Students learn to be ‘breakable’ at YEC

Students learn to be ‘breakable’ at YEC

Around 1,300 Alabama Baptist students were challenged to let God break in, break through and break out of their lives at the July 16–17 Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC), held at Samford University in Birmingham.

The “Breakable” theme kicked off quickly the night of July 16 as T-Force Ministries, a team of power lifters, mesmerized the students by breaking concrete blocks and metal baseball bats while sharing the message of God’s power to change their lives.

Chris Brooks, college minister at Calvary Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, in Tuscaloosa Baptist Association, followed T-Force with a message about allowing the peace of God, made possible at the cross, to break in to their hearts.

The next morning, Chad Norris, co-founder of Wayfarer Ministries in Greenville, S.C., explained that just as David came from humble circumstances before he was king, believers today also must be humbled before the Spirit of God can break through.

Also on that day, Keith Loomis, an associate in the office of collegiate and student ministries of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, shared how God has remained faithful during a time of brokenness in his life.

Loomis, diagnosed with terminal cancer last October, challenged the students to seek to bring God glory even in the broken stages of life.

“Brokenness reminds us of our total dependence upon God,” he said. “Anything that we are is only what God does in and through us. I have learned to be humble and totally dependent on the Father just as Jesus was. Everything we do cannot be about us; it has to be about bringing glory to Christ.”

Students were led in worship all weekend by David Walker and his band from Spartanburg, S.C.

Dave Rhodes, co-founder of Wayfarer, closed the conference by encouraging the students to allow the gospel to break out to the world.

Following his message, students were issued a 21-day challenge to take what they learned and go into their communities with the gospel. Students were encouraged to be accountable to each other and their leaders through Facebook and other methods.

Hundreds of students took the challenge and made commitments during YEC. To learn more about the conference, watch the video package in the video section of our website (go to the top of this page and click on “videos” in the navigation bar). (SBOM)