GYC Conference 2023: But If Not

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Plenary

Andrew Park

Disciples Indeed

My name is Andrew Park and I have the privilege of serving as the president of this organization.

I do want you to know that even before you walked into this convention center, there has been so much prayer for you.

So much prayer for you, you must know that.

When I was 21 years old, I made the biggest decision of my life.

I was about to be a junior at Michigan State University and I was faced with a decision.

Now when I say I was faced with the decision, no 1 forced me to make a decision, but I felt in my heart that I needed to make a decision for myself.

And that was to decide to leave my school, to leave my friends, to leave the life that I loved and go to a small little school in the south, in the middle of all that southern heat, to a school that people don't even know how to pronounce its name, in the middle of a little town of 700 people, a school called Wachita Hills College.

Many people would consider this decision very puzzling to them.

Why would a 21 year old who has friends, who has community, who has a life that's going for him, who has an unlimited meal plan.

Leave all that behind to go to a school that he's just heard of.

He doesn't know anybody at that school besides a few people.

Why would he make a decision to go there?

But yet I felt that I had to be at this place.

I sacrificed my world at 21 years old to go to Washington Hills College, and that decision changed my life.

My memory of 21 years old, making that decision, reminds me of you.

You could literally be anywhere else right now.

You could be at home snuggling up on your bed.

You could be visiting friends and family in a different state.

But out of all your choices, you have decided to be here.

Why do you feel that you had to be at GYC this year.

While you're seated here tonight, I want to share with you why we're here.

And by we, I'm referring to the ministry of GYC.

Why is it that GYC holds a conference every year like the 1 that we're opening up tonight?

Why is it that there is a group of volunteers who work literally all year round, young people just like you, to set up for a four-day conference in the middle of December at the most inconvenient time of the year.

This ministry, GYC, Generation Youth Christ, exists for 1 core purpose, and that core purpose is to inspire young people to study the Word of God.

The reason we have that purpose is because GYC believes that the Word of God has potent power to change your life.

Because I don't know the reason why you came here tonight, and I don't want to assume anything of anyone, the important question that I must pose to you tonight is, do you believe that the Word of God can change your life?

Father in heaven, we're opening up this convention.

There has been a year of work that has gone into this.

Not that our work merits anything, but clearly there is something important that people see to put this conference on for.

Lord, I pray for the Spirit of God to be with us now as we open up your Word, show us wondrous things from your law.

Thank you for hearing this prayer, Set a hedge of protection around this place and may your angels abide in this convention center.

This is our prayer Bless us now We pray this in Jesus name.

Amen Turtle in your Bible said John chapter 1 this evening John chapter 1 John chapter 1 verse 1 is where we begin this evening opening up the Word, opening up this GYC convention.

John 1, verse 1, I'll give you a few more seconds to turn to that verse.

The Bible reads in John chapter 1 verse 1, in the beginning was the, and the was with God, and the was God.

As we open up the Bible in the book of John, first chapter, it begins with the gigantic statement about the Word.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word is with God and the Word was God.

Revelation chapter 19 verse 6 says, Alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Omnipotent means limitless or unlimited power.

There are no limits to the power of God and that means that God has infinite power.

If John 1 1 says the word was God, If the Word was God, then how much power does the Word have?

John 1 later reveals to us that this Word is actually referring to Jesus, because it says in verse 14 that this word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

But it makes me wonder if John is referring to Jesus as the word why doesn't he just use the name of Jesus if he's talking about him?

Perhaps he's trying to tell us something.

John 1.1 says, In the beginning was the word.

Where else in the Bible do we see that phrase, in the beginning?

It says, in the beginning, God created the, can you finish that for me?

And after that statement, the rest of Genesis chapter 1, the Bible proceeds to repeat the same idea over and over and over again.

Verse 3, then God said, let there be light.

Verse 6, then God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Verse 9, then God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together in 1 place.

Verse 11, then God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit." Verse 14, then God said, "...let there be lights in the firmament." Verse 20, then God said, "...let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth." Verse 24, then God said, "...let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind." Verse 26, then God said, "...let us make man in our image." When you read through Genesis chapter 1, it's almost impossible to miss the repetition.

Guess what phrase is repeated there in Genesis chapter 1?

The book of Genesis is drawing our attention to, through repetition, to the fact that God speaks.

Now I assume we have an intelligent group here tonight.

I want to ask you a scholarly question if that's alright.

The question is, when a person is speaking, what comes out of their mouth?

In Genesis chapter 1, God is speaking and that means what is coming out of God's mouth?

Genesis chapter 1 is showing us the reality that there is power in the Word of God.

In Genesis 1, God created the heavens and the earth, and for each created thing was created light, firmament, living creatures, man.

