Refuel student weekend offers discipleship event

Refuel student weekend offers discipleship event

When John Yates was a student he loved Disciple Now (DNow) weekends. And now that he’s student pastor at First Baptist Church, Gulf Shores, he wants to bring that concept back stronger than ever for students all across the area.

He’s doing that through Refuel weekend, an event that offers a two-night, stay-over youth discipleship experience. It gives the large-group worship feel of a conference along with the small-group feel of a DNow weekend. 

Students gather together to hear a speaker and a worship band and participate in games and breakout sessions. They also participate in projects to help Baldwin Baptist Association get ready for its summer missions projects.

Then each church group breaks off in the evenings to stay in host homes or hotels or even go back home for the night, whichever they prefer.

“We want every student to be blessed by it,” Yates said. “Churches can decide whether they would like to use it just as a conference or use it as a Disciple Now weekend.”

In 2018, Yates got together with Ben Kiser at First Baptist Church, Foley, for a trial run. Then this year five church groups came together for Refuel, held Jan. 18–20.

Kiser said it was a high-quality event.

“We put a lot of time into it and are really selective with who we choose for the speaker,” he said. “I would encourage everyone to come. We are super excited and ready for next year.” 

The next Refuel weekend event will be held Jan. 17–19, 2020.

For more information visit refuelalabama.com. (Grace Thornton)

The next Refuel event will be held Jan. 17–19, 2020. For more information visit refuelalabama.com.