That was the theme of the youth conference, “Getting Right with God”, which was hosted by Bryte Church on November 11-12, 2022. The event was attended by almost two hundred young men and women ages 14-25. The Association’s “Unite” youth ministry were in charge of organizing this event; the main speakers were Evgeniy Gol and Andrey Sava.
A two-day program was saturated by worship, ice breaker games, Bible games, seminars and discussions, raffles, and reception fellowship. The event organizers had a goal of teaching the youth of the right principles of a healthy relationship with God, as well as to understand the importance of spiritual disciplines in the lives of born-again Christians. There were representatives from churches not just from California, but from other states as well. All of the seminars were in English, but there was also a synchronized translation available. Those who recently came to the U.S. and did not have a chance to learn English, were also able to hear the translation through the headphones.
“Today we witnessed how the youth were united together in their desire to get to know God, and His will. Over the course of two days, we were talking about important biblical truths and got deep in the study of the Bible. When it was time for a panel discussion with speakers, we had forty-three important questions from the audience. To me, this is an indicator that the youth is thinking through all of the material and not just passively listening like a lecture. We need to do such events more often”, said Ilya Koryaka who was hosting the event.
Petr Makletsov, who is the head of the youth ministry, expressed his gratitude to the speakers and volunteers who invested into making this event a reality: “Thanks to those who decorated the sanctuary, and for those who prepared the food – everything was very beautiful and tasty. This is the third year in a row when we are hosting such events for the youth, but this is the first time that we decided to have an official conference, rather than the leaders’ retreat. We had great speakers, and this was a very relevant theme for everyone. For example, we often hear from the pulpit that we need to love people. But what does that practically look like? We always hear that we need to have a right relationship with God, but what does that mean? Who is telling us to do this, and why must we do it? Our speakers covered various aspects of practical Christianity, and I am grateful to them for their wisdom and openness.”
“The theme of the right relationships with God is very important because there are many nominal Christian out there, but our goal is to invest into the youth so that they would understand and apply the biblical truths in practice. I really liked the fact that there were a lot of potential leaders who are yearning for knowledge and spiritual growth, and are trying to impact the community”, -- said Pastor Andrey Sava.
The other conference speaker, Yevgeniy Gol affirms that these conferences are truly useful not only for those who are new in their Christian walk, but also for those who have been following the Lord for many years. He said, “It is even more interesting to answer questions than even to preach. It is exciting when the audience are presenting biblical arguments, and are asking to explain apparently contradictory texts. Through that, I see their interest and am encouraged that this youth have a positive future”.
We wish God’s blessing for the youth ministry and future growth, and are grateful to Andrey Tsvirinko for taking the pictures of the conference.
Svtelana Iotko