Is it surprising then when we look at the book of John chapter 1 verse 1, let's turn back there, is it surprising when we look at John chapter 1 verse 1 that we read the words that we read, it says, are you there?

John chapter 1 verse 1, in the beginning was the Word.

There is potent power in the Word of God.

Did you come because you thought you would get a new and exciting experience?

Or did you come here because you would receive the Word of God?

As we continue in our journey tonight, picking up in John chapter 2, let's turn to John chapter 2.

John chapter 2, Jesus is going to a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee with his disciples.

This is the beginning of his public ministry.

And at this wedding feast, things seemed to be going just fine until they run into a really big problem.

Do you remember what that problem was at the wedding feast?

They ran out of wine in the middle of the feast.

So Mary, the mother of Jesus, brings servants to him and says, whatever Jesus says to you, do it.

Andrew Hosford

Changed Lives Testimony

I know for me it's really easy when times are good, but what about those times that God doesn't answer in the way that we had hoped?

My family and I were on our first overseas mission trip and I was experiencing things that I had never experienced because I had always lived in America.

The sights, the food, everything was different.

Today we were preparing to drive all day to see a new mission project that needed support.

We got up before dawn and as we would pass little villages on our path, The smoke from burning incense would come and fill the car, making it impossible to breathe.

Our drivers sped along the route at an incredible speed, sending chickens and dogs running for their lives.

We passed thousands of huge Buddhist temples made out of beaten gold.

We drove all day, only stopping briefly on the long way.

As we neared our destination for the night, our host leaned over to us and said, For the last 8 hours that we've been driving, we've not passed a single Christian school.

We've not passed a single Adventist church.

We've not passed a single Christian church.

In this whole region, this last 8 hours of driving, we've not passed any Adventists, and we've passed no Christians in this entire region.

We were driving at highway speeds for 8 hours, and there's no Christians in this entire region.

We haven't passed a single Adventist believer.

I knew that we had missionaries all over the world doing amazing things for God, and yet how could there be entire regions of this world without Christians?

Here in America there are lots of churches.

Just here in Portland alone I counted on Google that there's over 15 Adventist churches.

This whole section of 8 hours of driving, we passed no Christians.

As I learned more about the unreached, I learned that out of the 8000000000 people on this planet, nearly 3000000000, over 3000000000 people will not hear about Jesus in their entire lifetime.

Over the next few years, the events of that day haunted me.

My brother and I started a media company together and we occupied most of our time reaching out to different mission projects and doing mission stories.

And The results of our work resulted in a lot of donations to further missions.

I felt satisfied that I was doing God's work and being a difference, making a difference in missions.

I wondered if I could be doing more for God.

I started asking Him what He wanted for me, for a career, what He wanted me to do, and I prayed this prayer for several months with no answer.

My prayers became more earnest until 1 Sabbath I prayed a very specific prayer.

God, I want you to show me from your word what you want me to do.

As I finished saying those words, the verse in the chapter of Matthew 28, the words Matthew 28 came into my mind in a very strong way.

So strong that I completely forgot what Matthew 28 was talking about.

As I neared the end of the chapter, the last verses really stood out to me.

Jesus said, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them everything that I have taught you.

I will be with you through the good times as well as the trials.

Immediately, I knew that God wanted me to be a missionary, to share his love and hope with the dying world.

I had no idea what the next steps were, but I kept praying and trusting God's plan.

I knew I wanted to be on the front lines sharing his love with people who had never heard the gospel before.

Within 2 weeks, God revealed more of this plan to me.

I was attending a special mission event where different speakers would come and share their experience of flying into remote villages and delivering Bibles and seeing lives changed with the gospel.

Right then I knew God was calling me to be a missionary pilot.

I was reminded of a story of when I was younger, I would read different mission stories.

And 1 that particularly stood out to me was the story of a missionary by the name of Nate Saint.

He was working in Ecuador as a missionary.

He had several of his friends there, and together they were all trying to reach the people of Ecuador.

There was different tribes that they were reaching out to, but 1 specific tribe was known for their ferocious attacks on foreigners.

Nobody had been able to go into that village and survive.

The story then continued to the point where they made some contact and in the course of time They decided to land their airplane on the nearby sandbar and invite the villagers to come and join them for a friendly visit.

After praying together as a team, the men set off, And while the wives stayed behind to listen to the radio and wait for the word of the success of the mission, they set off for this journey.

They landed on the sandbar, they made a tree house to stay the night, and every night the airplane would fly back to get more supplies and bring out the journals of everybody that was in the on the sandbar.

The time came when they expected a friendly visit from these natives.

And at the scheduled time where the radio report back to base was supposed to happen, the radio remained silent.

Later it was learned that these 5 men had been murdered before they ever had a chance to reach these people.

That story made a huge impact on my young life.

I learned that the wives chose to forgive those murderers.

