http://kidsindiscipleship.local/index.php/site/index/ en kidcenter@kidsindiscipleship.org Copyright 2011 2011-05-16T14:23:12+00:00 http://kidsindiscipleship.org/blog/entry/177/children_and_youth_impact_general_conference_leaders http://kidsindiscipleship.org/blog/entry/177/children_and_youth_impact_general_conference_leaders#When:14:23:12Z The Inside-Out Leadership team had the privilege of accompanying Pastor Don Maclafferty, Founder/Speaker of Kids in Discipleship, on his journey to bring the world church leaders back to their discipleship calling. The team consisted of 17 Collegedale Academy students, along with a mix of adults and elementary school students. Together the team led around 250 world church leaders into reviving their personal relationship with God, encouraging the discipleship of their own families, as well as challenging them to lead with their God-given vision by collaborating to disciple every child in and outside our church. “A few weeks before my choir director told me I had the opportunity to go to the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference Headquarters, I had been praying daily that Christ would use me boldly for Him. Lo and behold, that prayer would be answered in a way that will forever change my life,” said Bethany Otis, a senior from Collegedale Academy. Her declaration of a life change describes the transformation in each student and adult that took part in the Inside-Out Leadership training at the General Conference Headquarters. The Inside-Out Leadership team had the privilege of accompanying Pastor Don Maclafferty, Founder/Speaker of Kids in Discipleship, on his journey to bring the world church leaders back to their discipleship calling. The team consisted of 17 Collegedale Academy students, along with a mix of adults and elementary school students. Together the team led around 250 world church leaders into reviving their personal relationship with God, encouraging the discipleship of their own families, as well as challenging them to lead with their God-given vision by collaborating to disciple every child in and outside our church. The grandness of the mission was heavy on each member’s heart. Many of us entered the experience with a bit of uneasiness. Yet, our nervousness disappeared as a power not our own took over and led each word spoken. As Pastor MacLafferty led the group in God’s word, the individuals in the room were bombarded with the reality of their busy outward lives and inadequate inward conditions. Many began to realize that their ministry had become focused on their own works, and had ceased to move in the Spirit’s direction. Cayla Raney, a junior at Collegedale Academy, unknowingly summed up the difference in these paths when she shared, “The whole trip was just so prayer oriented. We would always burst into prayers.” The Spirit was not something the team talked about, rather He was someone we called out to and confided in. The Spirit dwelled in our hearts. This became evident as the meetings provided opportunities for large and small groups, comprising of children, students, and adults alike, to recount their personal experiences and struggles. The meetings became a unifying experience in which world church leaders were dumbfounded by the words of the youth, and in turn, the youth were awestruck by the power God had given His leaders. The meetings served as a perfect example of how the body of Christ impacted by the Spirit is a force that can accomplish Christ’s mission to make disciples of all nations. — Katie Verrill, Senior, Collegedale Academy 2011-05-16T14:23:12+00:00