Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY230043A
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00:05 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:15 ♪ I want to spend my life removing pain ♪ 00:26 ♪ Lord let my words heal a heart that hurts ♪ 00:36 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:55 ♪ ♪ 01:08 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Today. I'm Jason Bradley and I'm so 01:11 glad that you've decided to join us. I must tell you I'm so 01:15 excited that I get to talk with the president of GYC Northwest 01:20 Mitchell Merrill. He's going to tell us all about GYC Northwest, 01:24 what it's all about, how you can participate and just the 01:30 wonderful things that God is doing through their ministry. 01:34 Mitchell welcome to 3ABN Today. How are you? 01:37 I'm doing fantastic. Thank you so much for having me Jason. 01:41 Yes it's great to have you here. You know, I love GYC but I want 01:48 our viewers and listeners to know all about GYC Northwest. 01:51 So what is GYC Northwest and who does it seek to reach? 01:56 Absolutely. So GYC Northwest is Generation Youth for Christ and 02:04 we specifically focus on the Northwest region and we are a 02:12 movement of Adventist young people who are passionate and on 02:14 fire for the Lord's work and also about affirming 02:17 faithfulness in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. And in fact we 02:21 have a short video that we'd like to share with you that 02:24 tells a little bit more about who we are and what we're doing. 02:26 Okay, I love that. Let's take a look at that video right now. 02:30 Good evening GYC Northwest. I'm excited that there's this many 02:35 of us here. 02:36 ♪ ♪ 02:43 GYC Northwest is a movement of young people who want to make a 02:46 difference in the world. 02:47 It also involves practical opportunities like our yearly 02:51 convention which is an opportunity to come together to 02:55 fellowship with other young people, to connect with some 02:57 inspiring messages. 02:59 If they have that desire to learn and grow in Christ GYC 03:02 Northwest is a great place to come. 03:04 ♪ ♪ 03:08 I think my favorite part of GYC Northwest is connecting with 03:10 like minded youth. 03:11 It's been really great just getting to meet other people 03:14 that maybe don't live close and even some that do live close and 03:18 just connecting with different people. 03:19 Having that interaction once a year with other young people 03:23 that believe just like me. It draws me closer to God. 03:26 So I get the chance to chat with people. I get the chance to 03:31 listen to sermons. 03:32 It's such an exciting place to be. 03:33 We have the plenaries and these are the meetings that we will 03:38 all attend at certain times throughout the day and these 03:42 messages have inspired us to grow closer to God and to seek 03:47 towards the high standards He has for us. 03:49 And we've had really good speakers every single year 03:51 whether it's talking about how they deal with your 03:54 past abuse and trauma or giving nice tips about getting 03:58 older and getting married. It's really awesome. 04:02 So every morning before the start of the retreat young 04:05 people gather together and we have a sweet time of prayer. 04:08 This past week I allowed a couple sessions in the program 04:11 and just how new people are connecting with God. 04:13 And we prayed with our daughter. There's a bunch of stuff that we 04:18 are letting out in the prayer room I thought was powerful. 04:24 So if you think what's the point of me going or is this a 04:29 waste of my time think of this way... 04:30 Just to be able to connect with others to hear the gospel and to 04:34 be empowered to share it with others. 04:36 GYC reflects community. You're able to network with different 04:39 young people and the message will inspire you to show you 04:42 that you are someone... 04:43 and it's a place where you can fall in love with Jesus like 04:45 never fell in love before. 04:46 It's not just in the messages that you hear but the fact that 04:49 you're physically present with other like minded young people. 04:52 No matter what you do even if you're trying to hide you will 04:55 walk out of here with a really good story and feel blessed. 04:59 I don't know if I would be the 7th-day Adventist Christian 05:01 young person I am today if it 05:02 weren't for GYC Northwest. But GYC Northwest gave me a place to 05:07 belong when I felt like I didn't belong anywhere. 