At the close of worship service on Sunday morning, March 14, 2004, Sister Beulah Easterly stood & testified that she "felt like we are in revival." Little did she know that her words would have such prophetic insight.

Mt. Zion UMC recently held a youth rally on March 17th through 19th, 2004, with the intent of reaching into the growing community of youth within Science Hill. Sister Kim Denton, youth leader at Mt. Zion, shared with Pastor Mike Gregory some weeks prior to the rally that she was feeling led of God to conduct this rally. When Pastor Mike asked Sister Kim about an evangelist for the rally, her reply was "you're the man." With that, planning began for the first youth rally to be held at Mt. Zion in several years.

The opening night of the youth rally looked as if it would be dampened by sadness with the passing of a dear sister who had served the youth of Mt. Zion faithfully many years before. Sister Geneva Harness (better known by her friends as "Toots") passed away at 5:40 p. m. that afternoon, just prior to the beginning of the youth rally. While sadness did fill the air, everyone felt that "Toots" would have wanted the rally to go on. Mt. Zion's youth group led the singing, Pastor's Mike preached a sermon called "Choices", & two young souls (each five years-old) came to know Christ as Savior.

The second night of the youth rally was marked with an excellent musical performance from the Cedar Knob Boys, a teen bluegrass group from nearby Jacksonville Baptist Church. After the ministry in music, Pastor Mike preached a sermon on "Loose Living" & three more souls came to know Christ as Savior. An interesting event that occurred on this particular night was that one of the three souls saved was a 15 year-old girl who had attended service, left to go home, then returned as Pastor Mike was walking to his van. She told Pastor Mike that God had dealt with her throughout the service but she resisted coming forward. On the way home, God's Spirit continued to deal with her & she felt that she needed to return & commit her life to Christ. Pastor Mike & Stormie (the young girl's name) returned to the church & prayed together, with Stormie accepting Jesus as her Savior.

The final night of the youth rally began with singing from the Mt. Zion youth group & Jessica Wesley, a talented young singer from nearby Shady Grove UMC. Pastor Mike preached a sermon called "The Buzzer Is About To Sound", drawing from the sense of urgency that Jesus expressed in John 9 concerning His work for the Father. Pastor Mike focused his sermon on the impending & unavoidable end of life that all will face, including those who are young. The sermon focused on the uncertainty of life & the return of Christ, challenging the youth to make preparations for that day is if it were today. The youth filled the altars during the altar call, & two more young souls accepted Christ as Savior.

Rejoicing filled the sanctuary during morning worship on the following Sunday, as news spread about these new conversions. As Pastor Mike stated to the congregation, "We are now faced with the challenge of nurturing these young souls in Christ, raising them up to be the church of tomorrow." We are proud of these new creations in Christ, & covet your prayers for them as they start eternal life anew.