"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, BECAUSE He has anointed me to..." Isaiah 61:1

What an amazing week i61 was! The hundreds of young people who were part of i61 caught the spirit of living anointed BECAUSE! They provided food for 178 people and sponsored over 20 children. i61 was presented by Kings Christian Church with the theme of Isaiah 61:1 ringing loud and clear - “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to...”

Youth Pastors Artie and Alana Shepherd were intent on not running “just another youth conference.” They said, “We wanted to give youth ministries a great kick-start to the new year, but we also wanted young people to get switched on with a conviction that God has anointed them to do something significant on the planet.” Accordingly, the conference had a strong social justice focus, with key partners Compassion Australia and Destiny Rescue overwhelmed by the response they received to their projects. Both organisations had 11 children sponsored each, and Compassion also received enough donations to feed 178 children through its Global Food Crisis program. Destiny Rescue received great support for its work rescuing children from brothels in Asia and Africa.

On one night of the conference, Artie and Alana were so moved by the presentation of the Global Food Crisis they announced the whole offering that night would be given to Compassion. Josh O’Rourke of Compassion said, “The response and support we received was amazing for a youth event.”

i61 also featured Bishop TD Jakes’ Youth Pastor Kevin D. Caldwell for the first time in Australia. His messages were powerfully impacting, and the final night rally didn’t end until after midnight with Ps Kevin anointing almost 600 people with oil. “The atmosphere was electric – it felt like one massive youth camp,” said Artie afterwards.

In January 2010, i61 will be replaced by the Queensland Youth Alive Conference. Many of the youth ministries attending i61 were so impacted and enjoyed January on the Sunshine Coast so much they signed up straight away to come back for Youth Alive’s conference.

This was a highlight week - thanks to all the team for making it so brilliant!