Nathan Bird is Associate Pastor at Eastgate Christian Centre.
Imagine a lively movement that is ‘growing young’, where children, youth and family are flourishing.
Justice, mercy and humility form the framework for a new initiative at National Hui (6–9 Nov) this year: Gospel Impact Labs. Delegates can participate in one of ten labs to develop a tool which local Baptist churches can use for gospel renewal. See all Gospel Impact Labs at the end of this article. In this one with Nathan, we’re creating a tool to help our local churches develop a culture of discipling and empowering young people.
How can we better empower young people to be disciples of Jesus and equip them to make disciples of others? This question has burned in my heart since I began leading a youth ministry four years ago. I worked for eight years at a Christian school, helping to pull worship teams together for their school assemblies. I also took teams away for training and ministry camps. I saw God show up for these students numerous times, but I always wondered how he reached young people who weren’t in a Christian school.
I recently had the delightful experience of visiting Christian groups in two schools local to my church. Seeing some of our young people help lead these groups gave me hope. Jesus’ disciples were likely mostly teenagers when he called them, so we ought not to disregard our young people. When I look at them, I see an immense amount of potential. So, I feel an immense responsibility to disciple them well – especially those whom God has entrusted into my care as a youth pastor. If I had all the answers, I’d share them freely with you, but my wisdom and experience are limited. This lab will be a time for us to work collaboratively to develop a useful tool that will help our Baptist whānau do even better at empowering young people to be disciples of Jesus who also make disciples of Jesus. Bring your wisdom, experience and testimonies of God’s good work and let’s discern God’s voice together.
Image: Nathan Bird
Gospel Impact Labs
Empowering young people
Political engagement