05:09 I just can't get away from it. It's kind of hard to 05:12 get away from something that you're passionate from. 05:14 ♪ ♪ 05:28 Wow. I love that. There's nothing like seeing young people 05:31 on fire for Christ. And so when people ask where are the young 05:36 people in the church I say they're at GYC. Mitchell when 05:41 did you get involved with GYC and how did you get drawn in? 05:45 You know Jason actually I attended my first GYC 05:51 International convention in 2012 when it was held in Seattle, 05:54 Washington. And that was a momentous occasion for me and a 05:58 wonderful experience. And then you know as life goes you get 06:04 busy with school and seeking to get a good education and a 06:08 profession and I didn't actually begin attending or return to GYC 06:13 Northwest until the Northwest conference in 2018. And as such 06:20 I just kind of had this Road-to- Emmaus experience. I was you 06:24 know still very much faithful and active in the Seventh-day 06:27 Adventist church throughout my young adulthood but specifically 06:32 just wanted to get involved even more so and kind of stayed there 06:36 in attendance 2018 and 2019 and then was asked to serve as 06:41 treasurer in 2020 and served in that role for two years and then 06:46 they asked me to serve as president here just last year. 06:49 Wow, wow. How closely related is GYC Northwest to GYC 06:55 International? 06:58 Yeah absolutely. So GYC Northwest is an affilliate of 07:02 GYC International. So with it's affiliate our focus group is 07:06 more at the grass roots level and kind of a supporting 07:11 organization of the GYC International. We align 07:14 ourselves in lock step with who GYC International is but our 07:20 focus is the North Pacific Union of the Seventh-day Adventist 07:23 Church and that covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho, 07:26 Montana and Alaska. 07:29 Wow. Alaska!? (Yes) Wow. Now have you ever been to Alaska? 07:33 No we haven't but we have some exciting things where we're 07:39 going to include Alaska. 07:41 Oh nice, I love it. What can a young person expect if they 07:46 attend GYC Northwest. 07:47 Yeah absolutely. So conventions very much mirror GYC 07:52 International with the morning and evening prayer sessions, 07:57 daily plenaries, practical breakout sessions and evangelism 08:01 outreach. And it's just a wonderful opportunity for young 08:06 people to come and listen to biblical presentations, receive 08:10 spiritual rejuvenation and fellowship with like 08:13 minded believers around their same age. And I should mention 08:15 that the age group which we seek to reach just like GYC 08:19 International in that 18 to 35. Again anyone who is before or 08:25 after that age group is always more than welcome but 08:27 specifically we have a passion for reaching this demographic 08:30 for Christ. 08:33 That's good to know because you know I've aged out of that and I 08:37 still love GYC, so that's good. That's good. Now why would you 08:42 say a young person should attend GYC? 08:47 Yeah absolutely. So a young person should attend GYC 08:53 Northwest because we are living in the last days and what we're 08:58 seeing in the world is not getting any better but worse and 09:03 for spiritual grounding, spiritual encouragement and I 09:06 mentioned rejuvenation earlier. All these things are important. 09:09 And it's important to know why we believe what we believe and 09:15 why be faithful because if we were born in the church it's 09:21 just something that we were born into, something that's our 09:22 parents' faith and I would submit to you that no it is more 09:24 that that because our faith must be our own the Seventh-day 09:29 Adventist church is a wonderful organization in which we are 09:33 able to serve the Lord and answer his call and be a part of 09:38 the last day people with the last day movement to finish this 09:41 work and go home to heaven. 09:42 Amen. And speaking of you know this faith being our own which 09:46 we can't survive off of our parents' faith and all of that 09:49 when did the gospel grab hold of your life? 09:54 Yeah so, I was born into a Seventh-day Adventist home 09:57 and blessed to be born to two Seventh-day Adventist parents 10:02 so I was used to going to church from as early as I can remember 10:06 and there came a time I would say when I was about 12 to 13 10:10 years old that I had to ask myself do I believe what I 10:17 believe? And I asked myself what do I believe? Is this something 10:24 like that I was born to, is this my parents' faith, are these my 10:26 parents' values and I went through each of our faith's 10:31 doctrines and determined that yes these are values and beliefs 10:37 that I wholeheartedly embrace because they're biblical. And 10:42 it's rooted in scripture and for me that was able to take my 10:46 spiritual experience to the next level and then want to continue 10:52 working in ministry and outreach and you know I have to say that 10:59 working with GYC Northwest is one of the highest things that I 11:03 have ever accomplished or to be able to serve in this capacity. 