Earlier this summer, Kairos University – the NAB’s seminary partner organization – brought staff, faculty, and students to Green Lake, Wisconsin, to participate in the Gen Z and Preaching Conference, hosted by the Green Lake Conference Center. The conference was facilitated by former NAB missionary, Tanya Gericke, who is currently Kairos’s Director of Undergraduate Formation and a Kairos Affiliate Professor. The update below comes directly from Kairos University.
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Tanya shared her passion for Gen Z as she guided participants through the defining characteristics of Gen Z and the realities shaping their lives. The group explored and discussed topics such as the influence of AI and social media, increasing mental health challenges, and the Gen Z search for identity and belonging.
Throughout the sessions, attendees gained a deeper understanding of both the struggles facing Gen Z and the opportunities for sharing the hope of the gospel. Tanya shared that Gen Z is deeply hungry for both authentic community and a relationship with Jesus.
A unique aspect of the conference was the opportunity to engage directly with Gen Z. Participants, Gen Z attendees, and Gen Z leaders from Green Lake’s Quest and SALT program interacted with one another throughout the week. Through roundtable conversations and Q&A panel discussions, attendees heard directly from Gen Z about the struggles facing their generation and their hope for the Church.
As the conference came to a close, participants reflected on their renewed sense of hope for the next generation. By listening to Gen Z’s stories and perspectives, attendees came to realize that this generation is not only navigating unique challenges but is also eager for authentic relationships, meaningful community, and the hope found in Jesus.
Reframe is a four-week, online training for pastors and leaders to help you assess your congregation’s evangelism readiness. This training will provide an evaluative framework to help you to recognize gaps you may need to fill and distortions you will want to correct, and it will provide a clearer path forward toward helping your church become more evangelistically faithful.
Reframe is not a training that will focus on how to better do evangelism but instead will focus on how to be evangelistic.
- How well equipped is your congregation for the ministry of evangelism?
- How do you evaluate your church’s health in that regard?
- How would you identify equipping gaps in your congregation’s evangelistic faithfulness?
Each training consists of an online, 90-minute session that will take place across four consecutive Wednesdays, September 16 through October 7.
Those who are interested can sign up at the link below. Training is free for NAB ministry leaders.
If you are a leader planning to lead a short-term mission, NAB Gateway is hosting an online workshop designed to train you in best practices for short-term missions. This workshop spans two days, kicking off the evening of Friday, September 18, and continuing through Saturday, September 19.
This training will be led by Gateway Director Randy Schmor. Randy has led and trained short-term mission teams for over two decades. He is on the board of Mission Excellence and uses these guidelines to empower others with the knowledge and skills of how to build appropriate and thriving global partnerships.
You can register for the workshop using the link below.
Southeastern South Dakota and Northwest Iowa churches of the NAB are cordially invited to an International Mission Pop-Up. This event is for all ages!
Experience an evening of engaging conversation and connections around international missions. Hear from NAB missionaries Brandon and Marci Jones from Brazil and Shan Reed, NAB mobilization director and former NAB missionary to Japan.
It can be easy for our churches to feel isolated or as if what we do doesn’t seem to make any kind of global impact, particularly when it comes to the Kingdom efforts regarding international missions. This Pop-Up will help your church grasp the larger picture of NAB International Missions, help connect you with other local NAB churches who share a similar interest in missions, and hopefully promote awareness of and engagement with NAB International Missions and missionaries.
This pop-event will take place 6:30–8:00 p.m. on September 30, 2026, at 18th Street Church (formerly Trinity Baptist Church) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Refreshments will be served.