Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY230043B
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00:01 Well friends welcome back to the second half of 3ABN Today. I'm
00:04 Pastor James Rafferty and with me is a special guest Josiah 00:07 Brandauer. He is the president of GYC West. Josiah so glad you 00:14 could join us today. 00:16 Thank you, glad to be here. 00:19 All right and we are going to be talking about GYC and more 00:23 specifically GYC West. We're going to be finding out about 00:26 the ministry of GYC West, what they're involved in, who their 00:30 target audience is, what they're all about and how you can get 00:33 involved in that ministry. So before that, we're going to have 00:36 a short word of prayer and then we're going to hand the time 00:38 over to Josiah. Let's pray. 00:40 Father in heaven thank you so much for this opportunity to 00:44 just interact with Josiah to learn about the ministry of GYC 00:48 West and understand how they are reaching out to this world, 00:52 especially the young people. We pray that you will bless this 00:55 time with the presence of your Holy Spirit and touch the hearts 00:57 of those who are listening right now that they can be a part of 01:00 this ministry, that their lives can be blessed and impacted and 01:04 they can impact others. We give you this time now and thank you 01:07 for hearing and answering because we pray in the name of 01:11 Jesus Christ. Amen. 01:14 All right, Josiah. So tell us a little bit about GYC. What is 01:18 the mission of GYC West and what is your affiliation with GYC in 01:24 general? 01:26 Yeah so, GYC West is an affiliate of GYC. We work 01:31 directly underneath closely with GYC in our numbers. Kind of the 01:38 purpose of the affiliates were started just to try and bring it 01:41 down closer to the individual so there's not just that yearly 01:46 annual conference of GYC but there's also ongoing working 01:49 with regions and with the local churches and the local youth to 01:53 get them engaged and moving forward in evangelism outreach. 01:58 So GYC West was started for the territory that covers the states 02:02 of Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and also pretty much all 02:09 California except for a little territory GYC Southwest down in 02:14 say Loma Linda area. And we endeavor throughout 02:17 our conferences 02:19 to provide biblical training. We like to try and foster and 02:21 encourage the Christian fellowship among young people. 02:24 And also provide networking opportunities and facilitate 02:28 leadership so that young people can get involved in 02:31 leadership both 02:33 in their local churches and also in other endeavors. So that's 02:37 kind of our goals and our aim to really get the active 02:40 participation and support you know of the young people as well 02:45 as training them in outreach and in reach activities in their 02:49 local communities. That's kind of our goal and mission. 02:52 Amen so for those of us who may just be joining us like they've 02:56 just tuned in in this second half what does GYC stand for? 03:00 And what are we talking about age wise? 03:03 Good question. Yeah GYC stands for Generation of Youth for 03:08 Christ. So basically it's raising up our generation and 03:14 equipping them with youth that stand for Christ a hundred 03:17 percent. And our target audience to be honest we have people all 03:22 ages come to our conferences and venues but our target audience 03:26 is 18 to 36, that's our target age range where we try actively 03:32 to get them involved get them moving forward. 03:35 Gotcha, Gotcha. So what are some areas that you're focusing on 03:38 currently? 03:40 Yes, I'm really excited about some upcoming projects that we 03:46 have been working. Right now we're actually in the beginning 03:50 phases on a new evangelistic pilot program where...because we 03:55 have our annual conferences, our regular annual conferences but 03:57 we're also working on this new pilot program where we're going 04:00 to be working with local churches, especially local 04:04 churches that maybe don't have you know the means and the 04:08 support in order to engage in outreach in their local 04:13 communities. So we're working with them bringing in young 04:16 people, young adults, as missionaries and also trainers 04:21 and professionals to come in and train them and also the 04:23 church to get actively involved in ministry in their local 04:27 churches. And we're also going to be specifically targeting 04:30 churches that have maybe some young people in the church but 04:35 they don't really have that network to get going and so that 04:39 is our goal is to get that network going, get them actively 04:45 involved as well as trained in how to reach out and give them 04:49 the support and resources that they need along the way. So 04:55 that's a new pilot program that we're looking at and working on 04:57 and really excited about it. We also have a couple other 05:06 projects that I can't say too much about that we're kind of 05:10 still working on but...yeah. 05:15 Okay. I love that. I love the idea of going into churches and 05:20 trying to empower the young people to be part of the church 05:22 You know a lot of times in our churches we have an older group 05:26 sometimes a very older group and a little bit of reluctance 05:30 maybe to hand the mantle down to the next generation. Maybe the 05:35 young people aren't ready for that or they don't know how to 05:37 step into that and when you get in and train those young people 05:41 I think it can give more confidence to the young people 05:43 But it can also give more confidence to those who are 05:46 older that they can pass that mantle down. So I really love 05:50 that whole idea. So how can people get involved? You're 05:53 talking about GYC annual which maybe there's some viewers who 05:56 need to understand what GYC annual is and then the GYC West 06:03 and then going to these churches how can people get involved in 06:07 that and what is that all about? 