Mark Russell speaks at youth event about mission and evangelism

15 December 2008

Church Army's Chief Executive Mark Russell recently spoke to young people from different dioceses all across England about exciting ways to do mission. Mark was at the recent 'Dare To…' event in the Assembly Hall at Church House in his capacity as the youngest member of the Archbishops' Council. He encouraged the 80 or so young attendees that they should make a point to reach their peers with the message of the gospel because no one is too young to make a difference.

"God wants to use you to make a difference in his world," he said. "So start dreaming. How could he use you and me? Sometimes people think that means we have to wait till we are old. Nonsense. This day has proven how God uses young people to do the most amazing creative things. Remember the young man in John's Gospel with his packed lunch, five loaves and two fish. Jesus used that little boy's lunch to feed 5000 people. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when the lad produced his lunch! So many of you amazing guys are making a difference; you have dreamed dreams of church reaching young people and here you are today. But what's next? What's the next dream God could give you? If you think you are too small to make a difference, and too small to make your presence felt, you have never shared a bed with a mosquito."

The group of youngsters, from various dioceses including some of the 10 dioceses that will qualify for pump-priming grants of up to £3,000 from the Church of England's Youth Evangelism Fund (YEF) in 2009 spoke about their reflections on reaching their generation in creative ways, including assisting Sarah Hicks, a graffiti artist, who was commissioned to work with the young people on the day. The resulting graffiti wall was presented to Mark Russell, Katherine McPherson and Dr Phillip Giddings of the Archbishops' Council at 4pm for display at Lambeth Palace.

Mark added, "All my life I have been passionate about getting young people involved in mission. This was such an amazing day as we brought together young people from across the Church of England, to share their stories of how they used Youth Evangelism Fund money to impact their friends with the gospel."