Northwest Conference Youth Ministry

The MUUUCE team is rolling!! Tony Ducklow and the Summerfest production team are loading up to get ready for load in and set up tomorrow! Be praying for the 440 middle schoolers and leaders who will gather on Thursday for 3 days of the most ultimate, unbelievable, urbanish camping experience!

Here’s the Unite highlight video! Thank you for praying for us!! https://youtu.be/IrFQ2OYmkzE?si=dr_cUTiIi-gsxN5X

Still stuck in Detroit!

It’s day 3 here at Unite East! A little cooler, which makes it a lot easier to have fun. Yesterday we saw students opening up more and really engage with the worship and messages! In the afternoon, a highlight was a gigantic slip and slide, tournaments and hanging out at the Hub. You can find pics over at the CovYouth page.

Please pray for leaders: they are tired. Pray for God’s joy and energy as they shepherd our students. Pray for tonight’s service as there will be a call to commitment to Christ. Pray for seminar leaders and our Recreation and our Human Services teams. Thanks!!

Unite East has begun!

It’s a beautiful day on campus! It’s hot but a great breeze is blowing. Pray for smooth arrivals as group come on campus. For leaders who are shepherding students. For students who are feeling all sorts of emotions. For staff as they coordinate all the details. MY the wind of the Spirit blow thru!

From the ECC’s daily prayer prompt:

Unite 2024
PRAYER FOR TRAVELING MERCIES

Lord, God, we come to you with joy for all of the Covenant youth traveling to Unite East in Ohio and Unite West in California. Thank you for the provision of their presence. We ask that you would keep them and their leaders at the forefront of our minds today and tomorrow as they travel by road, airplane, and train to their respective campuses. May your arms of protection shelter them on their journey from home to Unite; may the strength of your Spirit provide courage to forge new friendships and deepen old ones; may the power of your love unleash curiosity and a desire to draw closer to you.

God, as these students and their leaders come together to worship, learn, and grow at Unite, we ask your blessing on their gathering*:

Accomplish your purposes among them, O God. Tune their hearts to the voice of your Spirit. Wake them to be present to you and to each other in the shared hours they are given. For it is you, O Lord, who have gathered them from our various places, and you alone who know their hearts and their needs.

Among them are some who will arrive anxious, some who are lonely, some who suffer pain or sorrow. May they, in their sorrows, find grace to embrace the joys of others. Among them are some who arrive rejoicing, hearts made light by good news, good health, and glad anticipation. May they, in their joys, find grace to enter the sorrows of others.

Let them prize these moments and care for one another deeply—for each one, and their relationships to one another, are precious and eternal.

Breathe upon this gathering, O Spirit of God.

Grant each of them a place to humbly receive and to faithfully serve, that they might know in this brief gathering a foretaste of that greater communion yet to come.

O Father, enlarge their hearts.
O Spirit, expand their vision.
O Christ, establish your kingdom among them.
Be at work even now, O Lord.
May your will, in them, during this gathering, be accomplished.

Amen.

* Excerpt is from "A Liturgy to Begin a Purposeful Gathering", by Every Moment Holy

Over 460 Northwest Conference students and leaders are heading to Bowling Green State University July 15-19 for UNITE East! We'll be posting daily highlights and prayer requests here.

UNITE North MainStage evening events will be livestreaming on our YouTube Channel throughout the weekend! Visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC02DuBnipvZg7U2Ndgme3kA to subscribe and tune it at 7:30 pm each night to follow along.

Want to find out more about UNITE North? Head over to https://www.facebook.com/UNITENorth

Registration is open through March 16 for the Rural Impact Leadership Conference (https://ruralimpact.church), with in-person and online registration options! We will have drawings for some significant giveaways for in-person attenders (think: technology and vacations!).

Check out this fantastic lineup of workshops (https://ruralimpact.church/workshops) on everything from evaluating metrics for health in your church to children and youth ministry to outreach and discipleship to fostering a culture of pastoral health to leading change in stuck systems to equipping volunteers. This is for both pastors and lay leaders, and is a great opportunity to share in a learning and fellowship event together.

Register online: https://ruralimpact.church

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." - 1 John 4:10-12