11:07 It's just...It's an amazing opportunity. 11:10 Yes absolutely. And I love the fact that you said know you that 11:14 you embrace the doctrines because it's biblical. You know 11:17 you didn't...you weren't looking for something to fit your 11:19 lifestyle. You were looking for something that was biblical and 11:23 that's so, so crucial. Now you are the president. What does a 11:27 day in the president's life look like? 11:29 You know as president I would say that a typical day for me is 11:35 making sure that we are staying in touch with the mission of GYC 11:40 Northwest and that mission is to encourage, empower and equip 11:44 young people to fully grasp the message and mission of the 11:47 Seventh-day Adventist church by living and proclaiming the three 11:52 angels' messages in the North Pacific Union and beyond and I 11:54 would say that in my role keeping that in the forefront of 11:59 our minds and in the minds of our team is something that's 12:02 most crucial. I would share with you that I work closely with our 12:08 executive committee and those are comprised of six other young 12:12 adults who are around my age, students, young professionals, 12:17 et cetera who are just as passionate for serving the Lord 12:19 And we work on our convention prep and other areas of outreach 12:27 practical evangelism and now we're looking into broadening 12:32 our reach with that but specifically being passionate 12:35 about this is where we have our own skin in the game because 12:40 we seek to 12:42 be fully connected to GYC and committed even moreso. So for 12:48 instance all of our team we pay full price just like anyone else 12:51 to attend our conventions at registration and as such we are 12:59 committed to planning. But also we seek to be relational and I 13:02 think that where GYC Northwest goes one step further in 13:07 accomplishing our mission is to share our personal testimony is 13:09 to share our personal testimonies so every year not 13:12 only are we committed in organizing the convention 13:16 annually but we're also being appropriately vulnerable in 13:22 sharing our life testimonies and or a different piece of our 13:26 story every year to be relatable to our audience and we found 13:30 that our team has responded well to that and also our attendees 13:34 they absolutely love that to know that you know the people 13:38 that are leading out are just like them. 13:40 Mm-hmm. That's really great and I love the fact that you pointed 13:42 out that you have skin in the game. You know because not only 13:46 are you giving of your time. It's a huge time commitment to 13:50 you know be on committees or put together a convention and all of 13:56 that. It takes a lot of prayer, a lot of dedication, a lot of 13:58 meetings and all or those things but then to pay full price too 14:03 It just shows that you're so invested and that's really good. 14:08 Now you know we have viewers and listeners from all over and they 14:12 may be wondering do I have to be in the North Pacific Union to 14:17 attend GYC Northwest convention? 14:22 You know that's a very good question and I would say the 14:24 answer is definitely not. All are welcome inside or outside 14:29 the North Pacific Union. Our doors are open to everyone. Just 14:34 know that with us being GYC Northwest we'll always have our 14:39 conventions in the northwest or in the North Pacific Union but 14:43 attendees from all over the world are always welcome 14:46 to attend. 14:47 Wonderful and how can someone attend one of the conventions? 14:52 Yeah absolutely. So we have an online registration in which 14:58 attendees are able to register for our annual convention and 15:04 also they can register for meals and then if they're able to have 15:10 a way of arriving at our convention and putting 15:13 themselves up for lodging, they can you know attend as an 15:19 attendee and so seek to volunteer for the organization 15:23 whether that be for you know prayer or giving special musics 15:28 or anything like that. We're always open for participation 15:32 as well. 15:34 Nice. Now what's your website? 15:35 Absolutely. Our website is GYCNorthwest.org 15:40 and you can also contact us there as well. 15:43 Okay, beautiful, beautiful. How do you remain relevant? 15:47 How does GYC Northwest remain relevant to the needs of 15:51 Adventist young people? 