Catching the Next Generation

On the last afternoon of this year’s Envision Summit in Vancouver, Jocelyn and I had the opportunity to hang out with some of the participants. As we walked to get some bubble tea, everyone was abuzz with both light-hearted and deep-delving discussions about what God taught them during the Summit. Some talked about soul care in being reconciled in their broken relationships. Some talked about global missions in discerning next steps along their journey. Some talked about local missions and wanting to reach their First Nations neighbours. This group that consisted of young millennials from Vancouver, North Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and even Texas, is an encouraging picture of a new generation embodying what it means to spur one another towards love and good deeds based on their shared experience and shared terminology.

For our family, this past year has been a year of spurring on and being spurred on by others. Throughout the experience of sickness and God’s gracious healing, we have felt the authentic love of the Alliance family in supporting and encouraging us which led us to ask God how we can next serve to support and encourage others. God answered with an idea. We shared this idea with our leaders who spurred us on to develop this further. The result is Global Semester, an eight-week internship for young adults through an intentional learning program and a primary ministry of prayer. Over the next two years, we will be leading cohorts to one field in each of the regions. We hope to cultivate an environment in which the next generation of leaders can share life together, learn from each other, and spur one another to become more Christ-centred, Spirit-empowered, and mission-focused.

This story is taken from the Fall 2018 Alliance Connection magazine. You can get a free copy of the Alliance Connection at Alliance churches across Canada or view the digital copy online. We hope you will be encouraged and inspired to go deeper in Jesus and as a result, further on mission.