By
Danielle Perez

The numbers are impressive: 22,622 doors knocked on; 15,517 GLOW
tracts handed out; 2,238 copies of The
Great Controversy distributed; approximately 2,089 people prayed with; and
more than 216 requests for Bible studies collected. More impressive than these
statistics, however, is the fact that it was all done by young people.

More than 2,800 Seventh-day Adventist teenagers and young adults
knocked on doors in Orlando, Florida, as a part of the annual Generation. Youth.
Christ. (GYC) convention’s campaign to reach its surrounding communities.

In preparation for the outreach, participants gathered in the
nearby convention center for training. The meeting was opened with testimonies
about the impact of The Great Controversy on individual lives. Following
the testimonies, four young adult employees from the Central California
Conference trained attendees to go door-to-door requesting donations, for which
a copy of The Great Controversy was offered.

The four young people who trained the participants have had
significant experience with door-to-door work, as they are also leaders in
Youth Rush, a 10-week literature evangelism program for high-school and
college-age students. “The fact that we did in 38 minutes of training what
would normally take two weeks in a summer program is great!” said Ranela
Kaligithi, one of the four.

The donations generated by participants were given to S.A.L.T.
(Service and Love Together), a local ministry focused on helping homeless
individuals, low-income families, and children who live at or below poverty
level.

After more than two hours of knocking on doors, and $16,000 in
donations, participants came back ready to share their testimonies. “Thank you
so much for the training,” said one young woman from Barbados. “We put
everything into practice as we distributed our books. We loved outreach!”

Upon entering the house of a friendly woman, Jennifer Beltz and
her older brother, AJ, were able to pray with the woman and leave a copy of The
Great Controversy. “I had been praying all morning that God would send me
an answer to the problems I was having, and you two are like angels sent from
God to help me,” said the woman with tears in her eyes. The community
management asked Beltz and her brother to leave the neighborhood shortly thereafter.

Respecting on the management’s request and reflecting on the
experience, Beltz commented, “Praise God! It was awesome to see that God sent
us to connect with this resident at just the right time.”

Not only did this outreach experience impact people in the
community, it dramatically changed the lives of the participants. “Some of
these people have probably never gone door-to-door,” Kaligithi said. “And the
fact that they raised $16,000 with limited training is amazing.”

Ted N. C. Wilson, General Conference
president, also participated in the outreach initiative. “It was a great
experience,” Wilson said. “GYC not only gives young people a chance to grow
spiritually through biblical messages, but it’s also a wonderful way to
participate in sharing the Three Angels’ Messages with the public during GYC
outreach activities. I was blessed to be part of it!”