wfn.org | 9,000 youth hear challenge to be bold Christians

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Aug. 2, 1999 Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-31-71BP{400}

NOTE:  Photographs and a sidebar, UMNS #401, are available with this story.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - About 9,000 young people attending a global United
Methodist gathering were challenged to go forth and lead the world as bold
Christians.

The richly diverse group met for Youth '99 on the campus of the University
of Tennessee with a common purpose: to learn how to "Be!" Amid spirited
singing, enthusiastic worship, energetic dancing, and fun and fellowship,
young people ages 12-18 had opportunities to profess the kingdom of God and
to boldly serve as the body of Christ.

Youth '99, held once every four years, is sponsored by the United Methodist
Board of Discipleship and is billed as the agency's largest international
event. During the July 28-Aug. 1 event, the teens and their adult leaders
were challenged to deepen and practice their faith, to respond to God's call
by loving and serving others, to experience the diversity of youth ministry
worldwide; to be ready for mission and ministry and to go into the world as
Christ's disciples.  

"This is a place where youth can come and know that you are safe ...  all
you have to do is to be," said the Rev. Grace Imathiu, a Kenyan residing in
Nashville, Tenn. Her young listeners responded with cheers. 

Throughout the gathering, the youth were bombarded with the theme "Be!",
which was used in rallying them to experience Jesus Christ's transforming
power. Event designers wanted a theme that called for youth to be bold in
their faith, explained Terry Carty, director of ministries for youth at the
discipleship agency. "Be!" was chosen because youth are called as Christians
to go forth and be the people God has called to lead the world, he said. The
boldness is represented by the theme's exclamation point.

Youth '99 allowed participants to celebrate the fact that they are not alone
in their faith but have brothers and sisters from across the world like
them. Every U.S. state except Hawaii was represented, and 75 international
participants hailed from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany,
India, Liberia, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Philippines and Puerto
Rico. Attendance was more than twice that of the 1995 gathering in Salt Lake
City.

Each day of Youth '99, the participants were invited to reflect on the
characteristics of the theme. They were required to be a celebration; a
community; transformed; real with God; and still. 

Young people described how God is working in their lives. Several told how
their lives had been impacted by certain events, leading them on the path to
seminary and youth ministry.

In Bible study sessions, Duffy Robbins encouraged participants to be
faithful, available and tenacious, or FAT, about God's love. Robbins is the
chairman of the youth ministry program at Eastern College in St. Davids, Pa.

Using humor and storytelling to give diverse perspectives of Scripture,
Robbins highlighted instances of what it means to be a follower or disciple
of Christ.  His message focused on the choice Abraham made to leave
everything and journey to an unknown place.  

Abraham shows faithfulness by saying "a genuine 'yes' to God," he said. With
that yes, he also noted, there is "a genuine 'no' " and things that have
been done in the past are left behind. Like Abraham, "who made a
go-for-broke decision," Robbins asserted that "we must also make a decision
where we hang it on the power and grace of God." 

Robbins told the youth that Abraham chose his own adventure because he did
as God told him. He said their lives are an adventure, and each of them must
choose what to do with their lives. God will be present in what they do in
their lives, and Robbins invited them to no longer play it safe. He
encouraged them to take risks, to do not what comes naturally, to step out
in faith and to push themselves to be all that God wants them to be.

"God is calling each of us and needs not your ability but your
availability," he said.

As he described other elements of FAT, Robbins invited the young people to
volunteer for the Upper Room Living Prayer Line. More than 350 participants
responded to answer prayer requests. However, only two telephone lines were
available. Twenty people fielded 200 calls, while 30 others prayed in the
background for the callers and for those operating the phones.  

The sessions, with music and speakers, afforded times for the youth to
strengthen their resolve to grow in faith. Workshops focused on skills
needed to build a more Christian world. The gathering was also designed to
cultivate a sense of Methodist identity among youth and to encourage
leadership development.

Imathiu, associate pastor at Edgehill United Methodist Church in Nashville,
spoke to the young people about the blind man in Mark 8:22-26, and discussed
how the man was brought to Jesus for healing. "There are times when we need
to bring others to Jesus because they cannot come themselves. We have to
intercede for them, beg on their behalf, be their advocate," she said. 

