For more than 57 years, the Assemblies of God in Guyana has been providing a national platform for youths to express their faith in Christ through ministry, whether sharing the gospel of Jesus or through the creative and performing arts. The National Youth Ministries (NYM) Conference is one such platform, and this year’s event held on Monday, 2nd May was unique. After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the youths, starved for peer interaction, were fired up to meet in an open-air setting, reconnect in worship and see friends last seen in 2019. What a treat it must have been to set their GPS in the direction of Berbice [our ancient county] with a tag-team planned by the AOG General Bishop, Dr. John O. Smith and NYM Director, Reverend Winston Assanah.
Deeply Rooted
The event opened with a rendition of the National Anthem, prayers by Reverend Azam Gaffar [Section 2 Presbyter] and worship by Minister Simeon Burnette and her team. The theme ‘Deeply Rooted’ resonated with the hundreds of youths in attendance as General Bishop Dr John O. Smith likened the Word of God to a seed that requires good soil [our youths] to take root when planted.
Rev. Winston Assanah ushered in the altar call by signalling to the audience – both in-person and virtual – that God will cause them to graduate from seedlings to trees if they remain planted in His Word – Colossians 2:6-7. He used an agricultural analogy to demonstrate how God will prune His vineyard. He cautioned them of the growing phenomenon of the world seeking to evangelise the Church through its ‘progressive ideology’, thereby pushing the church to the periphery. This observation underscored the General Bishop’s earlier analogy of the ‘Sower’, who goes out with the intention of producing. “When a person is rooted in Christ, he or she is fruitful and others [sinners] coming under your tree will gain fruit,” said General Bishop Dr John O. Smith. We need ‘Sowers’ who will evangelise the world. This tag-team definitively stepped into the enemy camp and claimed our youths for Christ on that windy Monday morning.
When a person is rooted in Christ, he or she is fruitful and others [sinners] coming under your tree will gain fruit.- Bishop Dr John O. Smith.
Creative and Performing Arts
The curtains of the second segment – a representation of the creative and performing arts – opened with special items from youths across several AOG sections; Berbice, Essequibo, Georgetown, East Coast Demerara, East Bank Demerara, West Coast Demerara and Linden. This included solos, duets, group songs, elocution, dramatic poetry, and dance. For those needing to return via the Berbice bridge before the 5:30pm opening, it was always going to be a challenge given the buzz in the Berbice air. And with good reason too, as the open-air concert was to follow.
The open-air concert segment was headlined by Ministers Anil Azeez, Saiku Andrews and Samuel Medas. Assistant Pastor Dellon Thompson delivered a spoken word piece and DJ Anthony Primo gave the youths a good gospel jam. Chants of “Saiku and Sammy” showed how much the youths yearned for the fellowship and vibes of the NYM Youth Conference as they belted out the lyrics to “Pillow Could Speak” and “Stadium.”
Berbice Youths, Community and Business
The National Youth Ministries Department [formerly Christ Ambassadors] has been hosting the Youth Conference since May 1965, as recollected by our General Bishop in his opening remarks. Several programmes are implemented in mentorship, leadership, and evangelism, which is a testament to the high quality of the event. This year’s edition was hailed as one of the best, with Berbice youths having done a phenomenal job in fundraising for a state-of-the-art stage and other preparations, fitting for the national display that was witnessed. Corporate sponsorship from businesses in the community and commitments from others to support future events, bode well for the body of Christ.
As the curtains came down on the event, Berbicians ought to be ever so proud of successfully hosting this national event alongside the support of Presbyters, Pastors and youths across the fellowship. When a community invests in its youth, it invests in national treasures!
