God has been equipping Pastor Teck Uy for Kingdom work going all the way back to Billy Graham’s 1995 Toronto Crusade. But he never passes up another opportunity to learn through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and that meant attending the Oct. 20 Toronto Evangelism Summit.
The last of three Summits (the others were in Calgary and Halifax), Pastor Teck brought along 10 members of his leadership team at Friends of Jesus Christ Canada.
Equipping the Next Generation
“We need to be equipped,” he said. Teck and more than 400 other church leaders and Christians spent the day at Church on the Queensway, taking in worship from Canadian singer/songwriter Brooke Nicholls and messages from David Macfarlane, Amy Orr-Ewing, David Bruce, Charles Price, Jason Ballard, and Hugh Osgood.
“Evangelism is evolving, so I want to know more about where it’s going and how we can connect with people today,” Pastor Teck explained. He served as a counselor at the 1995 Crusade, then was part of the leadership team at the 2014 Greater Toronto Festival of Hope with Franklin Graham. He also attended a BGEA of Canada pastor’s retreat earlier this year.
During her Evangelism Summit message, U.K. author, speaker and evangelist Amy Orr-Ewing noted “it often comes as a surprise to people to learn that the Christian faith deals with our trauma. The Bible is trauma-informed and Christ crucified speaks uniquely to a traumatized generation.”
This resonated with Teck, who said for many people, experiencing trauma is “the only time they realize they need God.”
Another part of Amy’s message connected with Brian Davidge, an attendee who benefitted from a previous Billy Graham Evangelistic Association event, a 2016 Evangelism Congress in Niagara Falls.
“Amy talked about wokeism and how kids are so influenced by identity. She made it clear our identity is not in all this stuff. It’s about our identity in Christ. (This gender confusion) causes trauma in young people because if they don’t have Christ, they can’t deal with it.”
Brian, who holds Bible studies at his workplace, said her words “were definitely encouraging. They remind us not go get caught up in it, too.”
Back with the Friends of Jesus Christ Canada team, Eladia Baliday was happy to book a day off from her job to attend the Summit.
“I was extremely excited to be part of this because evangelism is my passion,” she said during the lunch break. “What I’ve heard today is very nutritious; it’s food for our spiritual growth.”
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