As she described how Jesus led the blind man away from the village, she told
the youth that there are times when they would need to leave their
"villages" to clear their heads. "There are times when you have to get of
the village and away from the usual stuff you have been socialized to
believe is the correct way of doing things. You have to just get out," she
said.  

As she talked about judgment and acceptance, she discussed the influences
that give youth the messages that they are not good enough, or that they
should not try to be different or Christian. She told them to remember that
"God loves you and there is nothing you can do about it."

The teens were encouraged to get out of the "villages" where certain types
of clothes are required, to "get out of the place where you always have to
see Tommy (Hilfiger) in T-shirts and see a place where Jesus is a good
thing." Imathiu implored her listeners to leave the villages or places that
use income to determine worth and to get away from those who advocate a
certain type of beauty.

"Youth '99 is about getting out of 'the village' ... being with God's
children who love me and accept me just the way I am," Imathiu said.

She called the blindness in Scripture a metaphor for the condition of the
heart and the mind, and she asked the youth to become "people who intercede
and beg on behalf of God."

Recalling a recent trip to Australia, Imathiu told how she shared her story
with some of the continent's natives at a convention. "Stories make the
world a smaller place, they make us human," she stated. When personal
stories are shared and the superficial things are removed, learning, loving
and caring begins, she observed.

She expressed her amazement that someone with her humble beginnings has been
called by God to do his work. "God has shown me that it doesn't matter who
you are, God can use you. God is looking for someone who is available." She
said that when you respond to God, he will present you with a gift that you
did not know you possessed.

Participants were encouraged to share their stories with one another and to
build relationships. Each person in the audience was challenged to acquire a
friend from a different country, culture, race, socioeconomic status or
theological leaning. "Your eyes are opened when you have a friend from
another country," Imathiu said, "... and the world becomes a smaller place
for you."

Alluding to the troubles many youth face today, such as sexual abuse, drugs,
anger, desperation, Helen Musick asked the participants to not be conformed
to the world but transformed by the renewal of the mind. The youth ministry
professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., encouraged those
undergoing adversity to "reach out in your desperation and find and healing
and be transformed."

Other speakers included evangelist Tony Campolo, professor of sociology at
Eastern College, St. Davids, and the Rev. Vance R. Ross, pastor at First
United Methodist Church, Hyattsville, Md. 

Participants acted on the theme of the event not only through workshops and
worship, but with  hands-on ministry and prayer. They prayed for a member of
the Youth '99 staff, Ada Egbuji of Lagos, Nigeria; she had come to the
United States to see her mother who was in Nashville, Tenn., for medical
treatment. Egbuji heard about Youth '99 and wanted to experience it and be
among other Christian youth. 

"I was impressed by the fact that although the kids did not know me, they
made me feel like family," she said. The gathering "was a nice experience
for me and because everyone allowed Christ in them to shine, it made me
become more Christian, and while there I learned so much."

For Renee Reasinger of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, Youth '99 was an opportunity to
give teens the opportunity to see what she witnessed as a participant in
Youth '91. "I had some wonderful experiences, and now that I'm a youth
pastor, I wanted them to experience becoming closer to God and I wanted them
to connect with teens from around country."

Patrick Briscoe of New Orleans was most impressed with the community that
was formed and how well people from different cultures interacted. "No one
segregated themselves, and everyone was open."

Youth '99 led to a deeper relationship with God for Emily Smith of Auburn,
Calif. "The event was lots of fun, and it's taught me to understand God's
calling. ... I've grown closer to God by witnessing these people worshipping
together."

In other action, the youth;
*	helped to build a Habitat for Humanity house;
*	sponsored 175 children through Compassionate International, a global
agency that helps children, particularly in Third World countries;
*	participated in early morning worship;
*	listened to performances of Christian recording artists, bands and
choirs; 
*	participated in clean-up and repair projects throughout the city;
and 
*	interacted with clients of area ministries and provided hands-on
services.

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