Article source: devotedmag.co.za
The week-long KwaSizabantu Youth Conference started on Wednesday, 28 June and will end on 5 July. The theme for this year was, Let’s Lift Jesus Higher (Masimphakamisa uJesu). The conference features keynote speakers and services which provide valuable insights to young people and were designed to deepen an understanding of their faith and strengthen their relationship with God. More than 5,000 youngsters have registered and attended the conference and many have also attended the conference as day visitors. On Sunday, 2 June, the 10,000-seater auditorium was packed.
Keynote speakers have overcome significant challenges in their own lives and shared them with the attendees. The special message that the 94-year-old Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi shared with the youngsters, stood out. Prince Buthelezi is a Member of Parliament, founder and President Emeritus of the Inkatha Freedom Party, and the traditional prime minister to the Zulu monarch and nation.
The theme for this year’s youth conference was, Let’s Lift Jesus Higher (Masimphakamisa uJesu), and Prince Buthelezi shared a message of hope and encouragement in line with the theme. He said, “When we talk about lifting Jesus higher, to me that means placing Him in a prominent position so that no matter what we are facing, what we see, is Jesus.”
He shared his testimony of challenges and successes with his young audience. He told them that he had to grow up without seeing his father too often and was raised mainly by his mother – something that many youngsters of today can identify with. He said, “My mother was a devout Christian and she instilled in me the importance of living by biblical standards. I knew the fifth commandment, to honour my father and mother … I thank God for my mother. Through her example and her teachings, through her prayers and instruction, my own faith grew to become an anchor in my life. The faith that was birthed at my mother’s knee has sustained me for more than nine decades, through unthinkable trials.”
Prince Buthelezi’s message was designed for the challenges young people have to face daily. He said, “The theme of the conference is perfectly chosen for a time such as this. But we know that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to God and that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. How then can we lift Jesus any higher?”
Prince Buthelezi confirmed that he did not allow the challenges to overtake his life. He said that he kept believing in God’s plan for him, and that helped him to persevere. He encouraged the thousands of young onlookers to look to Jesus for a solution. He said, “What do we do when faced with a challenge? We lift Jesus higher. We look beyond the circumstances to the truth of Christ and what He is calling us to do. When God makes a promise, He always fulfils it. He has promised that you will thrive in what He is giving you if you will honour your father and mother. It is certainly worth doing.”
Youth conferences in general are catalysts for change aimed at gathering youth for teaching and encouraging them in their faith in Jesus Christ. Spanning seven days in total, the KwaSizabantu conference for the youth is different from others because of its emphasis on relational evangelism. The program is carefully curated with a combination of services, interactive sessions, and sports. In short, they learn a clear gospel message, how to share the Good News with others and most importantly, they were activated to go home and keep spreading the Good News. And the best part of it was that it was free to join.
KwaSizabantu holds youth conferences twice a year, every two years, but they also hosted two youth conferences last year which were both attended by thousands of young people. Next year they will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first conference held at the mission station at its premises at Kranskop and it promises to be a huge event.
Youth conferences in general are catalysts for change aimed at gathering youth for the purpose of teaching and encouraging them in their faith in Jesus Christ. Spanning seven days in total, the KwaSizabantu conference for the youth is different from others because of its emphasis on relational evangelism. The program is carefully curated with a combination of services, interactive sessions, and sports. In short, they learned a clear gospel message and how to share it; and most importantly, they were activated to go home and keep spreading the Good News. And the best part of it was that it was free to join.
Since the Mission Station was established more than fifty-two years ago, KwaSizabantu’s many outreach programs have also included the young people of the immediate area. Twice a year, and every other year, KwaSizabantu holds a Youth Conference to teach the youth life and other valuable skills. These conferences have been a source of many blessings over the years and have provided hope to thousands of young people who have attended the conferences and changed their lives for the better after giving their hearts to the Lord.
For those unable to attend the conference, there are other opportunities to tune into the conference. Radio Kwezi and also the streaming platform on the website, www.ksb.org.za will broadcast all the services daily. Services will be broadcast in isiZulu, English, German, French, Sesotho and Portuguese. The service times are daily at 10:00; 15:00; and 7:00 p.m. every day – except Sunday (July 2) when the morning service will begin at 11:00 a.m.
The KwaSizabantu Mission is a non-denominational Christian mission station that reaches out to people of all racial and cultural groups. KwaSizabantu brings spiritual guidance, support and counselling to anyone who needs it. Since the mission began more than fifty-two years ago, it has opened its doors wide to the youth – to hear more from the Lord, offer them hope, learn their skills, lift them and face various challenges to help Christian leaders and preachers from all over the world are invited to preach the gospel to the young people. In the past and during these conferences, many of the young people who attended decided to change their lives for the better and accept the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. Many of these inspiring and life-changing stories can be read on the Mission’s official website.
It is important to involve young people in sustainable development and that is why Emseni Farming joined hands with the Mission to teach the youth valuable agricultural skills, such as growing a vegetable garden in their backyard. This is an excellent way to motivate the youth to look after their own needs, and the project has since been widely expanded. Dietmar Joosten, farm manager of Emseni implemented the program during the previous youth conference and said he hoped that it would motivate the young people to look at job opportunities in the agricultural sector. “I want to encourage you to start vegetable gardens so that you can help take care of your families,” Dietmar told the young people during the skills training session. “In this way, you can help yourself, and you can also help others. Perhaps you can later pursue a career in the agricultural sector and make such a valuable contribution to food security”.
Young people make up a large part of South African communities. The younger they start thinking about the future and preparing themselves, the more successful they will be. It is an excellent idea to teach young people practical skills that enable them to help themselves and that give them hope for a better future.
Christianity is the largest religion in the world and attending conferences such as the KwaSizabantu Youth Conference, in effect means that they are blessed and simultaneously also a blessing to others. Getting your child connected to a youth group is a step in the right direction. Once teens have found and made friends at these conferences, they share their excitement about the gospel and Jesus. It helps young people to live out their faith in the world around them.
Click here to KEEP UPDATED on the latest news by subscribing to our FREE weekly newsletter.
Date published: 04/07/2023
Feature image: Prince Buthelezi
DISCLAIMER
JOY! News is a Christian news portal that shares pre-published articles by writers around the world. Each article is sourced and linked to the origin, and each article is credited with the author’s name. Although we do publish many articles that have been written in-house by JOY! journalists, we do not exclusively create our own content. Any views or opinions presented on this website are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company.
