May 20th, 2025
by Brent Corbin
by Brent Corbin
The month of May is not for the faint of heart if you are someone with children or are connected to them vocationally, or otherwise. So many school programs, athletic tournaments, recitals, not to mention graduation ceremonies, which are wonderful! (and sometimes...very, very long). But we've almost made it through - keep your head up!
Speaking of - we are headed straight for our summer conference season, which a good occasion for me to share something that I came across recently. Olivia (THE Olivia Zellner, who helps us with Communication and Advancement) and I were working on a grant application, and part of the proposal included attaching a few references from people who had participated in our programming. I thought, "Great! I always like asking people to write things down which communicate that we're really awesome!"
Jokes aside, we received some very kind statements from a few seasoned youth leaders. One of those leaders was Kate Wartak, who, until very recently, served at Downtown Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC. Kate wrote:
"RYM’s summer conferences have been particularly impactful for my students, but especially for one student named Caroline. Caroline had been attending our youth group with her friends, but her family was not actively involved at our church. Caroline was invited to the RYM summer conference, where she heard a message from the speaker that opened her heart to the gospel. When she came home, she began pursuing a relationship with God, reading the Bible, and being discipled by youth volunteers in our church. A few months later, she professed her newfound faith in Christ, was baptized, and her parents even became members of the church. This is the ripple effect of a program like RYM’s summer conference. Because of the powerful message Caroline heard at the conference, her parents began their own journey of faith, and now their whole family is being discipled by our church. I am confident that RYM’s future ministry initiatives will continue to impact youth like Caroline, and their families, for the sake of the gospel.”
This testimony from Kate really got me thinking about our summer conferences, and the potential (if not actual) impact that they can have not just on students, but on whole families. My thinking went something like this:
What happens when a student comes to a conference and hears the gospel...and the Holy Spirit opens their heart to receive it...and then they go home and talk to mom and/or dad...and mom and dad decide they want to be in a church (and perhaps themselves get converted?)... I mean, you talk about changing a family's trajectory! That is pretty encouraging to consider for a moment. We know it's true, but it's sometimes really wonderful to remember afresh - God is always at work.
When God's Word is opened, preached, taught, discussed, and meditated upon, we should EXPECT that God is going to do great things, for His glory, of course, and also for the building up of His church.
And also...for the changing of a whole family's spiritual trajectory. Which on this lovely late spring day has me all fired up. Conferences can't come fast enough. Let's do this!!!!
All for Jesus,
Brent Corbin
Executive Director
Speaking of - we are headed straight for our summer conference season, which a good occasion for me to share something that I came across recently. Olivia (THE Olivia Zellner, who helps us with Communication and Advancement) and I were working on a grant application, and part of the proposal included attaching a few references from people who had participated in our programming. I thought, "Great! I always like asking people to write things down which communicate that we're really awesome!"
Jokes aside, we received some very kind statements from a few seasoned youth leaders. One of those leaders was Kate Wartak, who, until very recently, served at Downtown Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC. Kate wrote:
"RYM’s summer conferences have been particularly impactful for my students, but especially for one student named Caroline. Caroline had been attending our youth group with her friends, but her family was not actively involved at our church. Caroline was invited to the RYM summer conference, where she heard a message from the speaker that opened her heart to the gospel. When she came home, she began pursuing a relationship with God, reading the Bible, and being discipled by youth volunteers in our church. A few months later, she professed her newfound faith in Christ, was baptized, and her parents even became members of the church. This is the ripple effect of a program like RYM’s summer conference. Because of the powerful message Caroline heard at the conference, her parents began their own journey of faith, and now their whole family is being discipled by our church. I am confident that RYM’s future ministry initiatives will continue to impact youth like Caroline, and their families, for the sake of the gospel.”
This testimony from Kate really got me thinking about our summer conferences, and the potential (if not actual) impact that they can have not just on students, but on whole families. My thinking went something like this:
What happens when a student comes to a conference and hears the gospel...and the Holy Spirit opens their heart to receive it...and then they go home and talk to mom and/or dad...and mom and dad decide they want to be in a church (and perhaps themselves get converted?)... I mean, you talk about changing a family's trajectory! That is pretty encouraging to consider for a moment. We know it's true, but it's sometimes really wonderful to remember afresh - God is always at work.
When God's Word is opened, preached, taught, discussed, and meditated upon, we should EXPECT that God is going to do great things, for His glory, of course, and also for the building up of His church.
And also...for the changing of a whole family's spiritual trajectory. Which on this lovely late spring day has me all fired up. Conferences can't come fast enough. Let's do this!!!!
All for Jesus,
Brent Corbin
Executive Director
Posted in Directors Desk
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