Reflecting on “Made Free”
The Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE) will gather under the theme of “Made Free” in the summer of 2022. Gathering leadership asked a few people to briefly reflect on what it means to be “Made Free” and to live...
Make Yourself Heard.
Similar to how God brought Jonah to Nineveh, I felt dragged to the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering in Detroit. I loved church, but doubted whether the ELCA was right for me. I was one of the only young Lutherans...
The week that changed my life.
The 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering is a trip I will forever remember. As I reflect on my experience, the memories fill my mind and joy surrounds me. Participating in worship with over 30,000 young people, gardening a prayer labyrinth,...
Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone
The first thing that comes to mind when I think about volunteering with the Gathering is stepping outside of my comfort zone. It was an unexpected invitation that pulled me out of my day-to-day cycle and reminded me of...
Lighthouse
Walking off of the Mass Gathering stage after speaking at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering, I don’t think I fully understood the magnitude of what I had just done. It was a life-changing experience that felt so wild but...
Juneteenth: We Will Breathe
by Joe Davis Juneteenth commemorates a day when my ancestors could breath a little more freely. On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, enslaved Africans were read federal orders that they were freed, even though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed...