From Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, Youth in Ministry held the "Reap the Harvest" summit, the first event in 2003 for a program that seeks to provide teens with the opportunity to explore their vocational calling while considering Christian ministry as one of their options.
On Feb. 1, youth workers had the opportunity to attend a conference at Crossroads Christian Church in Gray, Tenn., where Les Christie of the Youth Specialties CORE training team spoke on topics such as "Positive Discipline: Working with Rude, Obnoxious and Apathetic Kids," "Developing Leadership Potential in Youth" and "Getting Teenagers to Talk."
"YiM and Les Christie were able to help each youth worker to be refreshed, encouraged, activated and prepared in their ministries with young people," said Phyllis Fox, director of Youth in Ministry.
On Sunday, youth groups from primarily Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina came to Seeger Chapel for a worship service led by a praise band from First Christian Church in Johnson City, Tenn.
"The praise band was amazing. It wasn't a show. You could tell they were worshiping...I think it touched a lot of high school kids just being in there," said Milligan sophomore Adrienne Sutphin.
Fox estimated that 442 teens along with their youth workers were in attendance Sunday night, where Les Christie spoke again, this time focusing on how Daniel was called into God's service.
Sutphin said, "I thought the program was really well organized. You could tell that their focus is to get these kids to stand up for Jesus in their school. He [Christie] did a really good job bringing down to their level and connecting it to real life issues."
Youth in Ministry was organized as a partnership between Emmanuel School of Religion and Milligan College after Emmanuel received one of 53 grants given to seminaries by Lilly Endowment of Indiana to encourage the cultivation of a "new generation of ministers," Fox said.
Fox said the Youth in Ministry program is set up like a "funnel" to reach primarily the teen market. Their widest way of reaching teens is through the organization's website at www.youthinministry.org.
To narrow down the outreach of this market, YiM set up "snapshot" events. These events, like "Reap the Harvest," will be held on Sundays and Wednesdays and focus on the theme of "how God issues the call," Fox said. YiM will also hold one-day workshops called "In Focus" for teens to further YiM's mission by focusing on God's vision for their lives.
On July 21-25, Milligan will host a YiM conference for 100 high school juniors and seniors called, "The Big Picture."
"It will provide deeper, hands-on service opportunities and practice in different areas of ministry," said Fox.