The mountains near Heber, Ariz., were a winter wonderland as youth from throughout the Arizona Conference gathered to celebrate, fellowship, learn and catch a new vision for ministry. Camp Ponderosa Ranch, a Salvation Army youth camp, was a beautiful setting for the retreat and the addition of powdery snow was a special touch to the weekend festivities.

Youth, 126 of them, and their sponsors attended the meetings Jan. 11 to 13 in the glass, steel and wood chapel that afforded vistas of the mountains and the white hillsides. The young people met to sing, laugh, praise and worship together. The goal — to encourage the young disciples in the final work of winning souls for the kingdom.

Pastor Kendall Turcios of the Houston International church, and Pastor Josue Murillo, youth director for the Texas Conference, challenged the youth to become true disciples of Christ, not just church attendees.

The pastors, along with Jose Pagán, developed "Jesus Loves Jeans" after seeing a magazine article about jeans. They thought about the jeans teens wear — worn jeans, torn jeans, short jeans, daisy jeans, long jeans, white jeans and expensive jeans. Jesus isn't interested so much in which denim they're made of, but the young people who wear them.

The advertising brochure proclaimed, "Today you are living out the dream! The dream that Jesus has for every young person living in the 21st century! His dream is for every young person, just like you, to lift high the victory torch of the gospel for this time. Your friends need to hear the good news of Jesus' soon coming and they need to hear it now!"

The pastors asked the young people to hold up their cell phones. Most of the youth had cell phones that they were eager to display. Then he asked them to scroll down through their contact list and make a note of their friends who do not know Jesus. He then asked them to begin praying for those contacts.

Sixty-seven young people made commitments to start small group studies. The Arizona conference agreed to supply free materials, providing the youth were committed to use them.

Two of the attending teens told how they already have a small group studying the Bible. They were thankful to have new materials to share.

Pagán told of a pair of shy twin girls that approached their public school teacher in Texas and asked if they could meet with some friends somewhere in the school to study Bible. The teacher approached the principal for permission and it was granted. The teacher then became involved and other teachers requested the materials to incorporate into their classes.

Guest musicians were David, George, and Leif, a group from Texas who call themselves "Evidence."

A follow-up evangelistic series is planned in April for the new interests they will develop.