Youth Evangelism Conference set for Birmingham

While holding true to its mission to encourage youth in evangelism, this year’s Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC) has plenty of twists to keep the interest of Alabama Baptist teens.
   
The two most noticeable differences are the conference’s venue and schedule. Usually held at Montgomery’s convention center, YEC has made a temporary move to The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, because of construction in Montgomery.
   
The change in venue necessitated a change in scheduling, said Mike Nuss, director of the office of collegiate and student ministries for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM). Last year, YEC drew 3,500 attendees, but Brook Hills’ sanctuary is not large enough to hold that many at once, he explained. So the conference is split into two nearly identical sessions, with one being July 21–22 and the other July 22–23.
   
Even with the changes, the quality of the program has not changed, Nuss said. “We have prayerfully assembled some relevant, challenging speakers and worship leaders to help motivate and challenge students and their church leaders to reach students in their community for Christ,” he said.
   
Those attending session one will hear worship speaker David Nasser on Thursday night and speakers Mike Satterfield and Chad Childress Friday morning. For session two, beginning Friday night, Rick Ousley, pastor of Brook Hills, replaces Nasser as the speaker, and Saturday morning again features Satterfield and Childress.
   
Weaving their music and drama in between the speakers during all sessions will be Big Daddy Weave presenting its pop/rock mix of contemporary Christian music and the Dramatic Vagabonds using skits to portray biblical truths.
   
Another change will be the use of the Connect emphasis in the conference, said Keith Loomis, an associate in the office of collegiate and student ministries. Connect is an umbrella of evangelism tools that uses the Internet to encourage youth to use their interests to connect with their friends and lead them to Christ, Loomis said.
   
“The Youth Evangelism Conference this year is a reflection of Connect,” he said. 
   
Loomis explained that YEC will use Connect’s four focus areas — connect with God, connect with a friend, connect that friend to God and connect that friend to a local church — to encourage youth to look at evangelism as a lifestyle.
   
For information or to register for YEC, visit www.alsbom.org/students, e-mail yec@alsbom.org or call 1-800-803-5201, Ext. 373.