"Okay, I'm reloaded!"

A group of us attended the Urban Youth Worker's Institute Reload (http://uywi.org/) conference in Phoenix on Saturday. Since 2005, Aim Right has had around 20 of our volunteers or staff participate in UYWI trainings in Phoenix or Los Angeles, and they have been extremely beneficial.

The keynote speaker at Saturday's conference was Pastor Harvey Carey from Detroit, MI.

A few things about Harvey:

1) You will not fall asleep while he is speaking. You will not even have the slightest temptation to fall asleep.

2) He is a mover and a shaker...literally. He oozes passion while he speaks, and from his stories, he lives it, too. He and 500 youth once shut down a strip club in their community through an effort of courageous prayer. Crack houses have received similar treatment; not many folks are interested in buying drugs when a group of believers is having a campfire and singing church songs in the middle of the night....in front of a crack house.

Here are some great quotes and thoughts from his messages:
- Are we using 8-track methods for an mp3 generation?

- Who has the largest youth ministry in Phoenix? the devil

- Youth ministry has been turned into ministry to youth, vs. ministry by youth.

- The work of the ministry should be done by the saints, not the leadership. The leadership does the equipping. (Eph. 4:12)

- Challenge young people to do things that require God.

- If a community is dark and the church says they're the light, they are lying.

- What have I planned for this year that requires God?

- When you know God, can't (pronouce this cain't for full effect) nobody tell you what God can't do!

Each of us also had the opportunity to attend two workshops. The 5 teens in our group participated in a special track for youth. Here are a few take-aways from the workshops I attended:

- The most effective outreach happens when you get out of the church.

- If you have the gift of evangelism, don't just evangelize...equip evangelizers. If you have the gift of teaching, don't just teach...teach teachers to teach. That way you reproduce in others.

- There is a price tag for leadership. It is being without reproach.

The Aim Right group...reloaded!