Millennials are often thought to be always concerned with the inessential: parties, gadgets and other material things. Around 1,000 millennials however recently gathered in Indonesia to prove that they can also move for the things that are spiritual and essential.
These Christian millennial leaders converged for the 2016 Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering (YLG2016) in a quite unlikely venue, the Indonesian capital and predominantly Muslim city of Jakarta.
The youngsters who hail from as much as 160 nations around the world attended the gathering to address issues concerning today's youth, and to ultimately stand up for the biblical truth amid all the cultural challenges and pressure surrounding them.
Richard Coleman, a member of the YLG planning team, said the gathering is very timely, because the current state of society presents so much challenges for the Christian youth to stand up for their faith, especially in the face of greater acceptance for behavior that go against Christian teachings like homosexual lifestyle, premarital sex and drugs.
"A generation can repackage the truth. No problem. But that generation shouldn't be redefining the truth. With such a lack of Bible knowledge, this generation is getting tossed around a bit much. Yet, there's hope," Coleman said, as quoted by the Christian Broadcasting Network.
He added that the event is also meant to encourage Christian millennials to continue standing up for their faith despite the various challenges and temptations in today's world.
"There is so much social pressure for inclusion into any and everything. To take a stance against anything carries the risk of being labeled as 'narrow-minded' or 'judgmental.' Add to that the almost immediate persecution through social media, and it can become quite intimidating to proclaim the truths of scripture," Coleman explained.
Coleman further said that the conference will also "launch an ongoing initiative to equip, encourage, mentor, and fan into flame younger leaders."
