By Nie John (Biabou Church of Christ (SVG)
Independence Day 2016 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the local churches of Christ youth groups was celebrated with a Youth Fellowship. The fellowship, organized by the Biabou church of Christ and held at Kingstown church of Christ building, saw youth from the different congregations gathered together for a day filled with spiritual and motivational upliftment. Although the gathering was fairly attended, this did not hamper the purpose or activities that were organized for the day, as everything proceeded as planned.
The youths were happy to see the rebirth of the fellowship as a way to socialize with young people of the same faith, after an approximate five years of dormancy of the fellowship. They lifted their voices in praise, singing hymns and choruses along with prayers in humble adoration. There was a hype at different intervals as the youths were quizzed on their bible knowledge, which they proved they knew well, as they were able to participate eagerly.
The morning session was geared towards spiritual inspiration. In this session, the youths were empowered by two local, budding preachers and upcoming leaders in the church - Keith Charles and Alston Nanton, who are still youths themselves. Keith, who attends the Vermont congregation, delivered the first exhortation. In his presentation, he advised the youths to increase their spirituality to face the era in which we live, amidst the challenges, in order to gain spiritual wisdom. He also reinforced how spiritual growth can help one to reject worldliness, which is very vital for any Christian today. He did not forget to remind the youths that when their actions becomes like the world, they would face an uphill battle to win the people of the world. He highlighted that to please Christ, one must overcome the world and not give in to the world. Charging them to remain focused to face the pressures of the world as true soldier of Christ, armoured by His word which is grounded in the truth. In his timely conclusion, he stressed the importance for youths to be spiritually minded, associating themselves with like minded individuals in order to be developed and enlightened spiritually as he referred to Amos 3:3 (NKJV) "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?".
To this end he charged the youth gathering to imitate the example of Timothy and flee from youthful lust as they continue to seek spiritual wisdom. Added to this was a follow up or a spill off from the previous exhortation. As one increase spiritually then one would be a part of the building up of the church. "How can I (as a Youth) help to build up of the Church?"
Alston Nanton, who attends from the Georgetown congregation, encouraged the youths to play their part, emphasizing that there is work in the house of the Lord for all to do. He hinted that the attitude of youths should be one of a ready and willing nature, which can be the engine to drive change as it can impact positively on the elders or older members in the church. He quoted Ephesians 4:12-13, "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ," reminding the youths of how easily or often as members they tend to shy away or take the laid back attitude, where the work of the church is concerned.
He did not forget the non-Christians as he urged them gently to render their service to the church, by using their gifts or talents for the building up of the church, rather than to the things of the world. He reiterated the importance of spiritual growth which, he opines, can enable the youths to be desirous of sharing the gospel, letting others know the good news and plan of salvation. In his delivery, he introduced the youths to the ASI (Always Stay Involved) model. Here he encouraged the youths to be about the Lord's business always, in good and bad times to free themselves of the the many distractions which arise day to day. He charge them to always be able to answer the question "Where is your Zeal?" In this way, he created an understanding of how one can then want to invite others to service and be persistent about it, and also strive to live in unity with their brothers and sisters in faith. He stressed the importance of being bible-ready, by studying the bible regularly in order to build up the church. This would allow each youth to know and take up their responsibility in building the church.
The evening session was in the form of a 'breakout' session which allowed the youths from the different congregations to mix and mingle during their discussion on different topics in a group setting. There where four topics up for discussion. Each group delivered a presentation on their topic and entertained questions or comments directed to them from the other groups. Along with the questions each group was given the mandate to make suggestions for the future of the Youth Fellowship. Some of the dominating suggestions were: to create different avenues, e.g. outdoor, to include other youth friendly activities which does not only cater for the spiritual growth, but also the physical development as the youth live in the flesh; a change of date, and monthly activities leading up to the day of the fellowship.
The final presentation was purposed to appeal towards the personal develop of the youths as it is necessary for their holistic growth. This session was facilitated by Jamali Jack, a very youthful member of the Kingstown congregation. In his presentation, the information gained in fifteen minutes was amount to that of an hour or more. He imparted a lot of knowledge on how being educated can allow the youths, or anyone, to help in the development of the church. He used the story in Act 18:24 to allow the youths to create an understanding of the power of education in both the positive and negative sense, then further hit home this reality with an anecdote of his own example of how education, if it is not applied, can be wasted. This he experienced just before attending the function, and on many occasions before. He embellished that statement using a key point from one of his favourite writers Steve Jobs . "Education is as good as it is applied." He urge the youths to use education for the purpose of serving God, as this will set the path for their lives. He however cautioned that in today's society, the more people become advanced or educated the less we consider God. He summed up using this very enlightened scripture, 1 Corinthians 1:25, "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." The comments which the youths lamented were very much in agreement with this presentation.
The evening ended in a rendition of the youth groups' theme song, "Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me" and a prayer.
