Youth encouraged in faith

Some 4,000 youth from across the state were encouraged to be passionate in their relationship with Christ, during the two-day Alabama Youth Evangelism Conference held July 14-15 at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham.
   
In addition to the conference, youth enjoyed a day at Bessemer’s VisionLand theme park. Amid the fun, though, a renewed commitment on students’ relationship with Jesus Christ was emphasized.
   
The theme of this year’s event was “Passion 4 Him.” Rob Jackson, an associate in the evangelism office of the State Board of Missions, said the conference offered hope for teenagers struggling with peer pressure by bringing them together with other youth facing similar temptations.
   
“The pressures are there, but when you come together with 4,000 youth, you realize you’re not alone,” Jackson said.
   
Sharing how youth can still be “spiritual virgins” if they have already had sex, Rick Ousley, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, urged students to remain sexually pure. Answering a call by Ousley, thousands of youth stood, committing to abstain from sex until marriage.
   
Ousley spoke twice during the conference, which also featured the testimonies of former University of Alabama and Denver Broncos football player Jeremiah Castille, former World Wrestling Federation (WWF) star Ted Dibiase and Rick Blackerby, a youth evangelist from Panama City, Fla.
   
Along with remaining sexually pure, Ousley urged youth to develop a passion for knowing Christ and to be sold out for Him.
   
In addition to the speakers, students were entertained by Christian recording artists Al Denson and Brother’s Keeper, along with Encore, a high school group from Frankfurt, Ky., who sang a cappella.
   
“The kids ate it up,” Jackson said of the performance by Encore, who sang traditional southern gospel hymns. “It was one of their favorite things.”
   
“It was a tremendous conference,” said George King Jr., minister to students at Canaan Baptist Church, Bessemer. “The primary thing, it encouraged my kids to be real for Jesus in their everyday lives,” said King, who brought eight youth from his church.
   
Castille shared how God gave him both physical strength and the strength to be faithful in sharing his faith with his teammates and coaches.
   
Castille said he was abused as a child by his alcoholic parents and told he was a loser. But he said the power of Christ enabled him to become a winner.
   
Once known as the “Million Dollar Man” during his WWF days, Dibiase told how he had forsaken the truth he learned about God as a youth, only to realize later there was no peace in his life. As a result, the former strongman said he almost lost his family.