Prof. Mary Jo Sharp, Confident Christianity, and Nathan Betts, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, will be the keynotes for Prepare the Way’s 12th annual Christian Youth Summit in Bend, OR.

Every year, Prepare the Way Ministries brings together hundreds of youth and adults for an empowering Summit designed to help Christians stand firm in their faith, answer tough questions, and impact our culture for Christ. The Christian Youth Summit will be held March 8-9, 2019 and has a phenomenal line up of speakers this year. See below for the titles of the general session talks, as well as the breakout session topics.

Please register now. Registration is free and required to attend (even if you can only attend part of the conference).

FRIDAY, MARCH 8

(5:45 PM) Doors Open – Table Seating

(6:25) Welcome (Bryon Mengle, Master of Ceremonies) & Worship Music (Youth-Led Worship Band)

(7:00) General Session #1: Nathan Betts – None Like Him: Exploring the Uniqueness of the Christian God: It is often said that all religions are the same. But what makes the Christian God so different? Is there really any difference? In this talk Nathan Betts will discuss the utter uniqueness of the Christian God to all other gods.

(8:20) General Session #2:Mary Jo Sharp – Encountering the Problem of Evil in Everyday Conversations: The problem of evil is certainly one of the greatest obstacles to belief in the existence of God. It is commonly stated, “If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?” However, it is also frequently stated in relationship to personal suffering, “If God is good, why did He allow my child to die?” This session is a three-step approach to how to recognize and effectively converse on the problem of evil in daily life.

SATURDAY, MARCH 9

(9:00 AM) Welcome Back & Worship Music

(9:25) General Session #3: Mary Jo Sharp – Conversational Apologetics: Whether you are just beginning to dig into apologetics or your knowledge is extensive, engaging in conversation can seem intimidating at times. This session will focus on four elements of good dialogue; including how to use common questions to uncover what people really believe and to spark a deeper discussion on belief in God.

Breakout Sessions with 9 Different Talks to Choose From at 10:30 & 2:

– Nathan Betts, The Power of Truth in an Anything-Goes Age: We now live in a fake-news age. While distrust seems to be at an all-time high, we still long for truth. One of the inescapable questions of humanity is what is truth and how do we know it? In this talk, Nathan Betts will discuss the current cultural landscape and share how the Christian faith has incredibly good news to offer us, and to the culture in which we live.

– Mary Jo Sharp, Responding to the Intolerance of the New Tolerance: We live in a confused world in which the truth is exchanged for lie. One exchange that is affecting Christians is that tolerance is exchanged for intolerance. Not only are people unsure of what’s offensive or of what’s not offensive, it seems more and more that the term “offensive” is being associated almost exclusively with Christian beliefs. “Who are you to judge” and “that’s hate speech” are rampant slogans of our day. In this session, we will look at how Christians can respond to the accusation of intolerance.

– Sarah Williams, Ph.D., Destination… Healthy Relationships (Female Only): Following God’s Signposts for Purity (and Avoiding Painful Detours).

– Rev. Stephen Williams, Navigating Public Schools: Charting a course to uphold a Biblical worldview and being a light for Christ in public schools.

– Mike Caba, D.A., Archaeology and the Bible: An examination of 20 archaeological artifacts that support the historical reliability of the Bible and also help us to better understand the Bible.

– Ron Marrs, Ph.D., Adolescent Identity Development (Session for Leaders and Adults): In this workshop we will discuss the process adolescents go through to develop their identity with the goal that they will find their identity in Christ.

– Rev. Andrew Sullivan, Fighting and Winning the Battle for Sexual Purity (Male Only): This breakout will cover Biblical motivations and practical strategies for fighting and winning the battle against temptation.

– Liberty Pike, What do I need to know about abortion?: It’s a big, intimidating topic but this workshop will boil it down to the (non-graphic) basics you need to know.

– Greg Clift, His Story and Yours: The focus of this breakout session will enhance your understanding of the Biblical narrative in relationship to your life’s story.

(11:30) Lunch Provided

(12:35) General Session #4: Nathan Betts – Responding to Three Major Objections to Christianity: In this talk, Nathan Betts will look at three common objections to Christianity, especially among students. Have you ever wondered if science and faith enemies? Or maybe you have wondered where God has been in your pain or if He is even there? Did Jesus Christ really exist? These questions are real, and they have a jagged edge to them. But the Christian faith offers profoundly meaningful and hopeful answers to these questions. Nathan will take a close look at what the Christian faith has to say here in this talk.

(2:00) Breakout Session #2 (See above)

(3:25) General Session #5: Stephen Williams {Closing Exhortation}

(4:00) Ends

Registration is free and required to attend. Just click the Eventbrite button on our web page.

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For the past several years, we have offered this event for FREE in order to reach more students with the life-changing, faith-building messages delivered at the Summit. If you would like to sponsor a student(s) to attend the Summit, the real cost is $75/student. Please click here to donate and impact the faith of the next generation.

TESTIMONIES

“I have NEVER been to a conference where I walked away with such great confidence that the kids I brought both gleaned truth and had fun.  I have been to many many different conferences and youth events, some of them big name ones, some smaller;  this was by far the most useful, spiritually uplifting youth event that I have ever been to. EVER!!!! No conference has ever (until now) provided to me or to the young kids that I minster to, the historical, scientific, logical reasons to believe in Christ. The kids I brought were blessed…”       – Youth pastor

“The first year I attended the Summit in 8th grade I had no idea about the challenges I would face concerning my faith in the next four years as I entered high school…because of the Youth Summit I was prepared for challenges to my faith that came along. Having been going to the Youth Summit for the past four years, I am now more equipped than ever to stand firm in my faith as I enter into our world with a Christian worldview that has been built on a firm foundation…”   – 16 year old

For more information about the yearly Christian Youth Summit, click here: www.ChristianYouthSummit.org