Fifty-eight students made the decision to follow Jesus Christ at the 2020 Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC). During this SBC of Virginia event, held at London Bridge Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, 11 students re-dedicated their lives to Christ and 125 students accepted the challenge to share the Gospel with a friend. Many shared that they experienced God’s powerful presence during this two-day event in January.
YEC organizers decided on the theme of Compelled, derived from 2 Corinthians 5:14, which reads “…the love of Christ compels us.” Pastor Brian Burgess was the guest speaker and shared messages focused on being compelled by Christ’s love and what it looks like when we are controlled and motivated by that love.
The conference also featured times of worship and entertainment from Christian artists I Am THEY and Legin, Scripture readings and dramatic presentations by Piercing Word, and music from D.J. PDOGG.
“This weekend we are going to be talking about the love of Jesus. His love for you, and His love for a lost world,” said Christian artist, Legin on Friday night as he addressed the crowd of young people.
Burgess also challenged the students to remove labels that society places on young people and instead to identify with Christ. Burgess utilized the story of the woman with constant bleeding, who was healed by Jesus, found in Mark 5 to illustrate this decision.
“The problem is when you learn a label, you’ll live that label and you’ll love that label. I want to encourage you to know it’s time to peel the label,” Burgess said to the group of teenagers on Friday night. Following the message, 170 students made a decision to reject these labels by writing them on an index card and laying them at the altar.
“The Father was so gracious to us this weekend” Regional Catalyst and Student Ministry Strategist, Shawn Ames said. Never before had the staff seen so many tangible results at a YEC. ■
