Nearly 100 young people from across the CIS Field (Commonwealth of Independent States) gathered for the Bi-Annual Field Youth Conference in Volgograd, Russia, 7-10 May.
The 16- to 30-year olds came together to seek and worship God, learn new ways to serve, refresh their ministry vision and passion, share experiences and make connections around the field.
Attendees came from Ukraine, North and South Russia, Central Asia and Armenia, along with guests from the United States.
“It was great to praise God in different languages,” said Igor Rybalko, the Nazarene Youth International (NYI) coordinator for the CIS Field.
The conference theme was “Transforming our world in Christ, for Christ, like Christ.” Davide and Tatiana Cantarella, were keynote speakers for the morning and evening services. Seminars were held in between. Davide is the Russia North District Superintendent and Tatiana is the pastor of First Church of the Nazarene, Moscow.
During the conference youth wrestled with issues of evangelism, careers, youth subcultures and ministry, church atmosphere and principles for choosing a partner. The topics addressed how youth can leverage their potential and desire to serve God in all areas of their lives, said Olga Golubeva, a worship leader from Volgograd.
NYI presidents from across the field selected the topics in answer to questions that young people frequently ask.
For third-time attendee Vladislav Kim, from Astana, Kazakhstan, the message on "Irrepressible Force" forced him to ask himself, "Are you an irrepressible power in God’s hands today? What can make you stop serving Christ?"
“God wanted me to hear that,” he said.
Youth reported the highlight of the event was the small group meeting each evening when they met to pray for each other and share about their lives at home. Here, they evaluated what they learned at the seminars.
During one-on-one meetings with the speakers, young people were invited to ask hard questions, as they usually don’t have the opportunity to do so.
“I think today many young people in CIS field are worried about the condition of their church. They want their church to be like a family without any divisions inside,” said Kim.
Victor Parsegov, a youth leader in Ukraine and the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) Child Sponsorship Eurasia coordinator, valued the time of worship and having a place to communicate with young people from different nations.
“God showed me what He wants to change in me. Because sometimes we think that we are perfect in our lives, ministry and our families, but we need someone who can expose us.”
For Kim, the conference allowed him to appreciate how much God has worked in his life. His desire on the last day was to reclaim the love for Christ that he had when he first became a Christian.
“He is so merciful to me. I had so many second chances in my life, but again He brought His mercy, even when I was not worth that.”
Rybalko encouraged the region to pray that each young person will bring a renewed passion back to their churches.
The first field youth conference was held in Volgograd in 2000 with 150 attendees.
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Click on the image to view more pictures of the CIS Youth Conference 2010.
