MORE ABOUT DNOW WEEKEND
As DNOW weekend approaches, we took a few minutes to chat with Alberto Santiago, Interim Minister to Youth, here at FBCTLH to learn more about the upcoming DNOW weekend.
Here is what he had to share.
First Focus: Tell us, what is DNOW?
Alberto Santiago: DNOW stands for Disciple Now. It’s a weekend where students, from 6th–12th grade are discipled by older college students, parents, and even taught to disciple other students themselves.
FF: Where will DNOW happen?
AS: DNOW will happen here at FBCTLH, beginning Thursday, February 14 through Sunday, with a Saturday rec day at the Florida Baptist Children’s Home. The majority of the activities will be here at the church but groups of students will be assigned to separate host homes to spend the evening. Our host homes are groups of parents who volunteered to open up their homes to students to spend the night for small group devotional times, fellowship, and to give the parents a chance to get to meet and know their children’s peers as well. Most host homes will house around 9 or 10 students. Most of the upperclassmen will remain here at the church staying in the CLC overnight.
FF: What does a DNOW weekend look like?
AS: We’ll have lots of activities to keep the kids engaged. We’ll have worship with a guest worship leader named John Martin Keith, and a message by speaker, Brent Kunkle.
John Martin Keith is a worship leader out of Nashville, Tennessee, and he’s a very experienced worship leader and we’re really excited to have him with us this weekend.
Brett Kunkle is the founder and president of MAVEN, a movement to equip the next generation know truth, pursue goodness and create beauty. He has more than 25 years of experience working with junior high, high school, and college students. He was a youth pastor in Southern California and in the Denver area for 11 years and was the Student Impact Director for Stand to Reason for 14 years.
FF: Why is DNOW so important?
AS: DNOW helps to create mountaintop moments and opportunities similar to a summer camp for these students. These moments are so important in the lives of believers, especially young believers, to help encourage them in their faith and their walk with Christ. It’s important for our young people to have these shared experiences because it can help them encourage one another as they live out their faith coming down from these mountaintop moments. I can only reach so many, but the impact is so much greater if they can learn to encourage one another in their faith, which ties in so great with the theme of the weekend. The theme is ONE. The oneness of one god, one father of all, one spirit, and one body. We are connected to each other through the Holy Spirit. We need to stick together; you cannot live the Christian life alone.
FF: Anything else you’d like to share about this weekend?
AS: God is in the middle of this and the one who is going to work through the lives of these students, leaders, and volunteers. I’m so excited about what he’s going to do in the lives of our youth this weekend.