Youth Revival in a Pandemic

LITTLE ROCK, ARK. – One of the greatest challenges that has faced the church during 2020 was how to minister to our people while shut down because of COVID-19. When the government shut down churches, schools and other institutions because of the danger this virus posed, it caused a scrambled shift in how we present good news. We began to livestream on Facebook and YouTube. We learned to conduct Zoom meetings and found that we really can do a lot of things from home. But home becomes very confining after a while, and even more so for the young people.

That is why the Little Rock Spanish district took the initiative to revitalize first the youth departments of the church. The Leaders of our Adventurers, Pathfinders and Master Guides have played an important role during this time of crisis. The young people started wanting to be able to gather where they could keep their social distance but continue to fellowship as church members. They wanted to be able to stay active and continue doing different events.

The clubs began to work side by side with the Clarksville Seventh-day Adventist Church where the food pantry has access to large shipments of food. Our district has been impacting the city of Little Rock weekly where they have been feeding more than twelve hundred people. It takes many helping hands for this process to take place and we have around 35 people helping on a weekly basis. The majority of these are young people and young adults who are passionate about doing ministry for Christ. Our young people are taking hold of the torch and showing the older generations the attitude of working together to achieve a common goal as a district.

Recently the church had the opportunity to participate in the virtual youth campaign entitled: “In Joy with Purpose” sponsored by the North American Division. This evangelistic campaign helped the young people to find their purpose and understand what their role is within the church. Finding a project that they can participate in—and seeing how they can make a difference for others has fired our young people with new zeal. Certainly, the youth have had a revival that has made the church wake up and work together for the cause of Christ.

The pandemic is not an excuse for the church to be left without doing the work to which it has been called. Just because our church doors appear to be closed, God will open other avenues for us to pursue. May the Lord cause the pandemic to become a blessing as we wake up and work together for the cause of Christ. In the end “The King will reply, truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.” Matthew 25:40

By Leonardo Melendez, Pastor

Pictures: 1) Food boxes to give out. 2) Drive by Food Pantry. 3) Pathfinders with Purpose!