Student Canvassers Gather, Consider Future Church Work

Story by Tiffany Brown

The weekend of July 4-6, participants from the Pennsylvania Youth Challenge, Light America from Baltimore and Ohio (Chesapeake and Ohio conferences), and Allegheny East Conference’s Youth 4 Change programs gathered for a time of restoration, encouragement and fun.

The summit theme, “I Will Follow,” inspired all attendees to continue pursuing Christ in their daily lives and seeking the lost. Throughout the retreat weekend, guest speaker Tara VinCross, the new director of the Columbia Union School of Urban Evangelism, delivered three insightful messages on the life of Joseph. Each sermon served as a source for rejuvenation for the young literature evangelists.

The high school and college-aged students also found a sense of camaraderie and fun at the event as they belted out songs whose words they adapted for canvassing, such as “I am on the Canvassing Field for my Lord!” They also connected through activities like canoeing, basketball games, volleyball, water fights, and a roaring bonfire.

On the final day, this new generation of canvassers brainstormed innovative ways of seeing literature work move forward in the Adventist Church as members prepare for the last days. As Ellen White wrote, “With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end come—the end of suffering and sorrow and sin!” (Education, p. 271).