“It felt like a ‘thin place’…”
On Saturday 6th July, over 250 young people and youth leaders representing 20 churches gathered together at Lifecentral Church in Halesowen for the Midlands Youth Conference. Love Black Country were excited to partner with The Message Trust to plan and host the event.
The purpose of the day was to encourage and equip Christian young people to reach their schools and friends for Jesus. From the get-go, the young people present demonstrated a real
hunger to meet with God and were treated to powerful speaking from Jet Jones and Mark Ritchie as well as impressive seminars led by Pete Wright, Ben Jack, Ben Cutting and Andy Hancock. Throughout the day, the young people and their leaders were also able to try their hand on bunjee-trampolines and a rodeo bull, as well as explore the many activities available on the Message Bus. The conference concluded with a performance by SoulBox in the evening, flowed by a powerful time of worship led by the Elim’s Limitless band.
Feedback from the event has been encouraging with many young people expressing a desire to continue meeting regularly with other Christians their age in this way. One leader noted how significant it was to see the hunger in the young people present, noting one particularly powerful moment:
“The band had finished playing ‘Oceans’ and over the keys, the young people spontaneously started to sing out the bridge, “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders…” I saw the band look at each other mouthing ”wow!”. It was what I would call a thin place, where heaven and earth met, and God’s glory was there.”
Plans are now being explored to run a similar event in 2020, as well as running more regular, smaller events throughout the year. One Heart Sound, Love Dudley’s youth network, are also currently planning their own youth conference for later in the year to build on the momentum of last Saturday. Watch this space for more details in the weeks to come.
For more info on Love Black Country’s work with children and young people, please contact our Next Gen Champion Deb Chamberlain by emailing deb@loveblackcountry.org.uk.
Photos from the day are included below.
Photo credits: Greg Cooper.
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