Nigel Coke, Jamaica Union, for ANN
The future of Adventism shines brightly through the children and youth resources that are geared toward a curriculum that sets the stage for the church’s future growth. Numerous resources appeared for delegates’ and guests’ inspection at this year’s 62nd General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church held at the America’s Center Convention Complex in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
Sabbath School Comes Alive
On July 5 during the GC Session program, Sabbath School took center stage as children participated in hands-on activities, songs, and interactive Bible stories found within church’s new Sabbath School curriculum, Alive in Jesus.
The first part of the curriculum debuted at the beginning of 2025, offering resources for babies (0–12 months) and beginners (1–3 years), and will continue to roll out content for Kindergarten, Primary, Junior, Teen, and Youth. Designed for ages 0–18, Alive in Jesus equips parents, caregivers, and Sabbath School teachers to nurture faith at every stage of a child’s development.
“Whether a small child or a teenager, [Jesus] invites them to come to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him, and to be part of His mission to reach the world,” said Nina Atcheson, curriculum manager for Alive in Jesus.
According to Atcheson, the new curriculum offers seven reasons families will appreciate it: it’s biblical, covers the church’s core Adventist beliefs, is beautifully illustrated with global diversity, is written in a winsome style that reflects God’s character, is transformational in its focus on conversion and character development, practical in encouraging life application, and designed to involve the whole family.
Several other resources were exhibited at the Session, where free handouts from children’s and youth ministries meet the criteria of the curriculum from Sabbath School and Personal Ministries through some of the daily giveaways and exhibits on display.
Adventist Camps
The North American Division dedicated an entire booth space to camp ministries, recognizing summer camps’ global impact on youth spiritual development.
According to the youth ministries director of the NAD, Tracy Wood, every summer more than 60 camps operate in the division, where kids ages eight to eighteen come for a week of camp.
“Camp ministries is all about helping kids know Jesus,” Wood said. “They have morning worship, outdoor activities during the day, Bible study somewhere during the day for a half hour or so. In the evening, they have what we call campfire, where they get together, sing spiritual hymns, and then they have skits or dramas, and Bible stories.”
“At the end of the week, usually Friday and Sabbath, there are calls for decisions, for Jesus or for baptism, or for more Bible studies,” Woods added. “Each camp kind of determines what they’re gonna place on their decision card, and we have anywhere from 300 to 700 baptisms every summer across all of the camps.”
Wood emphasized that the camps are Christ centered, Scripture driven, nature focused to reveal the Creator and focus on community and values, diversity, and excellence for God’s glory. “So that’s our core values of camp ministry. And the bottom line is, we’re helping kids know Jesus and say yes to Jesus.”
“We get more decisions for Jesus and baptisms [at camp] than any of our other ministries. More than Pathfinders, more than any other youth ministry,” Wood added.
The camp celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and is the strongest ministry for baptisms in North America. Several printed materials about the camp were on display at the booth, while a large screen displayed activities and performances at the camps.
My Bible First
Supporting ministries like My Bible First showcase supplementary Bible study books and tools to educate young minds.
Rachel Nelson, owner of My Bible First, is very excited about the ministry of leading children to Christ. “I took over this ministry from my parents about five years ago, and we provide resources for teachers of any curriculum or vacation Bible schools, for Adventurers, Pathfinders, and Sabbath School.”
“We just released, as far as I know, the first Seventh-day Adventist homeschool Bible curriculum for children five to eight years old. That’s available in a paper format, and you don’t have to be part of a separate school for it. We have a whole Bible doctrine series, and then we have short little books for probably kindergarten/primary age that break the Bible, the fundamental beliefs, Bible doctrines down, so they can be understood more easily,” Nelson explained.
“It has helped my children develop a devotional life because they go into the lessons every single day, and they go through them. Alongside the Starting with Jesus material, there is a podcast and things on there as well,” said Erica Podhaser. “As a parent, I couldn’t be happier with the company, and it was actually a natural fit for me to even start working with My Bible First, because I believe so strongly in the product. We moved from Florida and a church that used My Bible First, and when we moved up to North Carolina, I said, ‘I will not go to a church that does not use this product,’ because it was that important to me and my family.”
GC Youth Ministries
The Youth Ministries department of the General Conference is responsible for the wholistic growth of the church’s young people ages 13 to 30 years. In their exhibition booth they have a wide range of material to cover the curriculum of the age group mentioned.
