Every year around August, our teenagers, especially the girls from our discipleship group, start getting excited. They eagerly ask whether we’ll be going to the annual City Youth Conference at City Hope Church again. Their anticipation is contagious, but my answer usually comes with a request: “Please pray with me as I look for sponsors.”
This year brought more challenges than usual. Our organisation faced financial strain in August and September. On top of that, our minibus was hijacked, and our team of drivers shrank while some struggled to renew their PDP licences (which allow the transport of larger groups).
But we serve a faithful God, and He blessed us through an incredible community. Thanks to their generosity, we were able to take 20 of our young people to the Conference! Their spirits were refreshed through powerful worship, heartfelt testimonies, and inspiring messages from other teens who are on fire for Jesus. The theme this year was “Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life” and the whole gathering made this come alive in a deeply powerful way.
We’re so grateful for the Spirit-filled and loving Youth Ministry Team at City Hope Church, who always welcome us and create such meaningful and relevant conference experiences. We’re thankful, too, for our faithful partners at Colab, who have sponsored our students’ tickets and petrol costs for many years. And to our friends at Word of Life—thank you for lending us your minibus and stepping in as drivers at the last minute when our plans fell apart.
Only together can we change our nation and impact the lives of our teens. Every person has a part to play.
A message I received from one of our teen girls after the conference:
“Hi Auntie JoJo, I just wanted to say thank you for taking us to the Conference every year. This means a lot to me. Thank you for coming to the discipleship group every week and teaching us about God…. My relationship with God has grown and it is on another level. So, I wanna say, please don`t loose strength,… helping us in our faith. Every session with you counts and changes our lives, even if sometimes we are out of order….Thanks.”
