‘Christaval’ joins ‘Student Jesus Project’ for JAX events

Nov 23, 2004
VANESSA RODRIGUEZ
Florida Baptist Convention

JACKSONVILLE (FBC)—More than 200 college students and teenagers traveled to the 150th anniversary celebration of the Florida Baptist State Convention in Jacksonville to participate in the “Celebrate Jesus Project” Nov. 6-7.

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The event preceded the two-day State Convention meeting at the Prime Osborn Convention Center and used block parties, street evangelism, prayer walks and other efforts to spread the Gospel around the city.

Student involvement in the “Celebrate Jesus Project” (CJP) was significant to the celebration of Florida Baptists’ heritage and hope said Ben Smith, Baptist Collegiate Ministry director for the Jacksonville area.

“Even as we are celebrating the history of the convention, we are also looking ahead to the next generation of leaders,” he said. “It is important to engage our youth and college students to be a part of the leadership in church and involve them in our convention.”

“Christival” and the “Student Jesus Project” were the two CJP events designed to encourage student participation.

Students from eight of Florida’s universities journeyed to Jacksonville to take part in the weekend’s activities.

After a day of street evangelism and block parties, 150 of the students gathered at the University of North Florida’s Robinson Center for “Christival,” a conference-type gathering which included a concert by musician Kyle Carden, and a message from speaker Clayton King.

King, a 31-year-old evangelist from North Carolina, delivered a challenging message centered on the intensity of the Christian commitment and “radical” discipleship.

“Christ never said, ‘repeat after me,’ Christ said, ‘take up your cross and follow me,’” King told the students. Continuing, he asked them, “If that is a requirement, what does it mean and what does it mean for you specifically?”

He spoke candidly of what carrying the cross meant to him and suggested today’s cultural influences on the Christian faith have left many with a misconstrued idea that being a Christian requires little effort in return for great gain.

“Christianity today has lost its guts,” he said pleading with students to see past the cross as an icon and daily realize the brutality of the Savior’s sacrifice.

Students responded eagerly to King’s message. During the invitation, six individuals prayed to receive Christ, 12 surrendered to full-time ministry and one made a public rededication.

Ready to show their devotion to make a difference, a number of students attended the State Convention meeting in the days following the event, volunteering at the Baptist Campus Ministries exhibit booth.

Junior high and high school students from six churches participated in an evangelistic event of their own called “Student Jesus Project.”

After a morning of evangelistic training Nov. 6 at Deermeadows Baptist Church in Jacksonville, the youth used opinion polls and surveys to canvass apartment complexes in the beaches area. A total of 30 students went door to door witnessing or to neighborhood block parties.

“What kind of people get into heaven?” the young people asked each other as they role-played before hitting the streets.

They discussed how to share the Gospel with individuals who were unclear on how to get into heaven or believed becoming a Christian was accomplished by doing good works.

Noting that 17 million spiritually lost Americans are ready to give their heart to Jesus, Jeff Hessinger, director of the Convention’s Personal Evangelism Department told the students, “I’m not asking you to be seminarians or theologians, just good witnesses.”

“We are looking for people where Jesus is at work in their lives,” he said.

The youth completed 95 surveys and presented the Gospel 44 times. Thirteen people made professions of faith in Christ.

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