Independence Day 2016 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the local churches of Christ youth groups was celebrated with a Youth Fellowship. The fellowship, organized by the Biabou church of Christ and held at Kingstown church of Christ building, saw youth from the different congregations gathered together for a day filled with spiritual and motivational upliftment. Although the gathering was fairly attended, this did not hamper the purpose or activities that were organized for the day, as everything proceeded as planned.
The youths were happy to see the rebirth of the fellowship as a way to socialize with young people of the same faith, after an approximate five years of dormancy of the fellowship. They lifted their voices in praise, singing hymns and choruses along with prayers in humble adoration. There was a hype at different intervals as the youths were quizzed on their bible knowledge, which they proved they knew well, as they were able to participate eagerly.
The morning session was geared towards spiritual inspiration. In this session, the youths were empowered by two local, budding preachers and upcoming leaders in the church - Keith Charles and Alston Nanton, who are still youths themselves. Keith, who attends the Vermont congregation, delivered the first exhortation. In his presentation, he advised the youths to increase their spirituality to face the era in which we live, amidst the challenges, in order to gain spiritual wisdom. He also reinforced how spiritual growth can help one to reject worldliness, which is very vital for any Christian today. He did not forget to remind the youths that when their actions becomes like the world, they would face an uphill battle to win the people of the world. He highlighted that to please Christ, one must overcome the world and not give in to the world. Charging them to remain focused to face the pressures of the world as true soldier of Christ, armoured by His word which is grounded in the truth. In his timely conclusion, he stressed the importance for youths to be spiritually minded, associating themselves with like minded individuals in order to be developed and enlightened spiritually as he referred to Amos 3:3 (NKJV) "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?".
To this end he charged the youth gathering to imitate the example of Timothy and flee from youthful lust as they continue to seek spiritual wisdom. Added to this was a follow up or a spill off from the previous exhortation. As one increase spiritually then one would be a part of the building up of the church. "How can I (as a Youth) help to build up of the Church?"
Alston Nanton, who attends from the Georgetown congregation, encouraged the youths to play their part, emphasizing that there is work in the house of the Lord for all to do. He hinted that the attitude of youths should be one of a ready and willing nature, which can be the engine to drive change as it can impact positively on the elders or older members in the church. He quoted Ephesians 4:12-13, "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ," reminding the youths of how easily or often as members they tend to shy away or take the laid back attitude, where the work of the church is concerned.
He did not forget the non-Christians as he urged them gently to render their service to the church, by using their gifts or talents for the building up of the church, rather than to the things of the world. He reiterated the importance of spiritual growth which, he opines, can enable the youths to be desirous of sharing the gospel, letting others know the good news and plan of salvation. In his delivery, he introduced the youths to the ASI (Always Stay Involved) model. Here he encouraged the youths to be about the Lord's business always, in good and bad times to free themselves of the the many distractions which arise day to day. He charge them to always be able to answer the question "Where is your Zeal?" In this way, he created an understanding of how one can then want to invite others to service and be persistent about it, and also strive to live in unity with their brothers and sisters in faith. He stressed the importance of being bible-ready, by studying the bible regularly in order to build up the church. This would allow each youth to know and take up their responsibility in building the church.
The evening session was in the form of a 'breakout' session which allowed the youths from the different congregations to mix and mingle during their discussion on different topics in a group setting. There where four topics up for discussion. Each group delivered a presentation on their topic and entertained questions or comments directed to them from the other groups. Along with the questions each group was given the mandate to make suggestions for the future of the Youth Fellowship. Some of the dominating suggestions were: to create different avenues, e.g. outdoor, to include other youth friendly activities which does not only cater for the spiritual growth, but also the physical development as the youth live in the flesh; a change of date, and monthly activities leading up to the day of the fellowship.
The final presentation was purposed to appeal towards the personal develop of the youths as it is necessary for their holistic growth. This session was facilitated by Jamali Jack, a very youthful member of the Kingstown congregation. In his presentation, the information gained in fifteen minutes was amount to that of an hour or more. He imparted a lot of knowledge on how being educated can allow the youths, or anyone, to help in the development of the church. He used the story in Act 18:24 to allow the youths to create an understanding of the power of education in both the positive and negative sense, then further hit home this reality with an anecdote of his own example of how education, if it is not applied, can be wasted. This he experienced just before attending the function, and on many occasions before. He embellished that statement using a key point from one of his favourite writers Steve Jobs . "Education is as good as it is applied." He urge the youths to use education for the purpose of serving God, as this will set the path for their lives. He however cautioned that in today's society, the more people become advanced or educated the less we consider God. He summed up using this very enlightened scripture, 1 Corinthians 1:25, "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." The comments which the youths lamented were very much in agreement with this presentation.
The evening ended in a rendition of the youth groups' theme song, "Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me" and a prayer.
