{"id":45095,"date":"2023-02-14T15:15:59","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T21:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/?p=45095"},"modified":"2023-03-02T15:22:21","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T21:22:21","slug":"yec-attendance-increases-20-make-decision-for-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/2023\/02\/14\/yec-attendance-increases-20-make-decision-for-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"YEC attendance increases, 20 make decision for Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

JEFFERSON CITY \u2013<\/b> The Freshwater Church was the host for the 2023 Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC) held Jan. 15-16. It was sponsored by the Missouri Baptist Convention\u2019s (MBC) Making Disciples group. <\/span><\/p>\n

This year, 461 students and youth leaders attended, an increase of 111 from the previous year\u2019s conference.\u00a0 <\/span>But the greatest news was that 20 students asked Jesus into their lives, according to conference organizer Bob Caldwell.<\/span><\/p>\n

The speaker was Jared Bumpers, an assistant professor of preaching and evangelism at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City.\u00a0 <\/span>Worship was led by Encounter Music, based in Arnold.\u00a0 <\/span>There were seven breakout conferences throughout the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel Gibson, MBC Next Gen Strategist with the Making Disciples group, said, \u201cWhat we saw at YEC is the power of many student ministries coming together to advance the gospel.\u00a0 <\/span>Hundreds of students were equipped to share their faith.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>He said the students went out and knocked on over 1,200 doors in a neighborhood of Jefferson City which Freshwater Church ministers in.\u00a0 <\/span>There are 17,000 people living in this area, and there are not many churches there according to Gibson.<\/span><\/p>\n

Caldwell said the theme was \u201cOutloud,\u201d and they were trying to impress upon the students to \u201cshare the gospel as often as you can\u2026use words if necessary.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>He added, \u201cThat is a good strategy to build a bridge to lost people, but this conference was designed to teach them to go further and actually share their faith with words.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Caldwell said students are up against a lot of things in their worlds.\u00a0 <\/span>Trans-gender issues, same sex attraction, non-binary identifications \u2013 all issues kids face in today\u2019s world. Caldwell said people will come back at teens sharing the gospel with questions of whether these things are acceptable in their church.\u00a0 <\/span>If the teens respond \u201cNo,\u201d then they may get push back and labeled as talking hate speech.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said he was encouraging the students to not \u201ctrade inclusiveness for truth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Caldwell said he and the other conference organizers \u201cwatched God move the needle in young lives. There were lots of friendships made among the teens and their youth pastors\/leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gibson added that one of the breakouts was \u201cbuilding relationships to have a Gospel conversation,\u201d but they went further and later showed the students \u201cHow to actually share the gospel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gibson has recently joined the Making Disciples Team \u201cto work with pastors and youth leaders to develop a passion for student ministry.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>He will be involved with Super Summer camps and the annual YEC, and he will visit with church staff to strategize to reach students. He lives in Kirksville.<\/span><\/p>\n

Caldwell said he received texts for several days following the conference telling him about decisions teens had made at the YEC.\u00a0 <\/span>He believes it is well worth the two days of investing in the lives of Missouri students.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year, 461 students and youth leaders attended the Missouri Baptist state Youth Evangelism Conference, an increase of 111 from the previous year\u2019s conference.\u00a0 But the greatest news was that 20 students asked Jesus into their lives, according to conference organizer Bob Caldwell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":45096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[36,41,8,48,17,21],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nYEC attendance increases, 20 make decision for Christ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This year, 461 students and youth leaders attended the Missouri Baptist state 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