Nearly 1,000 attendees gathered in Michigan last December for the second annual General Youth Conference (GYC). Representing more than 30 states and 10 countries, these youth believe their generation will take the Three Angels’ Messages to the world.
Since it began in 2002, this youth-led organization has attracted teens, college students and young professionals who want to become involved in ministry and who are proud to be Seventh-day Adventists.
Kyle Allen, student association vice-president at Columbia Union College, attended his first GYC conference in 2003. “Prior to coming,” he says, “I had been caught up in my own dreams and plans, and had lost focus of my mission to bring people to Jesus. But this conference has helped me to refocus on what my priorities are to be in life.”
“It challenged me to take a closer look at my walk with the Lord and gave me the desire to trust the Lord with my life,” says Lisa Puffer, a 20-year-old attendee from California.
Coming to the Sacramento Convention Center Dec. 15-19, GYC 2004 is called “Carry the Light.” In keeping with the Year of World Evangelism designated by the General Conference, GYC 2004 will have a strong emphasis on evangelism.
Attendees will hear from Jan Paulsen, General Conference president; Doug Batchelor, speaker/director of Amazing Facts; Mark Finley, field secretary for the General Conference; Shawn Boonstra, associate speaker of It Is Written; among others. They will attend seminars on practical Christianity, current issues faced by Adventist youth and practical ways for witnessing at school or work.
GYC 2004 is being hosted by Amazing Facts College of Evangelism (AFCOE), a ministry passionately interested in training young people to become soul-winners. The highlight of the conference will be a “hands on” evangelistic outreach led by Amazing Facts where over a thousand youth will hit the streets of Sacramento, inviting people to enroll in Bible studies. These interests will then be followed up by the ASI Youth for Jesus team in 2005.
