After the last guitar chords and the voices of 2,000 youth faded away in the Montgomery Convention Center, a pointed question still lingered in the air.
And that was just the way Keith Loomis wanted it.
“We asked them a direct question with the theme RU? Halfhearted or Wholehearted, and we didn’t want to give them the answer,” said Loomis, an associate in the office of collegiate and student ministries for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM).
“We wanted to inspire students to ask themselves that question and equip them to go back and ask their communities as well.”
During this year’s Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC), held July 18–19, youth speakers Adam Robinson, Wes Hamilton and Bryant Bush challenged students to be on fire for Christ and for sharing the gospel.
Chase Mills, a ninth-grader from Liberty Baptist Church, Pansey, in Columbia Baptist Association, said, “The conference was really an encouragement to me to slow down and give my all to Him.”
And Tyler Reeder, a 12th-grader from First Baptist Church, Slocomb, in Geneva Baptist Association, said worship led by band Big Daddy Weave and drama duo The Skit Guys prompted him to do the same thing.
“It has given me a boost; it’s made me want to go back and be closer to the Lord,” he said.
Bush, the conference’s final speaker, asked the youth to solidify their commitments on cards, noting if they would be wholehearted in following Christ and share Him with their friends.
“This is your way of saying, ‘God Almighty, here’s my life. I want to sign it to you, and I want to live for you,’” Bush said. “You’re going to change your generation. You can do it if you stick together.”
Hundreds responded, noting first-time commitments and recommitments to Christ as well as renewed visions for reaching their friends.
“I hope and pray they take the message back to their schools and change Alabama,” said Mike Nuss, director of the SBOM office of collegiate and student ministries. “I hope they go back wholehearted in all that they do — that’s what this conference is all about.”
Loomis added the true measure of success is the impact the students make in their communities when they return.
Many churches use YEC as their summer youth camp, Loomis said, and having it back in Montgomery offered a more convenient trip for south Alabama churches after several years in Birmingham.
But special plans call for YEC to return to the Magic City next year, he added.
It will coincide with the state’s second Super Summer camp to be held at Samford University.
“It will be held in Samford’s Pete Hanna Arena at the end of Super Summer week and will serve as a learning laboratory for the teenagers who have been at the camp all week,” Loomis said. “They will be the help staff for the conference and will have the opportunity to share their faith with the students who come.”
He noted that another change for next year will be regional youth emphases held around the state to mobilize youth as follow-ups to YEC.
“Two out of three students in Alabama don’t know Christ as Savior,” Loomis said. “We want to do all we can to lower that number.”
For more information about YEC, call 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 280.
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