Twenty-Forward

Early in the year we decided to refer to these 365 days not as twenty-fourteen, but as twenty-FORWARD. It has certainly proved to be that, and so much more! In every area of life there has been a steady movement forward, and it has been a joy to be apart.

We started off the year with our youth camp at Bwerenga (the church’s property on Lake Victoria). This was my first camp as Youth Pastor, and it was amazing to watch God work all week. We had 125 young people spend an entire week worshiping, learning, and having too much fun (I’m not sure if that is possible) in the presence of God. Everyone came back with a personal testimony of things God spoke and did inside of them. By the end of camp we had 21 young people sign up for Ignite (our discipleship program)!

This year’s Ignite class is our biggest class yet, and truly feels like the best year yet. There is a great mix of  both newly saved, and long term Christians working and learning along side one another. The term started out on the islands for our wilderness retreat, and was a great success. Our goal for bonding and unity was met through sleeping on the ground, eating food prepared on campfires, and learning to work as a team. What a great fulfillment to make disciples, and encourage others to do the same!

The youth ministry at Life Church is called Real Life Generation, and it has surely been leaping forward this year. We meet as young people on Friday nights, and have been seeing steady growth. We are averaging 150+ youth every week coming excited to worship, hear the word, and spend time with other young people. It has been amazing to see the momentum and all that God is doing in the youth that come. We have had many open doors to visit schools and other churches with teams from RLG.

In just a few weeks we are having our annual youth conference called GenAlive. Last year we had 43 different churches attend with their young people, and this year we are believing for over 60! Since our first year of GenAlive (2011) we have seen such a unity come to youth ministries around the city as they come together for 4 full days of learning, fellowship, and spending time as one in the presence of God. Be praying with us that this year’s conference will be at a whole new level.

I want to thank you for all your prayers and support! What a privilege to be on such a great team. I happen to be the one on the ground, but I am representing a much bigger group of people that make all we do here possible, so thank you!

If you want to be part of the team financially, tax deductible checks can be made out, and mailed to:

The Cause
365 NE Greenwood Ave.
Bend, OR 97701

With “Uganda Youth” on the memo line. If you wish to give by credit card online, you can email me at contact@sethsokoloff.org, and I can give you directions.

Prayer is an equally vital part of the team, and if you would like to join in prayer, here are some prayer points for this next season:
Continued strength and discernment in day-to-day activities

• Grace to Pastor Real Life Generation (the youth group @ Life Church)
• Grace to lead, and for all 21 of our Ignite students
• GenAlive (Nation-wide youth conference held @ Life Church)
• Open doors in the ministries in which I am currently involved, and the Lord’s guidance for future ones. (The ability to say “No”)

Thank you for all you do, and for simply being you! Love you a ton!
– Seth