Some 500 students attend Macon KALEO weekend

By Mickey Noah

Paul Coogle, left, a sophomore at Eastman, Ga.’s Dodge County High School, was among 25 students – in a break-out session during the recent KALEO weekend in Macon, Ga. -- listening intently to North American Mission Board representatives outline what it takes to be a NAMB missionary. Photo by John Swain

North American Mission Board national missionary Kerry Jackson, an Atlanta artist, paints a portrait of Christ in about 10 minutes’ time, demonstrating to the 500 students at KALEO ’10 in Macon, Ga., how they can use their talents while on mission for God. Photo by John Swain

14-year-old Daniel Choi, son of an Atlanta-area Korean Southern Baptist pastor, was the youngest student attending the recent KALEO ’10 weekend at Ingleside Baptist Church in Macon, Ga. Photo by John Swain

The two-day Macon session, co-sponsored by the Georgia Baptist Convention, was the 11^th in a series of KALEO weekends since 2006, sponsored by the North American Mission Board’s KALEO (Greek word meaning “to call” or “to call out”) Network.

As an ongoing network, KALEO is more than just the weekend event itself. KALEO serves as both a career data base and a “farm system” for young people exploring or pursuing a call from God to ministry leadership.   It focuses on three areas: networking, personal development – including coaching and mentoring -- and experience.

“Just like major league sports franchises, the KALEO Network serves as a farm system for the next generation of Southern Baptist leadership,” says Donald King, KALEO coordinator and events director for NAMB in Alpharetta, Ga. “And just like any sports team, the Southern Baptist Convention needs a strong and deep bench. With KALEO, it is developing one.”

King wants Southern Baptist churches to realize that now, with the KALEO network, the SBC has in place a process to identify, track and cultivate students who accept a call into ministry. “There’s a framework and resources available to churches and pastors for the coaching and mentoring of these students.”

Speaking to students attending the Macon KALEO conference in plenary or smaller, break-out sessions, was a diverse “faculty” including a seminary president, a seminary professor, senior pastors, existing missionaries, campus ministers and representatives of NAMB, the International Mission Board and the Georgia Baptist Convention.

Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif., told the students, “I’ve been a Christian for almost 40 years. I became a Christian when I was 13. In 40 years as a Christian, I’ve had five call experiences – just five. They don’t come often and when they do, they are so profound that they stamp your life for decades. They establish parameters for your life, which must be lived in the context of that call.

“That call can only be altered by a subsequent, superseding impression from God,” said Iorg. “That means that if and when you are called, you are called. You’re not released from that nor can you walk away from that. The only thing that can change your call is another call.”

Iorg said all believers receive a universal call to Christian service and growth at the time they accept Christ. 

“That call can be expressed by any honorable vocation,” he said. “So relax if you want to be a music teacher, mechanic, architect, engineer, physician or nurse. It’s possible to do any of those things as a Christian, yet serving and growing in Jesus Christ in those professions. 

“Don’t devalue the universal call to Christian service because for 98 percent of all Christians, that’s the only call they’ll ever receive. God expects them to express that call through an honorable vocation and live in the world making a difference for Jesus Christ.”

But Iorg said a minority of Christians also receive a second call – a general call to ministry leadership. Even fewer Christians receive a third call -- a specific call to a ministry assignment, according to Iorg.

Allen Jackson, associate professor of youth ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, addressed the key questions students attending KALEO wanted answers to: “how can I know God and how can I know what He wants me to do?”

Jackson told the students there are three signs a person wants to know God: a person’s attitude as we approach Him; our availability to spend time with Him; and our willingness to adapt to His will.

“If we’re not willing to make our life available to him and adapt to His will, then we’re not really interested in God or what He wants us to do,” said Jackson. “But four ways to know God and His will are through prayer; studying God’s word; seeking wise counsel from mentors you consider wise, such as pastors or youth pastors; and being aware of circumstances in your life. If we know that we know Him, we will recognize what He’s doing in our lives.”

One of KALEO’s highlights in Macon was a painting presentation by NAMB national missionary Kerry Jackson, an Atlanta artist who uses his drawing ability to share Christ with art students, other artists and in churches as part of his “Drawing to the Rock” ministry. His wife, Twyla, is also a NAMB missionary.

With music in the background, Jackson took only 10 minutes to paint a portrait of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns at the crucifixion. Afterwards, Jackson told the hundreds of amazed students, “I wish I had had someone in my life to tell me what I’m about to tell you. If you have compassion, a gift, a talent – no matter what you’re gifted in – you can be on mission for Him.”

Jackson’s message on ministry and the arts was received loud and clear by one KALEO attendee, art student Alyssa Johns, who attends First Baptist Church, Eastman, Ga.

In a follow-up email to Jackson, Alyssa wrote, “I recently talked to you about being an art student and not understanding how God receives glory in my work. Meeting you and seeing your work completely changed my mind. I now know that God can and does use my talents in the fine arts to minister to others and bring Him glory.”

One of the younger students at KALEO, 14-year-old Daniel Choi of Alpharetta, Ga., had been struggling with a decision to enter the ministry for 18 months. The son of the pastor of a large Atlanta-area Korean Baptist church, Daniel was one of several students his mom, Tina Choi, personally drove to KALEO in Macon.

While Daniel said it was “strange” to be there with all the older high school, college and seminary students, he said KALEO gave him “strength for the future,” as he continues to consider and pray about entering youth ministry.

Paul Coogle, a sophomore at Eastman, Ga.’s Dodge County High School, is considering becoming a missionary, and was also one of 10 students from First Baptist-Eastman to make the one-hour drive north to Macon for the KALEO weekend.

“A recent church retreat opened my eyes to what my brothers and sisters in other countries are going through,” Coogle said. “It broke my heart. It was like God told me to go to a closed country like China, Iraq or Iran. I felt a call and needed to come to KALEO to nail it down. I have a passion to go somewhere and do something. I just don’t know where.”

“Last night (during KALEO) my friends and I stayed up until 3 a.m. to talk to each other about our struggles,” said Coogle. “It’s amazing to see how God is working in our group.”

According to King, the 490 students came to the KALEO weekend in Macon from Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Maryland, Texas, Oklahoma, California, Kansas and Virginia.

“KALEO: Arkansas ‘10” is coming up at Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Ark., on Feb. 27. For more information, access www.KALEOConference.com.

For general information on the KALEO Network, call 1-888-554-7729 or access www.KALEONetwork.com

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