Following the recent youth congress held in Chicago in Feb. 2024, another 23 projects were greenlighted.
Since the first Lake Union Youth Evangelism Congress in 2013, a total of 107 Youth Evangelism Congress-funded initiatives have received a total of $535,871 dollars in total funding including all matching funds.
Following the recent youth congress held in Chicago in Feb. 2024, another 23 projects were greenlighted. Below is an update on these projects from Lake Union Youth Congress leader KhaiKhai Cin.
Video transcript has been edited for clarity and readability.
Greetings. My name is Kai Kai Cin. I had the privilege of helping Pastor Ron Whitehead, the Lake Union Youth Director with the Lake Union Youth Evangelism Congress. This is a biannual event which only happens in this union—a one of its kind in the entire North American Division. It inspires young people and provides funding to do evangelism.
The congress was held in Chicago last February and was a success. Praise God for his blessing. We had 321 delegates coming from all over the territories of the Lake Union. Thank you to the mentors, parents, pastors, and the conference leadership for supporting these young people.
However, the event did not end there.
It continues with the evangelism projects. When the young people went back home, they said they wanted to do evangelism. With the help of the Lake Union Conference seed money--this time the largest funding ever in its history--$85,000 was set aside by the Lake Union Conference to support young people to do evangelism in their local communities.
I am so excited to share with you that as of today, there are 23 youth-led evangelism projects approved for funding. Many of these projects are in the health sector, meeting the physical, mental, emotional needs of people in the communities.
Some of these supported ventures are:
1) “Projects 58”: Their inspiration comes from Isaiah 58:7-8, where we all are inspired to go and help the poor, the needy. This project is led by the Cicero church young people. Many of them are Indiana academy students, and the leader of this project is only 18 years old. She is partnering with her fellow classmates who attended the youth congress. They were so inspired to do evangelism and plan to do an international food fair for the community, a 5K run, along with other evangelism focused initiatives.
2) “Build Computers, Build Connection”: This is from the Lake Region Conference, and it is so creative. This project aims to help teach people in the communities to build computer. As they build, they'll be connecting and building relationship for eternity.
3) “Community Wellness”: This project is led by two young people in their early 20s who are doing several projects together as part of this big umbrella called community wellness. They have a big vision to reach out to their communities--to the children, elderly, people in need of health awareness.
There are many more projects and below is the full list:
1 |
Evansville Youth Ministry |
Evansville First Church |
2 |
Project 58 |
Cicero Church |
3 |
Taylor Connect |
Oakwood Church |
4 |
Elmhurst Community Lifestyle Center |
Elmhurst Church |
5 |
Greater Lansing GC Mission Trip |
Williamston Church |
6 |
Young Adult Collegiate |
La Crosse Church |
7 |
Mindset Youth Rally Impact Day |
Detroit Center + Troy Church |
8 |
Build Computers, Build Connections |
Niles Philadelphia Church |
9 |
Ministry in Bold |
Waukegan Shalem Church |
10 |
The Muncie SDA Necessity Shed |
Muncie Church |
11 |
Youth Committees Evangelism |
Fort Wayne Church |
12 |
Community Garden |
Bloomington Church |
13 |
Campus Evangelism - Bible Lecture Series & Literature Evangelism |
Bloomington Church |
14 |
Care Group |
Bloomington Church |
15 |
Care Package for Indiana University Workers & Professors |
Bloomington Church |
16 |
Lunch Buddies |
Bloomington Church |
17 |
GLOW Ann Arbor |
Ann Arbor Church |
18 |
Service Sabbath |
Northbrook Church |
19 |
Community Wellness & Growth Initiative |
St. Joseph Church |
20 |
Let Your Light Shine Utility Credit |
Thompsonville Church |
21 |
Cedar Lake Growers Greenhouse |
Edmore + Cedar Lake Churches |
22 |
Youth Triathlon |
Frost Church |
23 |
Youth Ministry in Madison |
Madison East Church |
It’s good news that these programs are funds. However, the sad news is we ran out of the $85,000 which the Lake Union had set aside. You see, this is a matching funding where the Lake Union Conference helps with 50% of the entire project, and the church helps with the remaining 50%. That adds up to $170,000. But the funds requested were more than that and there are more applications coming in. We will see what we can do, but we know God owns everything and has control.
If you are part of those still to be funded projects, we want to continue to support you and pray with you and encourage you be of good cheer. Keep it up for Jesus. Jesus is coming soon until the glorious day. Let's keep ourselves busy. Now is the time to do that.
For those who missed the evangelism project application, we are planning for the next one in two years, February 13-16, 2026. Don't miss that one. If Jesus hasn't come, that next one is going to happen here somewhere in our territory. The theme is limitless, based on Matt. 5:9. With Jesus, we will be limitless. Thank you so much. God bless you all, and God bless the different evangelism projects.
Lake Union Herald staff
