High School Students Receive Practical Outreach Training at Radiate

Published April 12, 2017

This past week, the Clarks Summit University community welcomed 60 high school students and 22 youth leaders representing 10 different churches for Radiate.

Radiate is an annual, four-day event designed to show senior high students how to impact their world for eternity. For participants, the experience was a mix of classroom instruction with real-life opportunities to share the gospel with others.

Students received practical instruction for developing ministry and outreach skills from qualified and experienced speakers and heard challenging and motivating messages from God’s Word. Speakers included Danny Howard, pastor of student ministries at Parker Hill Church; Mel Walker, vice president for communications and external relations, and Tim Walker, lead pastor at Restored Church. All three are alumni of CSU with a heart for both young people and missions.

Students engaged in special worship opportunities with missions and ministry-focused CSU students. They completed daily, hands-on evangelistic training in a variety of cross-cultural settings.

“Radiate pushes the students to share their faith and interact with people who they don’t normally interact with on a regular basis. It challenges their understanding of the gospel and the importance of sharing the ‘good news’ of Christ with everyone,” says Radiate project manager and CSU student, Ryan Buchanan.

Participants served alongside Northmoreland Baptist Church in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, providing students with outreach experience in a rural setting. Serving with New Life Baptist Church in Scranton, Pennsylvania, allowed them to share their faith in a mid-sized city. And a Project Jerusalem ministry, NewLife Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, was the large-city host for this year’s group.

Participants were dedicated to the task despite inclement weather. They went out into the neighborhoods surrounding each outreach location and invited locals to upcoming Easter services. Students also engaged in gospel-focused conversations while they were in New Jersey.

Mel Walker says, “I am convinced that this is a great event for Christian high school kids. They come here because they are interested in outreach, and this event provides them with hands-on training and experience to do just that.”

He continues, “The closing testimony time was the highlight for me. When students were asked what they are going to do as a result of Radiate, student after student shared ways in which they can make an impact where they are in life with the things they have learned.”

Radiate sold out quickly. For those interested in additional CSU events geared toward high school students, reserve your space at Teen Leadership Conference today.