The Possibilities Are Limitless

This past weekend, 22 young adults from the Wisconsin Conference attended the Lake Union Conference Youth Evangelism Congress in the north suburbs of Chicago. I say "attended," but they did more than that. Our Wisconsin young people networked with other people their age who are interested in ministry, learned from their peers about what creative ministries are working in their geographical region, and got to present their own ideas and experiences as well.

Limitless Group Photo

Every two years, as the event is biennial, each conference in the Lake Union is invited to send two young speakers to present about the ministry they are involved in: first in a short "TED Talk" style pitch to the plenary session (this year, over 300 were in attendance), and later on an hour-long seminar to a smaller group in a breakout session. This year, our speakers were Ricardo Colindres, our JAHWI president, and Slava Cherempei, our Campus Missionary for UW—Madison. They represented excellently in their short talks to the larger group, and then they kept the rapt attention of a group of 40 in their breakout session. For Slava's portion, ACF leaders from all of our UW campuses were able to represent the exciting things going on in Wisconsin's Public Campus Ministries. Ricardo's portion inspired many that they, too, could gather an army of youth to work together in their area, and as a result, several linked to the JAHWI social media.

One very important component of the event is a financial one. Attendees are encouraged to dream big and get creative about doing evangelism in their community. They are able to submit proposals to their local church board and, if approved and supported by the church, can then receive financial help from the Lake Union in the form of matching funds. In the past, Wisconsin has received thousands of dollars in support from this event, and we expect a similar result this year. On Saturday night of the event, we all got together in one of the hotel conference rooms and talked over our ideas, and strategies, and how to fill out proposals. Pastor Ron came by for some sage advice and for a group picture. Rest assured: Wisconsin's young adults will be recieving funding for creative evangelism projects, and it will impact communities around our Conference in a positive way. Right now our attendees are either awaiting a response on submitted proposals or preparing to submit proposals for doing creative evangelism in their local area. Pray with me over their projects and proposals, and I know the Holy Spirit will work through them.

The connections and networking are another component that make this event very special. A large contingent of the delegates to this event are involved in ACF/Public Campus Ministry, or if not, they are public high school or college students. They are less connected to "the church system" than those who might attend Pathfinders, Academy, or other types of events. So when we all get together, there are those who haven't seen each other for two years or more, and the reunion is joyous. It also means it's a great time for those who are part of ACF chapters to get together and compare notes. I personally got to see various young people who were my youth when I was a local pastor, as well as folks who love the event and attend every time, even though they don't live in the Lake Union anymore.

The overall messaging, throughout the entire weekend, was one of encouragement and empowerment. The theme of the weekend was "Limitless," and plenary speaker Anil Kanda hammered home the truth that the Holy Spirit can help you do things beyond your own means. "One thing that I took away from this is to not forget that we can have our own personal impacts," said Xavier Miller, a leader of the ACF chapter at UW-Madison. "That we can build something, not on our own, but with God and with Jesus. And to know that things are limitless when we surrender to God."

Enjoy the pictures! Pray for our young adults and their ministries! Know that there is no limit to what God can do through you!