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History of Maga Books and Youth Challenge: Maga books were originally commissioned in 1987 by Glenn Aufderhar, Michigan Seventh-day Adventist president, and Dick Thomas, marketing director for the Review Publishing Association, as a response to Ellen White’s counsel that the book Christ’s object Lessons was a gift of heaven to be used by students to help defray the cost of Christian education. The first Maga Book, a half magazine, half book edition of Christ’s Object Lessons was titled He Taught Love, and features a commentary on 12 of the parables Christ told. Pastor Cindy directed the first summer Maga Book program in 1988 with 15 students based in Edmore, Michigan. In the spring of 1991 after attending Pastor Cindy’s Youth in Evangelism workshop at Camp Ausable, members of the ASI Detroit Chapter pulled into a rest area to pray for ideas to utilize youth in evangelism in the Detroit area. What emerged from seeking the Holy Spirit that day is Youth Challenge. The ASI committee asked Pastor Cindy to direct Detroit Youth Challenge in 1991. Joe Martin began a similar program in 1991 in the Rocky Mountain Conference. Joe and Pastor Cindy met at ASI’s National Convention in Denver that year and were amazed at how the Holy Spirit had led to establish similar programs with similar underlying principles unbeknown to each other. Since then, Maga Book student canvassers have grown to about 2500 in North America, distributing hundreds of thousands of 17 titles of Maga Books, from health Choices cookbooks to adult devotional books to teen books promoting a lifestyle free from substance abuse to quality children’s story books promoting positive values. Pastor Cindy Initiated Maga Book programs in the Northwest in 1993. Youth Challenge has since grown to include Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Montana. Students participating in Northwest Youth Challenge programs are provided opportunities to practice responsibility, punctuality, leadership skills, positive attitudes, accountability, and perseverance in an environment focused on the love of Jesus. Mission Statement: Youth Challenge is a directed youth outreach that puts primary emphasis on faith sharing activities. We believe that Jesus’ command, “Go ye into all the world,” includes young Christians, and that they must be trained, disciplined, and drilled in the best methods of winning souls to Christ, and sent into their communities to teach the World of God. We believe the church has been organized for service and that SDA schools have been ordained by God to prepare children and youth to proclaim the truth of Jesus to the world. It is the aim of Northwest Youth Challenge to cooperate with these churches and schools in carrying out the mission for which they have been established. We believe many youth have a latent willingness to serve and to know God better. These potential evangelists need to be encouraged and motivated. Thus, the recruitment and nurturing is an important component of Youth Challenge. We believe the Spirit of God is eager to endue our youth with power and ability to witness for God. It is our aim to provide an environment where that Spirit will give us joy in prayer, study of God’s Word, and persevering, individual witness. |