December 11, 2024
VALDOSTA, Ga. – Exhilaration is a certainty at the Wild Adventures amusement park in Valdosta. But salvation?
That was the case for 20 students who attended the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s MOVE Conference, a two-day Christian experience for middle and high school students at a venue billed as 170 acres of rides, slides and exotic animals.
Another 73 said they felt called to become either ministers or missionaries.
“I would tell you that I’ve been doing this long enough to not be surprised by what God can do, but, that said, I would also tell you I was blown away by this,” said Chris Trent, the Mission Board’s next generation catalyst who organized the event that wrapped up on Friday. “It’s incredible to see how God moved among so many students.”
The MOVE Conference is the largest winter evangelism initiative for teenagers in Georgia. In all, 132 churches brought more than 2,500 people to the event.
The Mission Board organizes the MOVE Conference as a service to the state’s churches, many of which have made it a mainstay of their youth ministries during the Christmas break.
Trent, who was a longtime youth minister before joining the Mission Board staff, said students have become more sensitive to spiritual matters, as seen in the large numbers of salvation decisions and the calls to ministry. Twenty-five students who had previously given their lives to Christ committed to follow through with baptisms at the MOVE Conference.
“God is stirring among teenagers right now, especially when it comes to feeling called to ministry and missions,” Trent said. “It’s incredible.”
Levi Skipper, the Mission Board’s church strengthening strategist, said students who attend the MOVE Conference are prayed for by the churches that bring them and by the Mission Board staff.
“Many churches actually encourage students who are not regularly involved in church to come to this event,” Skipper said. “The allurement of Wild Adventures attracts them, and when they get here they get under the influence of the gospel.”
Skipper said the MOVE Conference is proving key to identifying potential ministers and missionaries and getting them plugged into the Mission Board’s Calling out the Called initiative, which was established to help prepare Georgia’s next generation of pastors, missionaries, evangelists and other church leaders.
Through the initiative, students are able to talk monthly with experienced Georgia Baptist ministry leaders about what lies ahead.
Skipper said the goal is to create smoother pathways for the next generation of ministers. He said pastors across Georgia have students in their churches who are wrestling with God’s call on their lives.
“That’s where we can really come alongside and really help a pastor and his church,” Skipper said when the Calling out the Called initiative was first introduced. “Just imagine the difference this could make for the state of Georgia as it continues to grow. We’re going to have leaders who are developed, leaders who are encouraged to join our Baptist institutions, and, when it comes time for you to look for a staff member, there’s actually going to be a pond filled with great, great leaders for you to fish from.”
