Global Youth Day – March 15

In September of 2012, the General Conference Youth Ministries Department consulted with the 13 Division youth directors, and received overwhelming support for experimenting with the concept of a “Global Youth Day.”  The Sabbath, March 16, 2013 was chosen.  London Youth assembled t church, and then went out to visit a nursing home in Watford.  They were to be the sermon of the day, doing acts of kindness.

Worldwide that day blessings exceeded expectations.  Almost four million people were reached through the social media campaign and we received more than 10,000 video uploads from all over the world that portrayed our youth in action. Three live studio uplinks from Australia, Germany, and the United States took GYD to the rest of the world.  This year there will be 20 live sites around the world for 24 hour coverage.

The main objective of this event is to recapture the reality of the Seventh-day Adventist Youth as a Global Movement; to lead our youth to rediscover the sense of belonging to a global army; to reposition mission at the heart of global youth ministry.  It is grounded in the concluding words of Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:25-37).  The theme of the Global Youth Day is simply “BE THE SERMON”

Imagine 8 million Adventist youths mobilized on the streets of our villages, towns, and cities around the world to be the hands and feet of Jesus through acts of kindness.

As the young people from local churches, regions, or conferences/missions meet for a time of consecration before spending the best part of Sabbath reaching out in local communities, our London youth come together for the early service, 8:30 am, for the time of dedication and prayer before going out at 11 am to do Sabbath friendly acts of kindness.  To complete the day’s activities, our young people will congregate together with the university students at Western Campus with Andrew Waller speaking on the topic of “Last generation.”

The Global Youth Day repositions youth at the center of the Church’s life and mission. It has the potential of being the dawn of youth ministry’s finest hour.

Pray for the youth of this church, for the safety as they go out, for Divinely appointed opportunities for them to impact lives of people who are searching for Christ, and for their own lives to be changed by God’s grace.   Next year, March 14, 2015 we will assemble even more organized spiritual army of youth to impact London.