Source: The Health Connection Newsletter | 3rd Quarter 2023
Northern Colombian Union and UNAC | Inter-American Division
The Adventist University de Colombia (UNAC) was the venue for the launch of the first Youth Alive in Spanish, a spiritual strengthening and empowerment strategy for young people of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in which they learn to develop resilience, equip them so that they make healthy decisions and better understand their gifts and purposes. This event, which took place from May 1 to 7, not only marked a milestone in the history of the church in Colombia but also provided the nearly 200 attendees with tools to improve their communities. This first training provided seminars on various topics, such as active listening, emotional management, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills, among others. The importance of fostering these skills and attitudes among young people and youth leaders was emphasized. The topics were taught by doctors Katia Reinert and Julián Melgosa from the General Conference and doctors Hiram Ruíz, Pedro Iglesias and Cecilia Moreno de Iglesias, from the Inter-American Division. Pastor Mauricio Buitrago, director of the Health and Youth departments of the Northern Colombian Union (UCN), remarked: “Now our young people know this strategy for which they will have an immense responsibility; reproduce it in their own churches, in their local fields, form youth alive friendship groups. These youth will return empowered in the name of the Lord, with that burning flame in their hearts, saying: ‘My choice is to live fully, now and for eternity.’”
