My recipe to take PCNAK Back to its Roots

PRAY, CARE, NURTURE, ATTEND, KEEP KERALITE IDENTITY

Let me express my profound gratitude for this opportunity to serve the young people of PCNAK conference. I like to view it as a divine order with an eternal impact. Over the last few months, I have attended several brainstorming sessions where I spoke with young people about our conference and its direction. The message has been consistent and clear: it is time for a change in direction—from entertaining our youth to cultivating genuinely spiritual foundations. My vision for the Atlanta conference is two-fold: advancement of spiritual maturity and strengthening of unity. My plan for the conference is to have programs and activities that trigger life-transforming spiritual experiences. In order to strengthen unity, I plan to ensure appropriate representation of all attendees by respecting denominational, regional and cultural differences in the planning and programming phase of the conference.

This desired change of direction in conference, and consequently in our youth, requires more than four days. Through the capabilities of the website, the conference will expand from a four day event to daily ministry that runs throughout the conference year. The PCNAK Youth website is a portal that serves the ministerial, social, and of course, conference related needs of our community. The site, however, is not enough. Any vision requires actions--actions that lead to results. In order to help me take the conference back to its roots, I encourage the young people to practice the following five actions:

PRAY – Prayer is the foundation upon which conference rests. Like Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Colossians (Col 1:9-17), pray continuously that the leadership team is filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding as they plan and prepare for the conference. Use the Chain Fasting Calendar on the website to set apart a day to fast and pray for the conference, leadership team, guests and all attendees. Also, pray that our young people live a life worthy of the Lord. Like Moses interceded on behalf of Israelites, I urge you to intercede on behalf of our own Keralite youth.

CARE – I believe that our Youth are caring youth. In Phil 4:12, Apostle Paul urges young people to be an example in charity. As our conference grows in size and expectations, the cost of maintaining the expectations also grow. Our parents generously funded the youth programs, and in turn God rewarded their generosity with financial blessing for their families. Now, it is our turn to take leadership in giving for our children. I urge you to donate generously to the conference, so that we can alleviate the financial burden from our parents while providing the best for our community. I also ask you to take time and consideration in the giving of your valuable ideas, suggestions and constructive feedback as we plan for the conference.

NURTURE – It is our duty as young people to nurture the growth and development of this conference. As the baton of spiritual leadership transitioned from Moses’ generation to Joshua’s, I challenge this generation to take the responsibility of coordinating and executing this conference with us. Be above politics that divide us; instead, take care to exemplify the spirit of unity that ensures the growth of spiritual maturity. By actively promoting the conference in your churches and among your friends, you are nurturing the growth of this event.

ATTEND – Needless to say, without your attendance and participation at the conference, our vision remains a distant reality. Poor attendance directly attributed to some of the failures of past conferences. I encourage you to plan early, so that you and your family can attend and be a part of this life-changing experience.

KEEP KERALITE IDENTITY – “K” in PCNAK stands for Keralite. Second to being Pentecostal, our Kerala heritage and identity serves as the most important reason for the formation and continued existence of this event. While I am aware of the debate pervading among the youth of the relevance of our culture and identity in the larger American one, we cannot ignore that our Keralite origin is a God-given identity. Let us be proud of it. Instead of leaving our churches to avoid situations that discourage spiritual growth, Let us also be the agents of change that confront the situations in our churches that discourages spiritual growth and create a conducive spiritual environment where young people feel connected and their spiritual lives are thrived. During a picnic that I attended this year, an older youth said to me, regarding the support of our people for the conference, “Binu, Malayalees are vazhakalees (strife causing people),” to which I immediately responded, “Well, I am gonna make them Pangkalees (partners)!” As young people of keralite heritage, let us be proud of our identity, and be partakers of this great spiritual conference.

I encourage you to adhere to this call to action, so that we may experience the promise land that the conference will help to cultivate. I ask for your prayers and support in taking the 2008 PCNAK event to new heights. May God richly bless you!