By: Micah Lalugan
“The youth is the hope of the future”, Dr. Jose Rizal once said – a quote which we all agree with. Indeed, the world often planted this quote in the minds of the young people to make them strive for excellence in whatever field they are in. Of course, this is not wrong, however, for us Christians, we know that the youth without a heavenly purpose will be like a vehicle driving in the dark without head lights. Therefore, we must first bring the youth to the Word of God.
For this reason, the youths of EFC Davao del Norte (DavNor) held a Sectional Youth Awakening Conference on November 30, 2018 at Evangel Family Church Tagum, Davao del Norte. This program is conceived to unlock the youth’s genuine desire to experience the powerful presence of Jesus and lead them into a life of divine purpose.
Pastora Jane Ann Poliño of EFC GenSan, carried the message of hope to the more or less 100 delegates from EFC DavNor Churches. She started her message with a game which challenged the young people on their biblical knowledge. She asked for a representative from different churches to enumerate all Bible characters they knew within a given time limit. All representatives, gladly showed off their Bible skills, and surely, their Pastors were not disappointed. However, Pastor Jane was waiting for a specific bible character to be mentioned yet none of the participants was able to name him.
When the participants had given up and no one among the crowd volunteered for an answer, Pastor Jane exclaimed, Epaphroditus! She used the life of Epaphroditus to inspire all the delegates. According to her, Epaphroditus was both a brother and a worker. A soldier and a messenger who is willing to risk his life to serve and support his spiritual leader, Paul. He was ill, to the point of death, all for the work of Christ but God had mercy on him. Epaphroditus should live inside each of us because he is a good example of supporting Pastors and the ministry.
Moreover, while today’s generation is about hashtags and everything that goes with the trend – #squadgoals #bffgoals #travelgoals #foodislove and the like, the Christian youths, should have a goal for the ministry as well, hashtags like “#youngpeoplegoals” or “#evangelitesbelike” . Truly, the youth plays a huge yet critical role in the church- they are very sensitive, careless, and outgoing but despite these, they are also a great help in the ministry, she concluded.
Indeed, if the youth are awakened, they will understand the vision of their pastors and live according to the plan God has designed for each of them and they will use their strength and rigor in fulfilling their purpose. The end time church should be glorious that the whole world will see the light- Jesus Christ.