06:10 Mm-hmm. Yeah. So GYC itself has the annual conference that they 06:16 have usually around December and we have a similar conference, I 06:21 would say a smaller little scale but we have a similar conference 06:24 that we have annually once a year where we try and have great 06:33 speakers come in to bring us special topics to present our 06:35 theme focus and also as well as...one thing that we do 06:40 differently than most youth conferences do is we were 06:43 looking at a survey of youth and young adults and seeing that a 06:49 lot of them they engage in lectures and they hear the 06:54 truths that are presented in there but then they leave that 06:57 and they don't see how to actually, practically incorporate 07:00 into their lives and into their hearts. So we're looking at how 07:04 can we make this more engaged for the young people and young 07:08 adults to give them a perspective or platform with 07:12 which to actually incorporate the truths into their lives. 07:18 So with that thought in mind we came up with a more workshop 07:23 model. So we have our lectures as well but we also throughout 07:28 the day have at our annual conference have breakout 07:31 sessions where we try and incorporate hands-on practical 07:36 applications of whatever our theme is or different aspects 07:42 like in the past we've had like hydrotherapy, natural remedies, 07:46 as well as like how to do literature evangelism, now to do 07:51 canvassing as well as like mental health and then having 07:56 breakout sessions where they talk and engage in how it 07:59 practically applies to their own lives in more small group 08:03 settings. So those are kind of like a hands-on, on ways that we 08:08 try and encourage young people to actually incorporate the 08:15 principles into their lives and not just leave the conference 08:18 with some great ideas but they're just head ideas and not 08:25 actually incorporated into them. 08:27 I love that, yeah that's super. 08:30 Yeah that's one of our main focus points and we're even 08:35 pushing forward in the years coming where we're looking at 08:39 even some more exciting ways of how we can bring that out to the 08:42 practical level especially with all the things that young adults 08:45 are facing nowadays with different you know lifestyle 08:48 ideas are being presented and just different questions that 08:51 people have that are practical questions and how we can answer 08:57 those questions and also make a hands-on experience where they 09:00 can apply that to actual practical situations and not 09:04 just the (inaudible). 09:05 GYC is an annual event. A lot of people, it sounds like a lot of 09:08 people go to that event from all over the country and perhaps 09:11 even from other places in the world? 09:16 So our main target area is our region which is as I mentioned 09:20 before Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and California but we have 09:24 people come all over the United States. I'm not sure if we've 09:29 ever had someone come from a different country. But they'd be 09:35 more than welcome if they want to come. But we specifically 09:38 target our area as far as advertising and stuff, Arizona, 09:43 Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and California. 09:45 Yeah, I was talking about the annual one. So then you've got 09:46 regional one which feeds off the annual one and brings the young 09:52 people that maybe go to the annual one but brings something 09:56 into their actual region where they are, where they're living. 09:58 And then you try to make that practical moving into churches. 10:02 Now how do you connect with these young people? How do you 10:07 determine what church you're going to go to for example and 10:09 do some of these training programs for youth? 10:15 So our regional annual conferences, we actually do them 10:18 usually in like a camp or some facility where we can have a 10:26 decent amount of people housed. Also, have more of the outdoor 10:30 hands-on thing. But the other part that I was talking about 10:33 that we're on the verge of moving forward in which is the 10:37 church project that you were mentioning actively evangelizing 10:41 the local churches is...we'll be actively like soliciting, like 10:46 churches will apply and stuff for it and we'll be working with 10:50 different churches that apply to have this happen in the local 10:55 churches and then oversee as a board and move forward with that 10:58 So that's something that we'll be doing along with or in 11:01 addition to our regional conference, annual conference, 11:06 that we have every year. 11:08 All right so... 11:09 Maybe a two-week and a three month version of that evangelism 11:15 Okay, all right. So looking at this from the big picture 11:17 everything that you're sharing here, it sounds like GYC has 11:22 kind of a unique, a unique aspect to it, a unique character 11:27 or personality to it as compared to other youth conferences 11:31 right? Anything else that you want to add to that. It sounds 11:34 like the practical is there. 