Brad Gienger never imagined he would preach sermons. A senior at Redwood Academy, Gienger only attended Steve Case’s speaker-training seminar as an opportunity to take some “time off” from school, rather than to learn how to give sermons. However, before he realized it, he found that he was excited at the thought of sharing the Gospel with his peers.

Gienger is not alone in his realization. Thanks to the speaker-training seminar, students around the Northern California Conference were able to deliver meaningful sermons to their peers during Nov. 1 to 6 for PowerWeek, a student-led week of prayer that has been occurring over the past four years.

“When I spoke at PowerFest, the group was the largest that I had ever addressed before,” said Elise Fandrich, a student at Sacramento Academy. “Although I was a bit nervous, I feel that God prepared me for the day. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.”

PowerWeek has become a highly coordinated event. According to a master schedule, five students from each academy are individually assigned to speak at surrounding academies throughout the Northern California Conference. This enables each academy to listen to a different student speaker each day of PowerWeek.

In order to accomplish this, a synchronized effort was made between the NCC Youth Department; Bettesue Constanzo, principal of Redwood Adventist Academy; Shirley White, principal at Sacramento Adventist Academy; and the principals of the other academies. Participating academies were PUC Prep, Redwood, Rio Lindo, Napa, Sacramento, Pleasant Hill, Lodi, El Dorado, Paradise and Redding.

“It’s been wonderful to see how the principals of the sister academies have worked together and coordinated so well,” said Constanzo. “Over the past four years, the number of participating academies has grown from three to 10. PowerWeek has come to mean a great deal to the students.”

PowerWeek culminates with PowerFest, which occurs on Sabbath. This year’s theme was “No God, No Power; Know God, Know Power” and was held at Sun River church in Rancho Cordova, Calif., on Nov. 6. More than 600 academy students attended the PowerFest youth rally, which was complete with student-led music, mixers, drama, sermons and a segment called “open mike,” where students shared how God had worked in their lives.

As for Gienger, did he find what he was looking for? “What had started as a way to escape from school had become something I was anticipating greatly,” said Gienger. “When I was asked to speak for PowerFest, I had an incredible sense of purpose. I have never felt closer to Christ than when I was trying to bring others closer to Him. Maybe that is because I had to be near Him so He could work through me!”