15:52 Absolutely. That's a really good question because that is 15:56 our mission in 15:59 being relevant and remaining relevant. It's very important to 16:02 us to have our hand on the pulse so to speak of what is important 16:06 for young people. What are we struggling with? And I 16:09 say we because I'm an Adventist young person myself and I would 16:15 respond to remain relevant we hold an annual Q and A session 16:21 at our convention. It's a Q and A form which addresses young 16:27 adults' questions. And these questions are submitted online 16:30 anonymously by our attendees and they're answered by our 16:34 convention speakers. And what's great about this is not only are 16:37 they anonymous but there are no questions that are off limits. 16:40 So as such we really seek to get to the core of what Adventist 16:46 young people may be struggling with, may have questions about, 16:50 may need answers for and we find every year that this is 16:57 something where we are able to remain relevant and as such 17:00 coming away from that it also gives us feedback as the 17:04 executive committee on maybe speakers that we should be 17:07 bringing for future breakout sessions that will actually meet 17:10 the needs of the questions asked 17:12 Yeah, that's brilliant. You're hearing from the people. That's 17:17 really, really good. Now what if someone's saying I don't only 17:23 want to attend a once-a-year conference. I want to be 17:27 year round. What opportunities exist? 17:30 Yeah, that's a great question because young people I feel 17:34 want to stay connected to GYC Northwest they can. I would 17:38 recommend that Adventist young people go to our website 17:43 GYCNorthwest.org but also follow us on social media like 17:47 us on Facebook, et cetera. And so that would be the best place 17:50 that they would be able to stay in touch with GYC Northwest and 17:55 also see what we have to offer during the year. We are looking 17:57 forward to some mission trips that will be coming up that 18:01 we're really excited about so stay tuned for those and, yeah, 18:05 that will be something to keep in touch with. Now also it's 18:09 important that our Adventist young people also know about 18:13 what other affiliates and GYC International is doing and we 18:18 encourage our attendees to support them as well but also to 18:22 spiritually blessed and refreshed. We ourselves go there 18:26 as well to not only support those other organizations which 18:31 are our sister organizations but also be a part and volunteer 18:36 and support and ultimately be blessed. 18:38 Um-hmm. Thank you, thank you. I know we've been talking about 18:42 Adventist young people and all that. We have a lot of viewers 18:44 and listeners that may not be Adventist. Why would it be good 18:47 for them to attend the convention? 18:49 Absolutely. So our doors are always open and they are 18:57 welcoming for Adventists and non Adventists alike. And I would 18:59 say that the reason why it's Christian friendly is because 19:05 we are rooted and grounded in one thing and that's the word of 19:08 God. So individuals that are coming maybe not being baptized 19:14 members of the church are more than welcome to come and attend 19:19 because this is where they will fall in love with Jesus 19:20 like they've never fell in love before. And as such yes we do 19:27 focus on reaching people in our own church but we know that the 19:30 fields are white and the harvest is ready for those others that 19:34 are not a part of our fold yet. 19:36 Amen amen. What is the future of GYC Northwest? 19:42 Absolutely. So where we are going is we have a passion for 19:45 reaching the young people who are college age who may not be 19:50 spiritually grounded and who may be possibly leaving the fold and 19:54 leaving our church. So we have a passion to reach those. So we 19:59 want to be more integrative into our colleges and universities 20:03 and seek to maximize our influence with those students 20:09 and young people accordingly. But the other place is to also 20:13 reach the unreached and we seek to do that through our mission 20:17 trips and we're going to continue to do that like we had 20:21 mentioned you know earlier about going to Alaska and some of our 20:25 other areas in the North Pacific Union that are maybe unreached 20:29 in places of where we would not be able to hold our convention. 20:34 Yes, yes. Now you mentioned going to Alaska. Now is this 20:38 going to be during a winter or a summer. Like what are these 20:42 plans? 