We celebrated our 10th Ignite Multicultural Youth & Young Adults Conference on Saturday 6th July, at Werribee Baptist Church. With 600 people, representing 25 churches, we celebrated with the theme ‘Rejoice: God is faithful to all generations!’
And we certainly did lots of rejoicing! Terminal, New Vision and Bentleigh Baptist Churches led us in heartfelt worship and praise.
Keynote speakers, Sarah Do (Whitley College) and Rev Peter Botross (BUV & GenJ) helped us to see God’s faithfulness in our lives. We were inspired by testimonies and stories from Eh Su Cha Kee (Werribee Karen Baptist Church), Hser Oh Mu Shwe (Kangaroo Flat Karen Baptist Church), and Ketsu Tuitama (Samoan Victory Baptist Church).
A range of workshops were offered to help young people dive deeper into practical ways of following Jesus, and fun interactive learning like hip hop dancing! There was also something for pastors and leaders with training on discipling the next generation.
Ignite couldn’t happen without an amazing cultural celebration! Songs and dances were performed by Australia Zophei Church, Werribee Karen and Pwo Karen Baptist Churches, Samoan Victory Baptist Church, Melbourne Matu Baptist Church and Wodonga Baptist Church. A young person commented that ‘seeing other people’s cultures through their dances is wonderful!’ We also celebrated through yummy food provided by Westgate Karen and Melbourne Chin Baptist Churches!
We are grateful to all the churches who have collaborated over the many years to build a sense of community amongst young people in our Baptist churches. A participant shared, ‘My favourite thing about Ignite is connecting with others in the faith, whilst respecting and celebrating the diversity of cultures.’ Amen!
