Italy – Training Youth To Carry The Baton
Pastor Steve Gray of the international church in Padova, Italy is intentionally training the youth of his church to be the leaders of tomorrow. Steve and his wife Patti are AGWM personnel, leading the International Christian Fellowship whose congregation includes around 50 young people from 15 different nations. He sees the importance of investing time, training, care, and resources in seeing that they succeed, and even exceed his own personal and generational accomplishments.
Gray feels the challenge of training the youth, likening it to a relay race. As the runner approaches the next runner, that next runner begins his run before the first runner finishes. Precision, timing, and hand-off must be the focus.
Sunday mornings are filled with children in the fellowship hall. Kid’s church is a big hit! The younger and older children worship together. Then they break out into smaller groups for different projects.
During the week, Patti Gray runs an after-school program for all ages with up to 20 children at any given time. The children are learning or strengthening their English through reading and writing activities, games, videos and Bible reading.
Teens gather each Friday night to study the Word of God, discuss life issues in light of the Word, and do diverse activities together.
The next generation of Christian leaders are intentionally being grounded in the Word of God and in God’s ways. The future is victorious.