W a l s r o d e – Roughly a third of the 1.900 youth attending the German Baptist Union’s National Youth Convention (Bundesjugendtreffen - BUJU) in Walsrode from 15 – 18 June made a decision for Christ. Young people lighted a candle and brought it to the cross in front of the podium to confirm their desire to live henceforth in close fellowship with Jesus Christ. Andrea Bendicks (Hamburg), Director of the conference’s counselling programme, assured: “BUJU is more than celebrating Jesus and having fun. It also means taking steps of faith and resolving personal questions.” Thirty-five counsellors were ready round-the-clock to help this happen. Yet they were surprised by the positive echo as early as the second evening of the event. For the first time in the history of the convention, which takes place every two to three years, a trio team carried the primary responsibility: Kathy Ritter (Wetter), Pastor of Saxony’s church youth programme, André Krause (Limbach-Oberfrohna) and the Director of Hesse-Siegerland’s youth educational programme, Matthias Dichristin (Marburg). Dichristin will be leaving for South Africa in the fall as a missionary. All three participated in every sermon and explained from their differing perspectives the motto of the event: “The Challenge – Saved, Enabled, Liberated, Called”.

In previous years, various speakers had each held a sermon and the listeners would debate on whose sermon was best. Yet the 400-member convention staff concluded this time that the new format caused listeners to deal more intensely with the sermons’ content. According to Pastor Christoph Haus (Elstal), Director of the national Baptist youth programme, the convention’s strongly spiritual character is one result of the unusual BUJU concept: “Participants can determine their own contribution.” BUJU thrives because participants are not confronted with a perfectly-organised programme. Staff members only create a framework in which spiritual experiences are feasible, for ex. through the intensive give-and-take of small groups living together in tents.

One political demand could be heard: Convention participants called on pharmaceutical firms to surrender their rights to AIDS medication. This would allow medication to be produced locally for ex. in South Africa, making it much cheaper and possibly lengthening the lives of thousands of HIV-positive persons. Youth underscored their demands by writing them on 1.500 medication boxes and grouping them in the shape of a large AIDS bow.

BUJU also offered a foretaste of the Baptist World Youth Conference scheduled for Leipzig in 2008. Sixty international guests had been invited, yet restrictive German visa policies prevented half of them from coming. The largest non-European delegation consisted of five persons from Lebanon. Other visitors arrived from Burundi, Cameroon, South Africa, Texas and Argentina. Particularly impressed was Emmett L. Dunn (Falls Church, Virginia), Youth Director of the Baptist World Federation. He remarked that the German hosts had succeeded in developing a programme close to youth life, culture and language. The combination of worship services, Bible studies and 24-hour counselling along with colourful recreational activities involving sport and a karaoke stage would also be desired in Leipzig. Dunn was amazed that the 400 helpers securing the convention’s hitch-free progression were unpaid volunteers. BUJU has thereby passed the test as a rehearsal leading up to the Baptist World Youth Festival, which anticipates an attendance of 8.000 youth.