Recently, I worked with an amazing team of youth leaders to oversee the youth track of the Western Cape Anglicans Ablaze conference. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed working with such a wonderful group of folks. All of us had different skills and talents, bringing different gifts to the table. It was like God brought us together. We enjoyed being together—even our meetings were fun!

Eleven people served on this team, and together we planned and shaped the youth side of the conference. We had a marvelous array of speakers who spoke on everything from transformative discipleship to overcoming gangsterism. We had

two worship bands that provided the music, along with a Marimba band that was a huge hit too. Because we had a deep desire to help young people think differently about worship, we designed something called “creative worship stations,” in which we provided opportunities, facilitated by a leader or teacher in the field, for young people to explore worship through art, dance, spoken word and music.

More than 160 young people attended the conference, and I believe that everyone had a blessed time. I, unfortunately, missed the event because at the same time, I was overseeing another conference in Polokwane. Going into the planning of the youth track, I knew that I would miss the whole thing because I would be overseeing a Rooted in Jesus Junior training in which I needed to be present, being the primary trainer of this small-group discipleship programme for children.

I didn’t find it difficult to put so much work and effort into a conference that I could not attend, but I had wondered how I would feel about letting go of the work and planning and releasing my team into the oversight leadership of the conference. When I left for Polokwane two days before the Western Cape AA conference, I was a bit nervous, wondering how everything would go in Cape Town at the other conference. However, by the next day, I had such a sense of peace. I knew that my A-Team would be just fine. Actually, I knew that they would be brilliant, and I didn’t have a single worry about their leadership. They gave me such a gift to have this peace of mind. And with this gift, I was able to concentrate on my task at hand, the Rooted in Jesus Junior conference.

I am so grateful for my A-Team—for their ministries, for their passion for young people, and for the lessons they taught me about leadership; and I look forward to working with them in the future.

So here’s a big shout-out to my A-Team:
Amanda
Nigel
Wayne
Abigail
Havelyn
Brad
Auriel
Zoltan
Janice
Keegan
Henrietta

You guys are amazing and simply the best!