CREST Youth @ KYCK19
Liam R

CREST Youth attended the KYCK19 youth conference on the first weekend of the April school holidays. High schooler, Liam R, attended for the first time and shares below what the 2000 youth got up to over the weekend and how he was both encouraged and challenged in his faith.

As the freedom of the school holidays approached directly at 3pm, I impatiently looked forward to the night ahead. 4:30pm came and I met up with CREST outside St Aidan’s, thrilled to attend my first ever KYCK conference. Jamming to the tunes of the KYCK19 playlist, my small group and I set off in our leader’s car to Katoomba, already planning how we would ruin our diet with Maccas along the way.

Reaching Katoomba with little time to spare, we raced up to the KCC conference centre for the first fruitful session of the weekend. Last-minute changes from my favourite band (CityAlight) to Whitefield (previously playing on week 3 of the conference) did not hold anyone back from praising God’s name triumphantly into the night. As I sat in the comfy red seats along with 2000 other youth, I felt immediately encouraged and secure, like I had finally found my refuge. Ed Springer brought an empowering and moving sermon from John chapter 14 (v:1-12) about our journey home through Christ into heaven, reminding me that Jesus is our path-clearer and light on the road. Afterwards, CREST retreated to The Backpacker Hostel in Katoomba, where two leaders accompanied us in our dorm room for the night (great…).

As usual, breakfast at 8am is way too early but Christian camps never seem to listen… Saturday consisted of 3 talks from Hayden Smith and again Ed Springer, following on from John 14 to chapters 15 and 16. Saturday afternoon brought time for small group bonding and an official soccer comp called the KYCK On Cup. My small group and I instead wandered down through Katoomba, willingly avoiding the KYCK On Cup knowing that it actually required exercise and instead, traded in our afternoon for milkshakes and hot chips.

“KYCK saw 79 teens respond to Jesus for their first time and another 116 recommit their lives to Jesus, including four people from CREST Youth. It was incredible.”

But it was at the Saturday night session of KYCK19 where things really took off. Excluding how awesome the mosh pit was, that night KYCK saw 79 teens respond to Jesus for their first time and another 116 recommit their lives to Jesus, including four people from CREST Youth. It was incredible. That night I sat in bed thinking how God’s love shines at KYCK—there’s this amazing atmosphere in the KCC auditorium that somehow makes such a short weekend feel so complete. Four sermons (by Saturday night) were more than enough to bring teenagers to Christ for the very first time, filling them with a great knowledge and passion of Jesus Christ. Something I still can’t get my head around to this day, and something which I’m incredibly humbled to have witnessed.

I woke up on Sunday morning filled with this feeling of completeness, a feeling I usually feel at the end of a Christian camp after growing much closer with Christ. But not only did I feel closer with God, I felt that his work for that weekend was now done and that he had succeeded in welcoming 195 kids into our family the previous night. I was now thrilled to go sing his praises that morning with a heap of new Christians around me. Sunday ended and my first ever KYCK was finally complete.

On top of being thankful to God for attending KYCK, I’m grateful that he challenged me throughout the weekend to strengthen my faith in him for the better of myself and others. I found that KYCK19 was a great reminder for myself to address the ways in which I can grow in Christ and create a deeper connection with him. In particular, following Bible plans and consistent reading makes me feel deeply connected with Christ when partnered with my prayers, and aids me in living my whole life for God. KYCK19 was definitely a great reminder of this and was a great encouragement as much as it was a challenge to me. Spending a weekend in a shed with 2000 other teenagers is a lot more uniting than it sounds. Knowing that I’m not the only Christian teen in NSW trying to live their life completely for God is something that I can now truly depend on and makes me look forward to returning to KYCK for my final year in 2020.

Download the KCC app on iPhone, Android or Windows to listen to past KYCK talks or the 2019 talks once they are uploaded.