And later, even Nate's sister and another another woman, they joined forces and were invited into this village because of how they had responded to this whole situation.

Thousands of people have since heard this story.

Many entered the mission field as a result.

What seemed like a total loss, God used to bring a great blessing.

Later the whole tribe accepted Jesus and the effects of that ministry, of going back into that village, has really inspired many people's lives to continue serving God.

This story was very influential for me in helping me choose aviation, no matter the cost.

God then opened the doors for me to learn aviation mechanics, as well as getting my pilot's license up in Michigan, and I graduated knowing for sure that God was leading me forward.

I finished my aviation training, and surprisingly, I still had no idea where God was leading me.

It wasn't long before I joined a mission aviation organization called Angel 1 and prepared for service.

Angel 1 is a new mission organization aimed at developing, helping support young and small mission aviation projects all over the world.

Right now they have several different bases kind of spread around and they're there to support missionaries and help projects that are underway.

Their goal is to reach isolated people and that's my vision as well.

So in the right time God led me to join their organization and as I prepared for launching I was fundraising and once that was all complete, I set off for the Philippines.

When I arrived, I learned that in the faraway islands and remote jungles, medical care is extremely limited.

For some of these islands, even on a good day, the journey is a 16-hour boat ride.

As you can imagine, this trip not only becomes lengthened, but it becomes extremely dangerous.

The struggles extend beyond the journey itself though.

The island clinics are severely understaffed.

It's hard to get medical professionals to stay on these islands.

Effectively assessing and treating these patients becomes a very daunting task.

I learned that part of the solution could be used, could be solved with aviation.

It was getting late in the day when I answered an urgent call.

On a remote island there was a woman in labor and now she faced serious complications.

Immediately I rushed into action preparing the airplane for the mission.

I knew that the patient's only hope was to get medevaced to a better hospital.

Once everything was ready, I prayed and then pushed in the throttle for takeoff.

As we flew away from shore and over the beautiful island reefs, I knew that we didn't have more than a few minutes to spare.

The night was fast approaching, and since our airplanes aren't legal to fly at night, I knew that we had a small window to be able to make it to the island and then back to the hospital before dark.

Upon landing in the island, we quickly loaded the patient and we took off into the setting sun.

After flying for about an hour, you could see in front of us the lights dimly glowing from the city that we were going to.

And within just a few minutes, you could see the runway lights, and it was guiding us to the airport.

The last few minutes of daylight, I touched down on the runway.

The ambulance was waiting off to the side and came over and picked up the patient and rushed the patient to the hospital.

Sam Walters

The Miracle of Standing

My name's Sam and I will be your speaker for our evening meetings.

Tonight's sermon is entitled, The Miracle of Standing.

We're going to be looking at our theme, but if not, taking it from Daniel chapter 3.

Dear Lord, tonight as we look into your Word, I'm just asking that you will speak to us and that You will draw us closer to You and fill us with Your Spirit.

We're claiming in the promise of Luke 11 verse 13, which says, if ye, then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?

I say to you Lord, that's what we're asking for today.

I remember clearly the first stand that I took for God.

And I was wondering whether to stay in church or not.

Next year, the year after, I would have been 18 and I would have been going off to university.

And I was friends with a set of guys, we'd grown up in church together, but the majority of them by this time had left church.

16, 17, 18, you know that's a delicate age.

I found myself, probably 1 of about 2, who was left in church.

You know those ones where physically you're there, but spiritually you're struggling.

If you had asked me to take part in the service, I would have said yes.

I think at that time I was part of the Wolverhampton SDA youth choir.

1 day I was out canvassing for Adra, door to door, door to door.

I was with some of the members of my local church.

And as we're canvassing door to door, some of my friends who I was still friends with had left, but they'd left church, drove past.

And 1 of the friends that I was closer to called me up.

I was 17 I was sitting in my living room.

Do you use the word living room here from the UK?

I Was in my living room and I had a phone call from a friend, and he said, Sam, we saw Sister Mary and the others.

Sister Mary is a lady who goes to my home chats.

We saw Sister Mary and the others doing the AJA door-to-door collection, And they called them the AJA collection crew.

And then he said, Sam, we then saw you and we burst out laughing.

You know, right now, if somebody laughed, I'd probably find it funny myself.

Right now, it's probably not that deep, but at 17, You know, everybody wants to belong.

My mom was sitting across on the other sofa and she witnessed the conversation, But she hadn't responded.

I relayed to her what had just been said, but she didn't respond.

I think she could just see that I was struggling.

I went upstairs to my room, and when I spoke to my mom afterwards, like some years later, she told me that she was praying for me at that moment.

I went upstairs to my room and I just asked myself the question, Sam, what are you saying?

You need to ask, you need to answer that for yourself, Sam.

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