We had a phenomenal time at this year’s Winter Retreat! Hundreds of students came together at Harrisonburg First Church of the Nazarene (shout out to this amazing church and its incredible people who hosted us with grace, love, and warmth)! We saw so many students receive and respond to God’s Word shared clearly and boldly by our special guest speaker, Chris Holcomb from Bethany First Church of the Nazarene in Bethany, OK. And would you believe we had Royal Company as our worship band for the weekend? Many students and leaders enjoyed Royal Company first at NYC 2019 so we were thrilled that they were available to join us at WR20! The theme was 20/20 and student learned about how God sees us, and how we see others, ourselves, and our world. Powerful stuff!
Coming up next month (March) is our FOL@ENC event! You can find out all you need to know at our VA NYI website at www.virginianyi.com! While you’re there, look around and see all the other stuff going on! Look for info on UltraCamp, Young Adult Weekend, Quest, and so much more!
Also on the horizon is our NYI Convention, scheduled for Saturday, June 27th at our district campground. We’re changing things up this year and moving our NYI Convention to the morning so be ready to kick your day off with a celebration of Jesus and all He’s doing in students’ lives across this amazing district!
One of the things our NYI Council has discussed recently is how well (or not) we are encouraging, equipping, and empowering younger leaders on our district. This is an ongoing endeavor but more than anything we want our district pastors and leaders to know that we are intent on seeing the next generation of influencers take up that mantel with their eyes wide open and with a confidence given by God’s Spirit Himself! It’s a wonderful dialogue that’s going on across our state and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the potential that still lies ahead!
We are in the beginning stages of dreaming about a VA District Youth Leaders Retreat, tentatively planned for the Spring of 2021. We’d love it if you’d indicate your level of interest in being involved or if you may know of a youth leader who’d benefit from a time of rest, laughter, fellowship, worship, and a dash of training. Send an email to jvarner@southsidechurchva.org with any questions or comments you have!
Sincerely,
Jerry Varner
VA NYI President
