
Dear Hope Church Family,
Thank you for your prayers as six middle school students, two women leaders, and I traveled to The Edge Youth Conference at Covenant College on Lookout Mountain, Georgia. The Edge is a week full of exciting activities, worship, and gospel-centered teaching. We had a blast and it was a joy to see the Lord at work during the week!
On Monday, June 20, one of our summer interns, Gracie DeLoache, and I met the six students who would join us for the trip at Hope to load up the rental cars, pray, and hit the road. After the six hour drive we arrived at The Edge! We immediately dove into inflatable activities and games, and after dinner we enjoyed our first night of worship together. Leading the music was the Wayne Kerr Band, who has been leading worship at conferences like The Edge for over 25 years.
The speaker was Andrew Keasling, who serves as the Executive Pastor at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Andrew’s theme for his five talks during the week was “The Good Shepherd.” After each talk our group sat down to discuss what we heard, and it was clear that our students were learning from and engaging with Andrew’s words! We also had the opportunity to take two seminars – “Who Are We? Understanding Our Identity in Christ” and “You’re Not Crazy: God’s Grace for Anxious People Like You and Me!” Both seminars were fantastic, and our students enjoyed hearing some of the themes that we’ve discussed in the Youth Ministry at Hope taught by different youth pastors.
Of course, there was plenty of fun mixed into the week! Two of the highlights were Water Fest (complete with a huge slip n’ slide) and Color Fest (a series of games involving brightly dyed flour). We also ventured out to grab some Clumpies ice cream in Chattanooga and walk across the Tennessee River. For many students, the highlight of the week was whitewater rafting on the Hiwassee River as we enjoyed God’s creation together!
Gracie had to leave on Thursday evening, and our Connections Coordinator, Anna Otto, flew in for the final night. After one more worship time on Friday morning, we loaded up the rental cars for the ride home.
As you can see, it was a packed week of fun, connection, worship, and growth! While we were all thankful to get back to our own beds, it was a joy to see the ways that the Lord worked in the lives of our students throughout the week. One of the main aims of The Edge is to give students a week of fun activities and gospel-centered teaching, but also to form relationships and inspire growth that lasts beyond their time at the conference. Would you pray alongside me that the Lord would continue to build on the work that he did in the lives of these students during our week together?
In Christ,
Davis Mooney