The first day of the 24th Global NYI Convention was marked with historic delegate participation in the various regional sites, changes to the election process of the global NYI council chair, and a reminder of the message and mission of Nazarene Youth International.

During the first session of the convention, delegates voted on Resolution 1, which would slightly alter how the global NYI council chair position would be elected. In 2013, the NYI Charter was changed so that the global NYI council chair would be the only elected position on the Global NYI Council.

The proposed updates in Resolution 1 state the global NYI council chair could not be an employee of the Church of the Nazarene Inc., would serve as the NYI representation to the General Board, and would be the nominee to serve as an NYI representative to the General Assembly. Additionally, the nominations for the global NYI council chair would come out of the regional caucuses: each of the six world regions would offer one name as their nomination for the global NYI council chair. These six nominees would then be voted upon by the Global NYI Convention.

Resolution 1 passed Wednesday morning with a majority in favor of the proposed changes. Delegates will vote for the global NYI council chair position during the Thursday afternoon session.

Finally, NYI Director Gary Hartke presented his quadrennial report to the convention. He explained that most organizations or ministries go through a four-phase process during their lifespan: message, mission, machinery, and monument. It is easy for organizations like NYI to get caught in the machinery or monument phases where they focus more on internal structure, organization, and perpetuating the status quo of the “machine” by doing things as they have always been done. Hartke instead encouraged NYI members to return to the message and mission of NYI: why it is that we do what we do.

NYI’s message and mission is characterized by the three core strategies, evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development – also known by the terms “Be,” “Do,” and “Go.”

Everything that is done in NYI should stem out of the three strategies: helping young people come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, discipling them in that walk of faith, and empowering them to be effective leaders in the church and their communities.

The remaining two days of the Global NYI Convention will continue to focus on these core strategies as delegates learn how to “Be,” “Do,” and “Go.”