Retreat held to make an IMPACT on teens
By TIM GULLA Ledger Staff Writer tim@gaffneyledger.com

Ledger photo by TIM GULLA Minister Nathan Smith kept hundreds of teens glued to their seats as he shared comical but spiritually moving stories about toy store visits as a child, and the fear he felt while asking his future wife out on a first date. Smith was the featured speaker at the three-day IMPACT Weekend that ended Sunday evening.

Wearing shorts and a Tshirt while preaching to his audience, Nathan Smith doesn't look like a typical minister.

And when he gets going, jokes fly fast and furious about the everyday experiences of growing up, from the fear and anxiety of asking someone for a date to being a social outcast at school.

Through all the laughter, however, was a serious message that had hundreds of teens glued to his presentation.

Smith, of Nathan Smith Ministries of Belmont, N.C., was the featured speaker at this year's IMPACT Weekend in Gaffney.

The three-day event, which began Friday and ended Sunday evening, brought hundreds of teens together for a retreat that combined sermons, rock music, videos and comedy routines targeted directly at bolstering the spiritual lives of the young and young at heart.

"If you lose friends because of Jesus," Smith told the attentive audience, "they probably aren't good friends (in the first place)."

One of his core questions for the teens was whether they were proud of Jesus, not only willing to profess their faith but willing to share it with others.

"If you keep the greatest gift of all time a secret," he said, "it doesn't make any sense."

This weekend's events represented the eighth year IMPACT has been held in Gaffney. It was sponsored by the Standing Rock Solid Youth Minister's Association and held at the Broad River Electric Co-Op Auditorium.