David Ray, who will lead the Youth Assembly at CBF’s General Assembly July 2-3 in Houston, writes this entry about the annual Youth Assembly. Ray leads worship at Tallowood Baptist Church, a CBF partnering congregation, in Houston.

My wife works for an organization called Aid Sudan. They work in southern Sudan to reach out to the people in both spiritual and physical ways in the name of Christ. One of their programs is called Village to Village, the concept being that a community of some kind (a group of friends, a church, business partners) adopts a community in southern Sudan to provide for them a school, a clinic, and a water well.  It’s the love of Christ, passed from one village to another.

That idea is one of the things that has me most excited about Youth Assembly this year. When we come together on July 2-3 we’ll be forming our own, temporary village, a village that is a small part of the larger community of the body of Christ. Our charge, as that body, is to not simply be a village unto ourselves, but to reach out to others. So we’ll be working with another village, a part of the Houston community that is disadvantaged and disenfranchised. And we’re going to throw them a party! On Friday, July 3, we’ll be hosting a block party in partnership with Mission Centers of Houston. There will be games, food, fun, and plenty of love to go around, all in the name of Christ. The love of Christ, passed from one village to another.

I hope you’ll join us for the weekend. This is the kind of unique opportunity you just don’t want to miss out on, where people come together with the single purpose of reaching out in the name of Christ and God starts doing amazing things. So come on down to Houston, Texas on July 2-3 for CBF Youth Assembly 2009 and see what God can do. Come join our village!

Learn more about the Assembly and pre-register for free at www.thefellowship.info/assembly.