NPUC Hosts Student Leaders

Why was Jesus the greatest leader this world has ever seen? The simple answer: Jesus came to serve. The leaders in our world, and in our churches, are not servants like Jesus was. The only solution to this problem is to raise up tomorrow’s leaders to become servant leaders. This was the goal of the 2019 North Pacific Union Conference (NPUC) Student Leadership Conference. Student leaders from 10 of the Adventist academies in NPUC gathered at Camp MiVoden, in Hayden, Idaho, Oct. 10–13, 2019, to learn about the importance of service.

During the day, small group sessions that were divided by leadership position would be held to discuss specific leadership strategies. During these meetings, students shared their experiences and struggles while serving their schools. Students were comforted when they realized they weren’t the only ones experiencing difficulties.

After the small group sessions, the keynote speaker Mark Witas, Oregon's Sunnyside Church pastor, shared inspirational stories that captured the importance of service. These two activities occurred every day until Sabbath came.

On Sabbath, the young leaders broke out into an activity called “The Amazing Grace.” Students raced in teams to complete fun and challenging teamwork-building exercises. Everyone had a positive attitude showed great sportsmanship.

The Sabbath was closed off with an emotional communion service and the baptism of a student who wanted to dedicate his life to Jesus. Many memories were created at Camp MiVoden over the course of those few days, but the biggest takeaway from the whole conference was the importance of servant leadership. The hope is that these students apply what they have learned so in the next few decades our leaders will serve just like Jesus did.

Kaleb Jones, Mount Ellis Academy student

Featured in: January/February 2020