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Ashley Batiste's Story about the West Coast Youth Congress

by Ashley Baiste

On April 9-12, 2008, for the first time ever, Adventist youth from California to Utah to Arizona—from all across the West Coast—came together at the West Coast came together at the West Coast Youth Congress and made history!

Joshua 24:15 says: “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,” and thousands of youth chose to take place in an event where they had the opportunity to serve God by helping others, equip their minds with Bible truths, and make vital decisions that will revolutionize the Adventist church as we all know it.

The 2008 West Coast Youth Congress was sponsored by the Regional Ministries Department of the North Pacific and Pacific Union conferences, and the aim was to give Adventist youth a structured forum in which their voices could be heard, and important decisions could be made.

Four different types of delegates attended the Congress. There were the regular delegates, who were youth representatives that participated in the voting sessions and were selected by individual churches. The super delegates [NOT VERIFIED WHETHER THIS SHOULD BE TWO WORDS, HYPHENATED, OR ONE WORD] were youth and associate pastors, senior pastors, and educators from each conference. The special delegates were all conference employees with SDA credentials. All of the delegates were able to speak on the issues discussed in the voting sessions. There were also delegates-at-large who were youth that were not officially selected by their church as regular delegates, but wanted to participate in some of the many other congress activities.

The voting sessions for the regular delegates were events not seen every day. Adventist youth from different churches, backgrounds, and cities came together and voted on how they believe Adventist youth of today can make a stronger impact in their church, their community, and, most important, the society they live in. Different ideas, such as having youth committees, youth on the church board, bigger youth ministries budgets, and block parties are some of the items that were discussed in great detail during the sessions. Youth were fired up to give their opinions and, more important, fired up to make a difference once they returned to their respective churches!

Along with the voting sessions, the 2008 West Coast Youth Congress had many dynamic regular sessions that could be attended by anyone and everyone. Some of the sessions that were conducted were “The Diva Monologues: A Young Christian Woman’s Guide to Sexuality” by Stephanie Knight, “MySpace, MyRules: Making Right Choices in a Crazy World” by Denise Tarvins, and “Bad Boys, Bad Boys, What Ya Gonna Do When They Come for You?” by Ken Scott. All the sessions were spirit-filled, exciting, and encouraging to all who attended.

Not only were the West Coast Adventist youth able to grow in their knowledge of Bible truths, they were able to be a light in the city of San Diego. Delegates at the West Coast Youth Congress dedicated one whole day to service. Young people boarded several buses and went all around San Diego serving the city. Parks all the way to food banks were visited; trash was picked up; and dirt was raked. [IS RAKING DIRT GOOD?] Delegates were able to focus all their energy into making the world a better and cleaner place to live.

Ending this amazing four-day event was a live concert with Christian rap artist Da’ T.R.U.T.H. and special guest J.R. The delegates, along with young people from all over San Diego, were able to enjoy the dynamic, foot-stomping, spirit-filled concert.

The 2008 West Coast Youth Congress was an exciting and historic event that was memorable for all who attended. Youth all across the West Coast came to make decisions that will help them as youth better stand out for God in their local churches and communities. Young people came to the congress looking for how they could leave their mark as a Seventh-day Adventist on society and left not only equipped with the tools to do so, but inspired to want to make a difference.