This past April, our youth group participated in CBFGA’s Mission Madness in Columbus. This was my first trip as a new youth director, and I could not have asked for a better experience. The weekend was a well-organized, entertaining, purposeful reflection on our role in the redemptive work of God. On the way home, my students argued about their favorite part of the weekend: working on the playground at the International Friendship Center, cleaning and painting at The Center at 909, packing meals for Rise Against Hunger, the scavenger hunt in downtown Columbus (that somehow took us into Alabama!), Saturday night worship, and on and on and on. My students were challenged to think outside of themselves and share their gifts in the service of others, all while making new friends from our sister churches in attendance.
While I am new to my position in Moultrie, I have chaperoned youth events for twenty years and attended them as a youth before that. Many youth events I have experienced were predicated on creating emotional responses and manipulating students. This one was truly an exception. It was refreshing to hear adults loving students and helping them see past their labels — self-prescribed and otherwise — towards the identity they can have in Christ.
Special thanks go to the members and volunteers from our host church, FBC Columbus, for sharing Daniel Potter, Howie Hooper, and your wonderful campus with us for a few days. You made us feel so welcome from the moment we drove into your parking lot on Friday night. And thank you to CBF Georgia’s Megan Doud and all her volunteers for a meaningful weekend. We look forward to seeing you at the next CBF Georgia youth event!
Allen Edwards is Youth Director at Trinity Baptist Church, Moultrie.
The weekend of April 14-16, 180 youth and chaperones converged on the First Baptist Church Youth and Activities Building in Columbus, GA. Young people and adults from the various corners of our great state came to the banks of the Chattahoochee River expecting a weekend of service, worship, and fun. They surely were not disappointed, and we were so honored to be their hosts.
While there were many special moments we could highlight, my youth continue to mention a couple of them. First, on Friday night, there was an extra special gathering of graduating high school seniors that gave them a chance to better connect with one another and to hear about ways to continue pursuing their faith journey in college. Small groups facilitated mutually vulnerable spaces in which folks of all different types drew together in the same boat. They realized that they were not alone in their questions or insecurities about what happens after graduation. I also had the privilege of driving our seniors back to their various hotels. The sound of their laughter, their shared sing-a-longs, and even new friends exchanging contact information were a joyous noise unto the Lord.
Second, I am always amazed at the quantity and quality of work our youth can accomplish in such a weekend. Mission groups spread out to twenty sites across the city doing incredible work. Some wrote encouraging messages in chalk for a Title One elementary school. Others prepared bags and cleaned shelves at a food bank. Still others cleaned up a yard that needed some extra love and care. And then, we all came together for a meal packing event through Rise Against Hunger, enabling the impact of our time and effort to travel far beyond our state to feed those in need in the name of Jesus Christ. In all, we packed over 35,000 meals. God’s love was made known and multiplied to the corners of the earth through this incredible group of young people. I’ll close with my proudest moment.
On Sunday morning, as we gathered for a final worship service in the FBC Sanctuary, I sat on the platform preparing to play the cajon for the praise band. As I looked across at my fellow worship leaders, I received a unique gift. Of the six others on platform, three were graduating seniors, one was a high school sophomore, and the others were former youth turned adult leaders. It blessed me to see how our church has equipped, continues to commission, and raises up new leaders. My prayer is, and truthfully, I believe it to be so, that through events like Mission Madness, CBF Georgia is doing just that, too. Thanks be to God!
Daniel Potter is Minister to Students at First Baptist Church, Columbus.