“We don’t sell printed books. Everything that we have that is written resources, they’re online. If you go to our website, https://www.gcyouthministries.org/, you’ll find all our resources there,” said Busi Khumalo, Youth Ministries director of the GC.
“We currently have the Heroes game happening,” Khamalo continued. “We are doing it right there at the booth to encourage young people to read their Bibles and to know their Bibles. The Heroes game, produced in collaboration with Hope Channel and the Communication department, was done because our young people need to be encouraged to read their Bibles.”
“Daily, young people are playing Heroes on their devices, and then those who have reached a certain level by answering the questions correctly go into a playoff. Then the grand finale will take place on the stage, on Friday, July 11, where we will give the three finalists awards and then the one who wins from the three will get the grand prize.”
The Youth Ministries booth also has a kiosk where individuals young or old can do the Heroes quiz randomly.
A 24-year-old young woman from Guatemala expressed her delight in playing at the kiosk. “It’s very spiritual, different, and the Bible questions are very good,” she said.
My Place with Jesus
Another exhibit that catered to children with books, booklets, and brochures was It is Written’s My Place with Jesus. It offers Bible guides that are used by pastors to prepare children for baptism, with 21 guides in the series. It goes over the majority of the basic teachings of the Adventist Church with extras like how to have personal devotions, and angels and creation.
“After the children have gone through the Bible studies, we want to encourage them to share what they have learned,” said Melissa Bradshaw from My Place with Jesus and It is Written Children’s Ministry.
“We have scripture songs, we have Bible study, a Buried Treasure coloring book that features pictures that are in our Bible studies. We also have an audio CD, Our Dog Friends, that Pastor John Bradshaw has narrated for children to read. We have two programs, we have Buried Treasure, which is a program that you can run while you do an evangelistic series. Oftentimes the children are forgotten during an evangelistic series, so you run Buried Treasure, and the children are learning the same topics that the parents are learning.”
“I will tell you that the My Place with Jesus Bible and Bible studies are not just for kids. Last year, a 95-year-old was given the My Place with Jesus Bible guides by his daughter-in-law, and he didn’t have any religious background. He went through these guides and gave his life to the Lord at 95. So it’s not just for the kids,” Melissa Bradsaw said.
My Life Is a Journey
The children’s channel “Minha Vida É Uma Viagem,” created by Daniel Lüdtke in Portuguese, is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025 with more than two million subscribers on Youtube. It is currently the largest YouTube channel operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church around the world. Created by the Novo Tempo record label, this project combines Christian values, accessible theology, and joyful melodies to help children grow in faith while having fun. Each song is designed to be easy to sing, hard to forget, and filled with messages about love, bravery, and hope.
The channel has become popular not only among Adventists but throughout the broader evangelical community. The content offers a musical adventure through which children discover the most incredible Bible stories with fun, meaningful, and lively songs.
Having lived in Spain for some time, Lüdtke had already developed the Spanish version of many songs and launched the “Mi Vida Es Un Viaje” channel. Now, Novo Tempo has seen the need to expand even further by creating an English version called “My Life Is a Journey.” The female voice of the English channel is provided by Brazilian Gissela Sá, who has lived for many years in Nashville, United States, and speaks fluent American English. The songs are also performed by American children to ensure natural fluency and authenticity by native speakers.
Other interesting exhibits with wholistic resources to enhance the spiritual growth and nurturing of children and young people include:
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Discovery Mountain: a children’s audio program for kids ages 8 to 12, produced by Voice of Prophecy, that helps children to develop their faith.
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7Play: a streaming platform from the South American Division, which provies Christian movies, series, and documentaries for children. They operate like Netflix and are on YouTube in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
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BibleBricks: a child-friendly feature of the Old Testament sanctuary structure created in a hands-on way to interest the young minds using Lego bricks. There is also an animation video at the booth, which helps them with the meaning of the sanctuary and how to arrange the bricks.
The comprehensive approach to youth engagement demonstrates the church’s multifaceted strategy for nurturing faith in the next generation, from structured curriculum to creative supplementary resources. These will go a long way in deepening the faith of children, helping them to understand and share their beliefs with their peers and ultimately make that decision to get baptized and have a lifelong relationship with Jesus until He comes.
For more coverage of the 2025 General Conference Session, including live updates, interviews, and delegate stories, visit adventist.news and follow ANN on social media.
Gabriela Frontini and Angelica Sanchez contributed to this article which was originally published at adventist.news.
