On July 26 and 27 Montgomery fell victim to an invasion of Alabama teenagers, but no vandalism was reported to police.
In fact, these two days saw more of God’s Word burned into seeking hearts than graffiti emblazoned onto city walls. That’s because the capital city played host to the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) 2002 Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC).
The statewide gathering of close to 5,000 junior and senior high school students was held in the Montgomery Civic Center. The event featured the standard fare of contemporary Christian youth gatherings — speakers, multimedia presentations, drama and of course, Christian rock ‘n’ roll.
Sammy Gilbreath, director of the SBOM’s office of evangelism since 1996, kicked off the weekend on Friday evening.
With two teenagers of his own, Gilbreath understands the power that events like the YEC can have.
He welcomed the delegations from nearly 200 Alabama Baptist churches by praying for God to work in the lives of those present and prepping the crowd to expect “an exciting two days.”
Gilbreath’s message meant a lot to 14-year-old Whitney Setrest, a member of Troy’s Cubahatchee Baptist Church.
“He was speaking on what a true friend is and how it feels to be let down by someone who you thought was your best friend. That meant a lot to me because I learned that the hard way,” she said.
Working as coordinator alongside Gilbreath in orchestrating the event was Rob Jackson, associate in the office of evangelism.
“The main thing we wanted to accomplish this weekend was for young people to understand the cost of following Jesus Christ,” Jackson said. “We don’t want them to just be excited for a few weeks. We want them to understand that God has put them here to live their life for His glory no matter what the cost,” he said. “We want them to realize that through them, God might change their churches, change Alabama and change the world for the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The format was similar for both Friday’s and Saturday’s services with speakers’ messages being punctuated with praise and worship music, skits and video presentations of testimonies from various attendees. The music was led by Youth Project band, The Blue Floor.
Both services concluded with concerts. Friday night’s music headliner was Average Joe Band while Saturday ended with a powerful set from Dove Award-winning SonicFlood
Assisting Gilbreath as conference emcee was Adam Ragsdale, head of the Silo Youth Ministry at Guntersville’s Victory Baptist Church. Ragsdale performed one-man skits dealing with issues affecting today’s teen. “Those were definitely cool,” said 15-year-old Caleb Green, a member of Dothan’s Bethel Baptist Church, who added, “I thought the whole conference was good. I had a lot of fun.”
Other speakers included Dwight “Ike” Reighard, senior pastor of Northstar Church in Kennesaw, Ga., and Afshin Ziafat, a former Muslim who made the decision to follow Christ his senior year of high school.
Reighard, author of several books on leadership, impressed the crowd with his energetic delivery and ability to purvey humor while simultaneously communicating the gospel.
“A lot of people were impressed with Ike Reighard,” observed Jackson, explaining that more than 1,000 people, teenagers as well as adults, came forward during the altar call to make decisions for Christ.
An Iranian-American, Ziafat’s testimony of secretly receiving a Bible in elementary school was especially poignant in light of attitudes toward those with Arab heritage following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Ziafat’s testimony demonstrated how even the most gentle exposure to Christianity early in life can bear fruit.
In 1980, when he and other Iranian-Americans were experiencing persecution because of the Iran hostage crisis, a Christian tutor gave him a copy of the New Testament.
“I believe we can impact many people with the love of Christ at this time, and I think that’s what impacted me,” he told the enthralled crowd of teens.
“I’m so glad that there was a second-grade teacher who loved me enough in the midst of hate to give me a Bible and lead me to Christ,” said Ziafat, who serves as a college evangelism associate for the North American Mission Board.
Despite the stellar content of the first two sessions, it wasn’t until the third presentation by Paul Washer that this year’s conference theme, “Whatever the Cost,” was truly cemented into the hearts of the attendees.
Hitting home
Washer, director of HeartCry Missionary Society, delivered an extremely powerful and impassioned sermon that culminated in a tearful salvation invitation.
“If what I tell you today isn’t true, I am in a great deal of trouble because I will stand in contempt before God. But if what I tell you today is true then you are the ones with cause for fear and trembling,” began Washer, shocking the crowd with an unexpected degree of frankness.
“I’m not trying to be hard for the sake of being hard,” he continued. “Do you know how difficult it is to stand before thousands of people, knowing I won’t be invited back after telling them that American Christianity is almost totally wrong? American Christianity is based more on a godless culture than on the Word of God,” he said.
Washer, who served as a missionary in the jungles of Peru for 16 years, still adheres to a self-imposed vow of poverty.
His nearly hour-long message commanded the attention of everyone present, noticeably affecting the gathering of teenagers, and many adults, in a profound way.
“The thing that moved me the most was when Paul Washer preached,” said 17-year-old William Herring of New Brompton’s Bethany Baptist Church. “What he said was very powerful.”
When asked why he wasn’t inside for the final concert of the weekend, Herring replied, “I’m out here reading over the Bible passages he preached on because I want to know what the Bible says about the life that a Christian is supposed to live.
“It was hard preaching, but it made me realize that there are a lot of things in my life that God would not be pleased with,” Herring said.
Not only were the teens reached by his message but so were many youth directors and sponsors.
Jackson said following Washer’s sermon he was bombarded with youth leaders seeking him out for counseling regarding his message.
“A youth pastor came up to me in the hallway and grabbed me and said, ‘I need to talk to you. I’ve been pastoring for 11 years, and my life has been a lie. I need someone to help me,’” Jackson said. “I finished counseling with him and another youth pastor came and grabbed me, crying, and said, ‘I was on my way [out] and God’s Holy Spirit just hit me. I’ve been living a lie, I need someone to talk with.’
“I finished talking to him and another youth minister stopped me and said he needed to talk. He told me, ‘now I realize I’ve been living a life of mediocrity and God has changed me today,’” Jackson said.
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