Youth Spread Gospel Through Wildfire Program

This summer, eight students committed to furthering their relationship with Jesus and to helping ignite the faith of others by participating in Wildfire, a youth-led evangelistic effort. “The purpose of Wildfire is to teach, empower, and disciple young people,” explained Pastor Esequias Perea. The students traveled to Durango, Fruita, Pueblo, and Wyoming, where they put on VBS programs, led evangelistic series, and learned to prepare and preach sermons.

With the Holy Spirit working through the efforts and dedication of the Wildfire team, 14 people were baptized with one confession of faith. There were many answered prayers this summer, especially for safety, baptism, and local church support.

Not only did these students impact the lives of others for God, but their lives were impacted as well. Nolan Eickmann reflected, “It’s been awesome to grow in my relationship with God and to help others grow in their relationship with God.”

Ashley Halvorson said, “Wildfire made me realize that people might have something going on inside that you don’t see, so you should always be kind to them and be praying for them.”

Pastor Nestor Soriano started Wildfire in 2015 out of a desire to help youth preach the word of God. The name Wildfire comes from Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon the believers and tongues of fire appeared above their heads.  Wildfire has since grown to include a week of prayer during the school year for Campion Academy and a summer job program from the beginning of June to August.

Students who participated in Wildfire this summer are Nolan Eickmann, Ashley Halvorson, Lauren Fry, Nathaniel Sanchez, Josh Ramirez, Xander Asa, Josie Reeves, and Austin Rotinsulu. The supervisors were Pastor Esequias Perea, the chaplain at Campion Academy; Pastor Phil Jones, a retired evangelist; and the Campion Church pastoral team.

The Wildfire team not only worked hard to spread the gospel, but balanced some recreation into their summer as well. They went jeeping in Moab, Utah, camping and hiking in Colorado, and paid a visit to Wyoming for Frontier Days.

Pastor Esequias said, “Next summer we are hoping to have two to three Wildfire teams. The more kids that are involved, the more churches we can reach.” With God’s help Wildfire will continue to grow and bless others.

Article by Ashley Herber, Student Editor

Photos provided by Ashley Halvorson