If the July/August issue of The Briefing has already reached you, I hope you are enjoying its contents and are being challenged to think how you can, in the words of our mission statement, “abandon your life to the honour and service of Christ in daily holiness and decision-making”.

Given that our next issue will not reach you until September, I thought it might be worth continuing the theme of June Sola Saturdays and take a look at some other examples of people who have given up their lives for the sake of Christ. While perusing some of our earliest issues (unfortunately not all Briefing editors are blessed with a mental index of every article we've ever published!), I stumbled across our old ‘People in Ministry’ column, which aimed to “[look] at evangelical ministry being worked out in practice” (Briefing #0, April 1988). I thought it might be encouraging for you to re-read (or read for the first time) some of these.

First up is David McDonald, writing in 1988 on the impetus behind the formation of Canberra Christian Youth Convention. This convention ran for a number of years and then morphed into a general convention, and then separate men's and women's youth conventions. I spoke to David recently, and he said that his and his family's involvement in these conventions really gave them a platform for ministry in Canberra. They ended up moving there in 1990 and have been there for the past 21 years.

If you live in a place where going to conventions is not the norm, perhaps you could consider pinching this idea. Who knows what impact God's word will have on your city?

Ever been frustrated, trying to explain the terrific things you learned at a church conference to a friend who didn't go? What you heard changed your life, but your friend cannot appreciate what has happened, because he wasn't there. It's much the same when you read or listen to God's word: Scripture can make a thunderous impact on you life. But when you try to explain it to your friend, she somehow cannot get as excited as you. Have you had that experience?

I always had it after attending Katoomba Youth Conventions. I would return home to my friends in Canberra and explain animatedly that Helen Roseveare said this, or John Chapman said that. And they'd say, “Oh yeah, that's nice”. Or I'd explain how we worked through consecutive sections of the Bible and how I had begun to understand the relevance of God's word for my life … But the impact would be lost.

In all this, the answer seemed clear: I had to take all my friends with me! But no, there had to be a better answer. Of course: bring a convention to them! We needed a youth convention for Canberra.

Read the full article online (493 words).

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