Urbana is a conference that began in 1946 with the vision to call college-aged students to “count the cost” of following Christ in global missions. In December, South America Mission (SAM) had the opportunity to participate in this conference as one of the 50+ mission organizations present.
We invited students to enter into the “Journey of Calling” with us as they engaged in an art gallery created by missionaries, staff, alumni, and more. SAM missionaries and staff were present and ready to engage with and disciple this next generation of believers. Two of our staff share their reflections below:
My 18-year-old self back in the nineties would have been cruising through the 50-plus ministry booths at the Urbana Conference collecting free merch: lip balm, T-shirts, books, magnets, pickleball paddles, collector cards of the actors from The Chosen… But not these Gen Zers. Within the first half hour, Joel, our Mobilization Director, was sitting down with four freshman-looking dudes, engaged in a deep conversation that went on for over 45 minutes and ended in prayer. The rest of us couldn’t figure out what was going on. What was Joel selling them? An all-inclusive vacation package in Pucallpa? A tenured teaching position at the Santa Cruz school? “We were just talking about the Gospel,” explained Joel when they finally let him go. “They had questions.”
Over the next three days, each one of us at the booth got to experience similar encounters whenever a student, curious about the basket of hand-woven bracelets—a total hit—would linger and share their life story, often prompted by a simple question: Where are you in your journey? (It turns out that wasssaaaap is no longer cool or engaging—can you believe it?) The “journey” question referred to Jonah’s journey, which was the overarching theme of the conference. Liz, a Bakersfield senior who visited us on the last day of the conference, replied, “OMG, I’m Jonah through and through. I’ll tell you all about it if you promise to pray for me at the end.” About fifty minutes later—during which she did most of the talking—and after many tears, Liz was walking away, probably wondering why she had just shared her deepest longings with three total strangers.
My 47-year-old self, currently grumpy in the belly of the whale, caught a glimpse of what those Nineveh shores may look like—and who may have beaten me to them.
Jorge Enciso serves in Bogotá Colombia with his wife, Ginny, and their five children. Their ministry, Viva Youth, provides support, connection, adn emotional and spiritual well-being to at-risk youth. They also started a house church network in Colombia called Ciudad Corazon.
As we gathered in a huge room at Urbana with over 6,000 students, our little delegation from SAM found one row about halfway up on the left side that had seats still available. Before sitting down, I introduced myself to a couple of young men sitting directly in front of us. One of them saw on our name tags that we were with SAM, to which he began sharing with us how important SAM was in his life. He was an MK (missionary kid) who had gone to SAM Academy from 7th-10th grade before his family moved to Colombia. He recalled how precious and shaping that time was in his life. Of all the thousands of seats we could have ended up in, I don’t think it was a coincidence that we sat right next to this young man. It reminded me that God builds his Kingdom and shapes our lives day by day, brick by brick. Urbana was incredible, yet the real power came from the Holy Spirit working through countless ‘nameless’ people—not even present—who’ve poured their lives into this next generation! What you are doing in your little corner of the world is helping to shape this next generation.
We never ran into that young man again over the next few days, but we sat next to a group from Nigeria that danced and worshipped the Lord, students from Asia, South Africa, and of course South America. It was inspiring to hear the worship of students praising Yahweh and asking where the Lord might use them in His Kingdom. We sang in Spanish multiple times, Portuguese, Mandarin and even a catchy little Nigerian song, “Big God” that will get your heart moving. I watched as what appeared to be almost every student in that huge room moved in unison to the dance of “Big God” – people from different tribes and tongues moving in unison. It renewed my hope of what God might do in this next generation! We have a very Big God!
Joel Woodard serves as the Mobilization Director of South America Mission. He and his wife, Amy, served as missionaries in Slovenia for seven years before returning to the US where Joel pastored a church in Oregon for 15 years. Joel started working for SAM in August of 2025 when they and their four children moved to South Carolina.
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