11:38 Yeah, there's another thing, I think we actually have some 11:40 pictures and images of this too. Another thing that we try and do 11:47 is like I said not just our lecture but also a hands-on work 11:52 shop ideas. We always also have an outdoors leader that 11:58 facilitates outdoor activities. We believe that there's both the 12:04 Bible and Nature that we can learn lessons from God. And so 12:08 with that in mind, we have guided outdoor activities. But these 12:12 aren't just activities to have fun although we definitely 12:15 encourage people to have fun. But we also want to bring that 12:18 spiritual aspect into nature. So out leaders will usually bring 12:23 out practical ideas and like even have people just 12:28 congregate out in nature and pray and see what lessons, what 12:33 object lessons has God given me today from nature, from the 12:37 trees, from the stream, you know from different things. What I 12:40 have learned from this. Like Christ talked in parables 12:42 throughout His life where He brought in elements of nature. 12:47 And so our outdoors leaders do that and they'll bring out 12:49 parables from nature. Like we had one in the past conference 12:55 where he talked about the fly catcher plant you know and the 13:02 different aspects that it has of how sin tries to entrap us. 13:06 and allure us to it but you know God has a way of escape so 13:11 there's different practical applications outdoors where they 13:15 can get that fresh air, that hike, that outdoor activity 13:19 whether it be building a shelter or doing some hike or nature 13:24 walk, whatever it might be. Or we have done ______, different 13:30 activities, different outdoor fresh air, but also learn 13:34 something spiritual and practical from it. So that's 13:38 something that we're really excited about. 13:40 So Josiah I have another question. What kind of impact 13:43 does this ministry have on the people who lead out in the 13:46 ministry. Because I know it's really important for young 13:48 people to be in ministry. I think it can have a tremendous 13:51 impact on them personally. Can you talk about the impact? 13:53 Can you talk about some of the stories maybe you've experienced 13:56 or been part of where God has just performed miracles and done 13:59 great things? 14:02 Yeah it's a really good question Um you know as I was mentioning 14:08 earlier just about a hands on practical things of getting 14:10 people and young people involved in ministry at their 14:13 local churches and that doesn't just apply to the attendees of 14:17 the conference which we definitely try and work with but 14:19 also, those that are leading out in the ministry because GYC is 14:24 led, and GYC West is led by young people and young adults. 14:30 And so it has such a positive effect I think on the lives of 14:37 those that lead out both in just equipping them to know like how 14:40 to lead, how to plan for conferences, how to make things 14:45 you know flows smoothly. And there are different things that I 14:49 think are just lessons that you can't really get into another 14:53 setting practically. So that has been an amazing experience for 14:58 each one of my team members. I know that each one of them would 15:01 say the same thing. For me personally, I definitely 15:04 experienced it. We do have an advisory board that just kind of 15:07 like oversees us and stuff and also, give us advice and stuff 15:09 but for the most part, it is led out by young people that are 15:12 wanting to be involved in ministry. So that's been a 15:16 positive impact on how we lead out. There are some stories I 15:19 could tell too, it's a miracle story. 15:24 All right. Let's hear it. 15:25 One that really comes to my mind that stands at the top happened 15:30 at a venue that the conference recently had in the Lake Tahoe 15:36 area. Everything was planned. We had the speakers all coming to 15:44 it. We had registrants all coming, our cook was all 15:50 scheduled. Everything was going smoothly at least as far as we 15:54 knew. And then the last-minute a month before our conference 15:58 was supposed to start I got a call from the venue, from one of 16:04 the venue people telling me that there were fires in the area and 16:10 that they thought that they might have to close down because 16:13 of the fires and also they were needing to get some permit 16:17 because of some type of group that they didn't have and so 16:20 they would need to fast-track that but they weren't sure they 16:22 could get it in time for our venue. And so just a month 16:29 before the conference we had this whole thing planned out. We 16:31 have lots of people already registered, our speakers' plane 16:35 tickets all purchased, just everything is all planned. 