Event urges Valley kids to keep the faith

The revival continues tonight and Friday evening.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Relationships are crucial, so be careful whom you allow to walk into your life.

The message was delivered Wednesday night at Rising Star Baptist Church by Minister Mark Jackson, guest speaker at the East Side church’s first youth revival. The theme was “Ignite the Fire; Fan the Flame.”

The event drew about 200 people to the church on Wardle Avenue.

“We are a composite of the people who traffic in our lives,” said Jackson, minister at Greater Holy Trinity Church in Akron. “There are some people you do not want to connect with; it will throw you off course. If you’re not hooked up with the right people, you’re not going places.”

His words, boomed from a hand-held microphone as he walked from side to side near the pulpit, were met with applause and the occasional “That’s right!” from churchgoers. He told the mostly young crowd: “If you never welcomed Christ into your life, who’s going to warn you?”

Jackson then instructed his listeners to say, “I’ll never get to the right places hanging with the wrong people.” They did as he asked, with enthusiasm.

Millicent King, the church’s youth coordinator, said the goal of the revival, which continues today and Friday, is to get young people to worship the Lord, take charge of their lives and make wise decisions. The Rising Star youth group is open to school-age kids, elementary through high school.

Wednesday’s revival featured the Youth Development Team in a warm-up performance of hymns (some sung a cappella) that brought the congregation to its feet, clapping and swaying.

Scripture was read under the soft glow of 14 chandeliers hung from the high-arched ceiling.

The group was soon backed up by piano and drums.

“Lift your hands, lift your hearts,” urged the leader of the Youngstown State University gospel choir. The 11-member choir spread out across the stage, their voices carrying to the back of the church as they sang “I Will Bless the Lord.”

The Eagle Heights Academy Gospel Choir sang, among other hymns, “Because of Who You Are.” During the song of praise, appreciative applause greeted first one, then a second, solo by two of the smallest girls in the 24-member choir.

Guest speaker tonight is Minister DeMaine Kitchen of Rising Star. Kitchen also is the city’s 2nd Ward councilman. On Friday, the speaker will be Pastor Judah Early of Mount Hebron Baptist Church in Cleveland. The programs start at 7 p.m.