20:46 So it's most feasible for us to go during the summer so right 20:51 now this is currently in the works and we're excited and 20:53 looking forward to announcing this some time very soon. So 20:58 stay tuned. Be looking at our website and our social media 21:02 account for announcements on how you can attend, come as an 21:06 attendee with GYC Northwest as we embark on one of many mission 21:10 trips to come. 21:13 That's wonderful. And if anyone wants information on maybe an 21:17 upcoming convention they can go to your website as well for 21:20 that too. 21:23 Absolutely. And we do things moving up to a convention we 21:27 often do short promos from each of our executive committee 21:32 members just kind of expounding upon the different events that 21:34 we have coming or maybe embelishment on our convention 21:37 itself. So be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and don't 21:42 forget to go to our website GYCNorthwest.org. 21:46 Nice. What would you say is the central focus of your convention 21:49 Yeah, I would say that our central focus is to again to 21:57 encourage and equip young people to remain faithful but also to 22:02 be on fire for the Lord. And as we move toward this endtime 22:07 where Jesus will 22:09 come and I believe that He will come in my lifetime 22:10 that you know getting other people excited about the mission 22:15 and the message and preaching the everlasting gospel. There is 22:18 so much to do and it seems like our world is definitely getting 22:22 worse and not better and now more than ever we need people 22:26 that are grounded and resolute in the truth and on site to 22:33 follow God, follow His word, and again you know we are a peculiar 22:37 people but in a positive way because we are called out of 22:40 this world to serve the Lord and to work in His vineyard. And I 22:44 would say that that's our central focal point, to be on 22:48 fire for him and to have found faithfulness. 22:50 Amen, amen. So crucial expecially in these last days. 22:54 How has being president of GYC Northwest, how has that 22:57 strengthened your faith? 23:00 Wow I would say that it has taken it to new levels. You know 23:05 being a part of GYC Northwest you know I feel that not only do 23:12 we open up ourselves for you know maybe more targets from the 23:18 enemy per se but you know the Lord's faithful as we are told 23:23 in scripture and seeing His hand work and seeing the Holy Spirit 23:27 being present at our conventions and moving upon the hearts of 23:31 Adventist young people and I would say non-Adventists alike 23:34 is somthing that for me has just really been an eyeopening 23:40 experience. I mentioned about on the road to Emmaus kind of an 23:44 Emmaus experience of (blanks out) talk with us along the way. 23:48 for me when I first had that experience in 2018 attending GYC 23:53 Northwest it just continued to build from there and you know we 23:58 serve a God who is the God of the impossible. He can do all 24:03 things and just to see his hand work and change and transform 24:06 people's lives and even changing and transforming me has been 24:10 just a wonderful experience to take part in and I just feel 24:15 spiritually rejuvenated and it's not only a convention 24:19 centric rejuvenation but it's one of where we are seeking our 24:23 own self but also our attendees to stay connected and stay 24:27 faithful throughout the year because you know these 24:30 conventions may be a central focal point on one hand for 24:33 people you know get their spiritual high and then return 24:36 to their homes and shortly thereafter they're just as they 24:41 were before convention. But this is one thing in listening to 24:45 other young people, Adventist young people, sharing our 24:48 testimonies but also receiving practical application in 24:53 faithfulness through our break out sessions and fellowship with 24:55 other likeminded believers is something of where Adventist 25:00 young people and our attendees are able to stand firm in the 25:04 faith and receive this grounding for that way they are able to 25:06 now be inspired and encouraged to tell all of their friends, 25:10 tell their neighbors and tell those around them that Jesus is 25:14 coming soon and that there is something better inside the 25:17 church than where they're at currently. 25:19 Amen. I love that. I love that you said you also provide the 25:23 practical application too. Because that's so important. 25:27 You know. We can't just tell people oh go be a Christian. 25:30 But share what it looks like. What does it look like to be a 25:33 Christian. So thank you. Thank you so much for coming on and 25:37 sharing with us. And I want to thank you for watching this 25:41 portion of 3ABN Today. I want you to know how you can get 25:45 in touch with Mitchell and support GYC Northwest. So we're 25:50 going to go to a brief address roll and newsbreak, but stick 25:54 around. We've got another ministry highlight in just a 25:57 moment. 25:59 If you would like to contact or know more about GYC Northwest 26:05 you can write to them at PO Box 188, Dixie, WA 99329 26:19 You can also visit the website at GYCNorthwest.org or you can 26:27 email them at info@GYCNorthwest.org 26:35 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2024-05-20