16:39 There's a lot on the line and I get this call. So I remember 16:44 going to the team and we were praying about it and just saying 16:48 Lord what would you have us to do because we feel that you're 16:52 calling us to present this message to these young people 16:54 and we feel that Satan is trying to disrupt it, to stop it. And I 17:00 have to say one other thing too. What was interesting about it 17:03 Was that your theme was No Limit to What God Can Do. 17:07 Amen, wow. 17:08 And so like we were being tested on that as leaders. There's no 17:13 limit to what God can do. And so we were just praying like Lord 17:17 you have promised that you will work in and through us. You have 17:22 led us this far. We believe that you've given us this important 17:26 theme for young people and we see that there's a test and 17:30 that's where we really felt impressed that now we need to 17:32 move forward because we were like debating shall we cancel, 17:35 shall we pull off, what shall we do? We were like no let's move 17:38 forward in faith that the Lord's going to open the way. And so we 17:42 weren't looking at a backup plan and stuff like that but one 17:46 month before a conference isn't much time to get a backup plan 17:49 especially with a large attendance. You can't just call 17:52 up some camp or venue and say hey we want to rent out pretty 17:56 much every answer we got was sorry we're already booked. 17:58 Or we don't have the capacity for you. So we finally came up 18:04 with something that would work if worse came to worse. But we 18:09 were just praying like Lord please open the doors. You know 18:13 we kept in touch with the venue and so far nothing was seeming 18:16 to open up as of yet. And then I got a call one week before the 18:25 conference was supposed to start the day the conference was 18:27 supposed to start. It was a Wednesday and I got a call and 18:34 she told me, she was like, you won't believe it but it must be 18:38 an answer to you guys' prayers because we got the permit that 18:44 we needed to get fast-tracked. We have it. And also the fires 18:48 have been controlled now. They are going in a different direction 18:52 and you are clear to come to the conference. 18:55 Praise God, praise God. That's amazing. 18:59 So talk about a lot of stress but you know what there is 19:02 no limit to what 19:03 God can do. It was just a miracle story and a learning 19:05 experience for the team and something we could share at the 19:07 conference with our theme like guess what. We were tested on 19:11 this very thing and God worked through and opened up the doors. 19:14 It reminds me of that Bible verse: Be anxious for nothing 19:18 but with everything by prayer and thanksgiving let your 19:21 request be made known unto God. That's just beautiful. It's 19:25 powerful. And you know the devil is behind the fires. You know 19:29 the devil's behind you know he's in all those details of trying 19:34 to stop and hinder but like you said the theme matched the 19:38 experience, the trial, you went through. What else do you have 19:40 for us. Any other stories? 19:42 Yeah, well it goes on from that same venue. We got there so 19:49 Alicia King got there a day ahead of time to set up and 19:53 everything and we get there and we're getting everything set up 19:57 We woke up that next morning, so the morning of the conference, 20:00 when the conference was supposed to start that afternoon and the 20:04 power's out. Something had happened. A tree has fallen 20:08 across the power line. Something had happened and the power was 20:10 out. And we're supposed to be live streaming internet. We're 20:13 supposed to have the speaker for the audio system we're supposed 20:19 to have power. Yeah. And the cook too. The cook was coming in 20:24 to have an evening meal, of course they need power. So I'm 20:30 like Lord, please. Lord, you've opened it up clearly so far, I 20:34 mean, this is a miracle that we're even here so you can 20:38 provide but Lord we're just entrusting it to you. And so we 20:40 were praying in deep prayer and kind of fasting that day as 20:46 a team and we were checking like when's the power going to be 20:51 turned on. Like well we're hoping to get it today but it 20:54 might not be. Like oh that's great. But we were like Lord 20:59 we're trusting to you. Anyway so time goes on and then all of a 21:05 sudden then the water shuts off. Some pipe had broken or 21:09 something to the supply. And so the water's shut off now and 21:14 of course, our cook has to use water and we could maybe supply 21:17 something else for the attendees but the cook needs water. And 21:22 we're like oh boy Lord, we're out of power, we're out of water 21:24 Please, please provide a way. So they had a backup 21:29 generator for electricity working and we were hoping 21:32 something else for the water but But when the venue...it was 21:37 three hours before the first conference meeting, our first 21:43 plenary meeting that evening that the water came back on. 21:47 It was fixed, (Praise the Lord) So we finished working and one 21:54 hour, literally one hour before our meeting started that evening 21:59 the power came back on (Praise God) and so we're just like Lord 22:02 you're testing our faith. You've led us thus far but you're 22:07 opening doors and so thankful for that. So there's multiple 22:11 stories but that's just some of the stories that really stick 22:13 out to me of how the Lord has just led and blessed and 22:20 especially you know like you were saying, we need to be 22:24 anxious, I mean not be anxious, but trust him. 22:27 Right be anxious for nothing yeah. 22:28 Yeah, be anxious for nothing. Exactly. But trust our cares to 22:32 God and he will, he will provide he will open up doors... 