, and the theme is "Communion in Action." Read more about the theme and find materials for advertising Global Youth Day: HERE.
How can you, your church, and your youth get involved?
Participation is simple and takes three ingredients:
Youth/young adults
A service project in the community
On March 21
It's that simple.
Oh! And take pictures and send them to Pastor Zack, so that he can share with the world the way that your young people are serving in the community.
Can adults join?
Absolutely, especially if young people need chaperones, due to their age or the nature of the project.
How to serve?
The sky is the limit! If you have a creative idea to evangelize, or serve, or otherwise bless your community that you've been wanting to try out: go for it! There's no rubric for how you need to engage with your community. So it's a great opportunity to try something new.
Need ideas?
If you're not feeling creative and you're not sure how to mobilize your young people in service, here are some ways that you can get your young people involved without having to reinvent the wheel.
Attend the annual Global Youth Day Sabbath in Milwaukee
Every year, JAHWI (Jóvenes Adventistas Hispanos de Wisconsin) hosts hundreds of our young people for a day of worship and community impact. You can read more about this event, in this article from last year's event, written by JAHWI President Ricardo Colindres. The basic gist of the day is that they have a special church service for youth and young adults, they choose from a number of ways they can be a blessing to the community, come back together to talk about it, and finally end the night with games. You don't have to be creative at all: this is a big event that happens every year in Milwaukee.
We reached out to Ricardo for details about this year's event, and here's what he had to say:
Our Global Youth Day event this year is a little different. Our main focus is community service, over church. Therefore, we don’t have a set speaker for the day. Our meeting point will be at 9:30 am at the West Milwaukee Church (5500 W Greenfield Ave.) for a small devotional, and then divide everyone who comes into different groups. Hopefully we can have everyone out by 10:15 am.
Groups will have around two and a half hours or so to do community service in the Milwaukee area. At 1:00 pm we will all get together at MSDA (the Milwaukee Seventh-day Adventist School; 10900 W Mill Rd.) to have lunch and recap what everyone did, have a few testimonies and a closing worship thought.
The event is completely free and no registration is needed. If you want to be a part of this event all you have to do is show up on time at 9:30 am at the West Milwaukee Church.
For more information about this coming event, contact Ricardo:
Phone: 414-349-3204
Email: ricky.colindres@gmail.com
Pictures of previous GYD events in Milwaukee:
Join a local ministry that's already doing service projects
There are already local church efforts to feed the homeless in Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, La Crosse, and elsewhere. Milwaukee Central has its community effort in River West. The Shepherd's House in Wausau has its Beds With Kids effort. Your local church, or a church near you, might have a ministry that reaches out to the community: tapping into those efforts is a great way to get involved in Global Youth Day. If you need contact information for service leaders at a specific church, or if you need more help finding out what those service ministries are, reach out to Pastor Zack.
Phone: 920-609-0483
Email: zpayne@wi.adventist.org
Ideas from our Wisconsin Conference Community Services Coordinator
We reached out to Alice Garrett, our Conference authority on community services, and she had this helpful advice:
Spring is a great time for youth to help senior citizens with yard clean-up. Some folks can keep up the weekly yard care, but not the initial clean-up.
Spring is a good time to make a drive for food for the food pantry. Or they can collect cash donations for the food pantry. This time of the year, food pantries are low on items! Sometimes they need volunteers, too.
You can check with the local police and/or fire department and see if they need personal care kits or cleaning buckets. And I have a list for each of these kits.
The rehab centers and nursing homes welcome volunteers to come play table games with the residents. One-on-one with a resident is very meaningful. Just check with the facility first to know their expectations and when to come.
A community usually has a community garden, and youth can volunteer to help with the garden. Check with your local community center.
Go to your town leaders. They may have other suggestions..
If you can volunteer in your local community, that is best. This is because you make friends in your hometown.
Any further questions? Feel free to ask!
Contact Alice:
Phone: 608-345-3882
Email: agarrett@wi.adventist.org
Ideas from the Lake Union
Earl Baldwin, Youth Director for Lake Region Conference, is encouraging youth across the Lake Union to participate together in raising money to stop youth homelessness. The campaign is taking place on Global Youth Day (March 21) and your young people have the chance to raise money, simply by having a Sleep Out. Watch this video for more information.
For a cover letter that will help explain how the whole thing works, as well as solicit sponsorships for this opportunity, click HERE.
Flyer for the Sleep Out
Do something!
That's all we're asking! Not that it only counts on this one day--we know you're already doing a lot. But it's an awesome opportunity to say that you worked alongside your peers, worldwide, on the same day in order to be a blessing to the community. We want to encourage participation in this event from youth and young adults across Wisconsin.
And remember:
TAKE PICTURES and send them to Pastor Zack :)
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