MARILLA, N.Y.—The Empire State Fellowship rejoices with the 1,340 teens and sponsors who attended the “Basic Training ’08: Defend and Serve” (1 Peter 3:13-17) youth seminars on March 14 and 15 in Marilla, Horseheads, and Norwich. Keynote speakers Jeff Stimpson, Dan Dark, and Dwight Peterson joined a small army who taught workshops, directed, cooked, and provided overnight accommodations. Through such workshops as “Why Don’t You Accept Evolution?” and “Who Is Jesus?” plus practical sessions showing youth how to better serve the Lord, the teens acquired knowledge on how to defend their faith. Each person received a Basic Training T-shirt for attending the spiritual fitness seminar. Many public decisions took place, and hundreds of lives considered and responded to the cause of Christ. 
“Give It!” was an offensive maneuver in which the young people gave more than $4,000 for the construction of a gazebo of Fort Drum, New York, for chaplains to help rehabilitate wounded soldiers returning from the war in Iraq.
