The Annual IMPACT Conference sees an even more diverse group!
You Made an Impact in the Lives of Young People through IMPACT.
IMPACT began as a conference run by Eritrean Evangelical Lutheran Mission Society (EELMS) in order to gather Eritrean youth from around the USA and Canada for a weekend of worship, encouragement, and fellowship with one another. Three years ago Good Shepherd took over as the organizers of IMPACT in order to broaden the pool of youth and young adults beyond just the Eritrean community and host the event on our campus. For this year’s event, you welcomed about 80 young people from the Bay Area, Las Vegas, Canada, Texas, Tennessee and Los Angeles. How amazing is that?! Not only were the participants geographically diverse but ethnically diverse as well.
Throughout the weekend you welcomed all of our guests with quintessential Good Shepherd hospitality ensuring their bellies were full, their spirits were encouraged, and their bodies were well rested. Unlike previous IMPACT Conferences where guest speakers were invited this year the shift was made away from preaching styles of presentation to something more engaging for the young people – live podcasts. Pastor Ebenezer from Minnesota joined IMPACT again this year but this time in the role of discussion facilitator. As someone who has a very successful podcast speaking to how Christians can shape the culture around us he led interview-style conversations focused on the topics of: Finding Your Voice, Identity, and Navigating Christianity and Culture.
Immediate feedback from the guests was encouraging that they were extremely thankful to you for hosting and planning the new format and engaging schedule for the entire weekend. You made such an IMPACT on the lives of so many young people they are already talking about coming back next year! Thank you for creating a space for young people to engage with one another and their faith in a meaningful way that will impact their lives in this cultural moment – no matter what city or country they are from.
