Luzon youth enjoy empowering messages

by Katherine Apuyan

“I only wish this conference won’t end”. Such was the remark of one delegate who attended last month’s 1st Luzon Youth Conference. 97 delegates gathered for this awaited summer event for young people.

On the first day, we started with an orientation in the morning and the afternoon featured a music video presentation participated by the sections of La Union, Palawan-Mindoro, Batangas and Quezon City. It was fun to see the showcase of musical talents. On the first evening service, we were encouraged as the word of God confronted our personal issues in the message “Restoring the Original You” by Pastor Greta Tamayor.

The following day, Pastor Jethro Novero took the first session with his message entitled “Empowered by God’s Love”. On the second session, Pastor Jessie Yu delivered “Empowering Our Understanding on the Signs of our Times” which gave us the knowledge how to live wise and God-centered lives in our  generation. In the afternoon, there was a “Bandfest” from all the sections, and we were thrilled to hear the original song composition of the young people. The evening session was with Pastor Doming Galagata on “Serving the Lord with Success”.

On the final day, Pastor Eddie Falla challenged the young people to be involved in missions through his sermon entitled “Empowering the Mission”. Three young people boldly stood up and took the challenge. Some young people confessed later that they also wanted to stand up to God’s call, but they felt shy to publicly do so. After the morning session, there were a Bible Mastery Contest from the Book of Acts and an Extemporaneous Speech Competition on contemporary issues. Exciting tensions drilled the bones of every contestant as questions were thrown to them. A water baptism soon followed with six young people taking the step to follow Christ. That afternoon, we had an Open Forum with the Luzon Core Leaders together with our regional director, and we were glad to freely ask anything from the Bible or any issues, and they were all answered. Pastor Jessie Yu capped the conference on his last night’s sermon entitled “Empowering the Nex Gen: Raising Leaders”.

All the sermons really pierced our hearts. Even at the altar call, we saw young people and even adult delegates humbling themselves and crying before God. We could feel the mighty presence of the Holy Spirit lingering on that place with 11 young people baptized in the Holy Spirit. I never expected little kids aged 5 and 6 cried and bowed down at the altar as well.

We give our congratulation to Quezon City for winning as the overall champion in the different categories of competition, but more importantly, we thank all the speakers for giving their best in their messages with God’s anointing. Above all, we want to thank God for His signature of approval He engraved in the hearts of the young people. It is not about us; it is all about Jesus! We, the next generation, are now empowered and ready to take the lead in carrying the eternal message of salvation. All glory and praises be unto Him alone!

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