The Grade 6 Conference

The conference for young people in grade 6 was June 12 - 13, 1999. Twenty-nine young people plus a good number of parents and serving ones took part in it. Ten of the young people were from London, the rest were from other places. This was the beginning of their life with Christ for most of them. 

The Preparation

In a very real sense we prepare the children who are among us for many years leading up to this conference. When they are very young we begin to teach them about God and His creation. As they get older we teach them the Bible stories and ask them to memorize Bible verses. All the while we do our best to train them in proper human virtues for the development of their character. 

In the final months before the conference we teach the grade 6 young people the basic truths related to God's salvation. We teach them what sin is and how it came into mankind bringing death. We teach them about God's provision to save us from our sin. Finally, we teach them about the coming judgement when every human being will give an account to God.

The Goal

We want each young person to have a strong salvation experience. This should include a deep impression of their own sins and how much they have offended God. We want them to come to God with a heart of 		 repentance for their past to ask for His forgiveness. We want them to experience for themselves the joy of being cleansed by the redeeming blood of Christ. We want them to sense the moving of the Spirit within their spirit, that is to touch and enjoy life. Finally, we want them, as much as they can at such a tender age, to set the direction of their life to be one of God's people in the church life and rejecting the temptations of the world.

The Contents

There are 4 main meetings covering 4 main topics. In each meeting they are asked to consider a question about where they are. The first question is, "Where are you, hiding or seeking?" We don't want to be hiding from God, we want to be seeking Him. The goal of all the singing, exercising and sharing in this meeting is to open up their hearts.

The second question is, "Where are you, guilty or not guilty?" We give them a sheet to fill out with a list of sins common to people their age. As we are explaining each item we ask them to check guilty or not guilty beside each one. Of course there are many guilty's marked on every sheet. Then we help them to ask the Lord to forgive their sins and to come into them. By the end of that meeting the question has become, "Where are you, guilty or forgiven?"

The third question is, "Where are you, dead or alive?" When we receive the Lord it is not just a matter of 
 

 God forgiving our sins. He comes into us as the Spirit to be our life. Now we can talk to Him and begin to hear His speaking in our hearts.

The final question is, "Where are you, in the world or in the church?" Receiving the Lord makes us different from the people who are still in the world. They are still going away from God but we love Him. So we need to separate ourselves from the world to be with God's people in the church. The way we separate ourselves is by being baptized. This is our testimony that we have died to the world and are alive to Christ.

Besides the times when someone was sharing these messages with the young people, there were times for them to be with a serving one to fellowship one on one or to pray together. There were times for them to be alone with the Lord and confess or talk with Him. Of course, there were other times for activities and to be with their friends. Thus, their whole weekend was filled.

The Testimonies

After the conference the grade 6 young people joined the whole church in the Lord's Table meeting. We asked them to tell us something they experienced or enjoyed from the weekend. With many tears and much thanksgiving many of them joyfully spoke of their experience. We pray that this would be just the beginning of a fruitful life with the Lord.