In February Milo Adventist Academy in Days Creek, Ore., hosted “CROSS Training,” a high school worship conference focused on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in an age of uncertainty. Students came from Grants Pass, Klamath Falls, McMinnville and Salem to join Milo students for the weekend.
Designed especially for teens, the conference included praise music from Christian recording artist Caleb Ray and his band, drama, video clips, and stories and Bible teaching from Milo pastor Chad Reisig, who created the conference. His messages taught how we can know that God is real, how to have a relationship with Jesus, and the topics of obedience, service and salvation.
Milo staff and community church members took over meal preparation and cleanup in the cafeteria so all the students could fully participate in events of the weekend. Others volunteered as prayer warriors or drivers for the outreach activities.
On Sabbath afternoon, the teens put into practice what they had learned in the morning. They divided into four teams and headed to Grants Pass, Canyonville, Myrtle Creek and Roseburg to share the love of Jesus. “We trained over 130 attendees on discipleship and evangelism," says Reisig. "We hit the streets with 500 Bibles for distribution to anyone. We had countless prayers for each other and people we met on the streets. We also saw a decision for baptism come out of it.”
Students returned to campus excited to share their experiences with each other. “We got a guy that was skateboarding to sing with us,” says student chaplain Justin Corral.
Another student chaplain, junior Kiana Brusett shares, “One of the people I was praying for, when we finished, she immediately started praying for me, which was really cool.”
Senior Nyton Fullmer says a member of his group was distributing Bibles. “He even ran a whole block to give a Bible to a homeless woman, and she accepted it," says Fullmer. "As he was about to leave, he told her Jesus loved her. Her reply: ‘I know. I just wish I could love Him as much as He loves me.’”
Senior Kristi Young was intimidated by the witnessing activity. “The moment I heard we were doing outreach,” she says, “my little introverted mind started thinking ‘How will I get out of this without talking to people?’” While others in her group gave away Bibles or held up signs with messages such as “Jesus Loves You,” Young solved her dilemma by joining Corral, who was playing his guitar and singing songs of praise.
“At first I was nervous what the people in the cars would think about me since I was with people holding signs about Jesus,” Young admits. “As the event progressed I became more and more comfortable with singing praises on the side of a major intersection in the middle of Roseburg, doing song motions and waving to random people in cars. One person in my group held a sign that said ‘Honk if you love Jesus,’ and we got 97 honks in total. We also had a lady approach and thank us for spreading the love of Jesus. The event I was initially dreading became a huge blessing in the end.”
Freshman Becca Mahurin was with a group that included her Ethiopian classmate Derartu Olana. Others with them had previously done literature evangelism, so they decided to go door to door to offer the free Bibles. “We went to this house, and Carlos Lopez knocked on the door," says Mahurin. "The family was from Ethiopia, and Derartu was with us and prayed for them in their own language.”
Reisig pointed out the slim odds of finding an Ethiopian family in Roseburg and Olana “happening” to be with that group, saying, “Tell me that God cannot orchestrate some really cool stuff!”
On Sabbath, the group celebrated the baptisms of six Milo students: Abraham Salgado, junior; Elijah Baez, junior; Clarissa Hoffman, sophomore; Devin Johnson, junior; Julia Allgood, junior; and Rashad Gooding, senior. Less than a week later, Allgood and Johnson shared their testimonies as speakers for student week of prayer.
For information about Milo’s worship conferences, email Chad Reisig.
Junior Julia Allgood is one of six students baptized during CROSS Training. Less than a week later she shared her testimony for student week of prayer.
Pastor Chad Reisig addresses more than 130 teens at Milo’s CROSS Training high school worship conference.
Senior Fanny Lopez and Freshman Aboma Olana spread the love of Jesus.
Milo friends linger after the conference as they savor the memorable experiences of the weekend.
After returning from an outreach event to surrounding communities, attendees share their individual experiences with the others attending CROSS Training.
