On the weekend of April 17th-19th in Darke County, over 250 local teenagers and adult leaders gathered for the DNOW (Discipleship Now) Conference. This year 9 different churches and ministries in the area partnered together as the body of Christ and lifted the name of Jesus high through worship, equipping, laughter, and discipleship! Youth for Christ brought 25 teenagers this year and several students made commitments to Jesus and grew in their faith to God!
“It was so amazing. I love being surrounded by people I can truly see Jesus in. It really helped because there have been times where I’m not sure on a topic and what the Bible says, and some of those questions were answered this weekend. Lately I feel like I’ve been mean by default and/or just pride and I’ve been praying about it and over this weekend I realized that every person no matter if they follow Jesus or not, they all deserve to be treated with the love that Christ offers.” – Annabelle
Over the weekend, students also got to spend an overnight with leaders, some at churches and some at host homes where they had intentional small group time to dive into the Word of God. They also just had some fun hanging out and playing games, creating memories and having dance parties! Good clean fun. It was a moment they could let the weight off and just enjoy and get away from the everyday things that sometimes feel hard and focus on what really matters for a minute.
Saturday afternoon, each group went to all 9 surrounding schools and prayed over each. Even during a chilly day, it was an honor to show students what it means to intentionally pray over our schools and remember to take time to be quiet and focus our prayer time. What a beautiful sight watch students and leaders stop as they walked around the schools to pray by themselves or as groups, to lay hands on the school and lift up faculty and students to the Lord.
“I loved it!!! It was so fun! The trip helped me grow in my faith because I learned a lot more about God and what stood out to me is at the end when we were praying at the school and watching others pray with us.” – Janelle
On Saturday night, a young man came up to one of our leaders with tears in his eyes and shared, “Thank you. This changed things for me. I was living every day as a casual Christian, but this weekend showed me it’s time to be all in.”
This DNOW conference has become a place where kids have encounters with Jesus, grow, learn and are convicted to go deeper and live a life that is ALL IN for Him! It’s a beautiful picture of God’s people coming together in the community as the body of Christ, worshipping and serving alongside each other, lifting the name of above everything else. A place where teenagers can come and experience the unconditional and life-giving love that only God can give. Praise Him for yet another opportunity to serve alongside others for teens and for Christ.
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