Two events ignite passion for God
Two events occurred this past weekend where hundreds of LaSalle Parish youth focused on their faith in God and the result was many lives being changed and a passion for Jesus being ignited.
The first event occurred in Olla where over 100 students from five different churches of various denominations joined together for a Disciple Now retreat held at Olla Methodist Church.
Following the high school football game Friday night, September 12, the students met at the church for a two-hour worship service where the guest speaker was LaSalle Tiger head football coach Hunter Johnson.
At the service, the youth freely worshipped with music led by a local worship team, and many made decisions for faith in Jesus Christ or committed to living radical Christian lives. They then played games until late into the night before retiring to host homes where small group Bible studies were held.
After a few hours of sleep, the youth met back up to where they performed community service projects, such as cleaning up the town park and the school ball field areas.
They also went in teams to some 50 homes in the Olla, Urania and Tullos area where they prayed with the families of the homes while also participating in an activity.
Late Saturday night, they all returned to the church where a final worship service was held, again lasting several hours, with many lives being transformed.
Danika Covington, wife of Olla Methodist Church pastor Scott Covington, described the weekend as life-changing for the 105 youth that attended.
“Lives were transformed, friendships were made, and the community was connected,” she said. “It really was a great weekend.”
On Sunday night, the LaSalle Ministerial Alliance sponsored a youth event entitled “Ignite 2025,” that saw over 300 youth attend.
Held in conjunction with many churches of various denominations in the Jena area, the youth met at Jena High School where the evening began with a two-hour worship service.
Along with Jena youth, many of the young people who had just participated in the Disciple Now weekend in Olla made the trip to Jena to unite with their peers for the night of worship.
Event coordinator Bradley Kitterlin was very excited that more youth showed up than what they planned for.
The worship service included music with a live worship band with special guest Nathanial Kimball, who is becoming a sought-after event worship leader and Voices of LC alumni.
In between songs, area youth ministers or pastors gave five-minute talks about various topics related to young people, all designed to encourage them to live out their faith in Jesus on a daily basis.
At the end of the service, youth came forward to pray for various issues and continued worshipping through song for an extended period. Many decisions for Christ were made, and commitments were renewed as a passion to live for God was ignited.
But the night was not over as activities were planned until 11 p.m. Along with food, various games and events were held throughout the campus of JHS, including glow in the dark volleyball, silent disco, pickle ball and more.
“I just want to thank all of the young people who attended,” Kitterlin said. “I know that God is doing a great work in our youth right now.”
He also noted that the event cost thousands of dollars and could not have been done without the help of so many volunteers of area churches joining together to assist.
The two events in Olla and Jena witnessed what many are calling a revival among the youth of the parish with pastors and youth ministers alike excited about all that God will continue to do through the young people who are fully committed to Christ.
For videos of the Ignite 2025 event, visit The Jena Times Facebook page.