22:35 And it's those kinds of experiences that strengthen our 22:38 faith, isn't it? (Yes) When we don't see a way out. It's just 22:42 like, it's not the same but it's very similar to Moses at the 22:44 Red Sea. You know there's no way out of this. The power's gone 22:48 out, now the water's gone. We didn't have a permit, 22:51 the venue is under 22:52 you know fire danger and all those things God removes all 22:56 of those things. You know we're not wrestling against flesh and 22:59 blood. We wrestling against powers and principalities in 23:01 heavenly places so we know the contest is beyond even the 23:06 physical realm. It's in the spiritual realm and we see God 23:09 deliver again and again and again. Love that. Great story. 23:12 I was just going to share one other thing real quick. What has 23:20 been very powerful to you is just the feedback that we've 23:23 received also from our attendees at our conferences. They say how 23:27 they have been blessed by through these miracles stories 23:32 but also just by the venue itself, our speakers, our hands 23:37 on practical ideas, I mean workshops, not our ideas, it's 23:39 God's ideas. But workshops of getting people engaged and just 23:45 the impact that's had on people's lives. So that's been a 23:48 blessing as well just to hear how God has been leading and 23:51 guiding in that. 23:53 Amen. You know we think back to the beginning of this movement 23:57 we call it a movement, right? And we think of the young people 24:00 that were involved. In their 20s right, and teenagers. I think 24:06 about some of our pioneers and they were teenagers and in their 24:08 20s. You know there were some that were older too, right? But 24:11 there were some that were young and I love the fact that we have 24:14 a ministry, GYC, Generation Youth for Christ that is 24:20 dedicated to impacting young people and training them, giving 24:24 them practical experiences like the one you just mentioned, 24:26 seeing God work miracles and getting them involved in 24:30 ministry. I started very young in ministry myself. I was only 24:32 21 years old when I started doing ministry and the Lord 24:36 blessed. He opened doors. And I remember I used to get up to 24:38 preach and people would say what is that kid doing up there? You 24:40 know, what is that kid doing up there getting ready to preach 24:42 right. Now people call me Grandpa but back in the day you 24:46 know I was a lot younger. So I'd love for us to get some contact 24:51 information for GYC West and so we're going to roll that right 24:55 now. We're going to let people know how they can get in contact 24:57 with you, how they can get involved with the events that 25:00 you're planning, and the events that you're doing. So we'll do 25:02 that right now and we'll be right back. 25:05 If you would like to contact or know more about GYC West you can 25:10 write to them at PO Box 481, Penryn, CA 95663. You can also 25:26 call them at (530) 330-5686 or you can visit their website 25:37 at GYCWest.com or you can email them at GYCWest@gmail.com 25:53 All right so if you know young people that can be impacted or 25:55 need to be impacted by this Ministry, we want to encourage 25:58 you to get in contact with GYC West. We're going to give a 26:01 little bit more time here to Josiah. Josiah, what are 26:04 closing thoughts for our viewers 26:05 Mmm. Yeah I want to just say that whatever you know as young 26:12 people or even older people if you find yourself, maybe you 26:17 aren't involved. Maybe you aren't involved in ministry, 26:19 maybe you aren't involved in ah you know you don't feel actively 26:25 involved in something. I want to encourage you to get involved 26:29 because getting involved you learn so much yourself. Um it 26:35 keeps your spiritualness alive and awake and on fire for the 26:41 Lord and just encouragement to everyone. I want to encourage 26:45 people to get involved whether that be in a local church, in 26:48 GYC West or whatever. Wherever you find yourself try and get 26:53 involved. I also want to encourage you please do check 26:56 out our you know website we'll have upcoming conferences where 27:00 we are trying to give practical ways where people can know how 27:05 to get involved. That's one of the main questions that was 27:08 brought up in the beginning too It's like people don't know how 27:11 to get involved, how to get involved in their churches or 27:14 how to get involved in their communities or evangelism or 27:17 whatever else. And so that's one way that we are seeking to try 27:21 and equip people. So check us out. We are on Facebook and 27:25 Instagram as well as our website So check us out, check on our 27:29 upcoming conferences and see how you can get actively involved in 27:32 GYC West or in your local churches and communities. 27:36 Amen, amen. Josiah. I just want to thank each one for joining 27:39 us today. It's a blessing to see young people involved. They can 27:44 reach every people group and I just pray that you will be 27:46 blessed as you connect with GYC or you connect your young people 27:49 with GYC. Until next time God bless. 27:51 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2024-05-20