The 2007, 12th Annual Positive Direction for Youth (PDY) Conference was held February 16th –17th, at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium, on the campus of North Carolina Central University (NCCU). The NCCU campus was jam packed with youth from all over the eastern seaboard of the United States.

Bishop Charles Mellette and his wife Pastor Patti Mellette of Christian Provision Ministries (CPM) extended a special invitation to pastors, youth groups, community leaders and parents in an effort to increase the number of PDY participations.

The Positive Direction Youth Conference was designed to bring all adolescence, youth leaders and parents of multi-cultural backgrounds along the East Coast together in a positive way. PDY previous conferences had been a tremendously successful with attendance averaging over 5,000 participants. There has been a consistent increase in enrollment each year and PDY’s 2007 registration figures confirm a continuation of those same growth patterns.

Part of the conference will be a youth Gospel Fest with various well-known groups and artists performing including: special guest Cheryl “SALT” James and Canton Jones. Bishop Mellete hopes participants will leave the conference with more confidence and the knowledge of exercising their power of choice through goal setting and the utilization ability tools needed to work towards achieving those goals. Mellette stated, “these skills will empower our youth to contribute to not only their church but to their community as well.”

According to Bishop Mellette, “the conference and CPM hopes to teach young people about what’s right, even if they find themselves in the wrong environment.”

The event also was designed to help youth ministries and outreach programs with budgetary planning. Bishop Mellette observed “that a lot of well-deserving youth groups and youth leaders have great ideas and great programs, but they lack the knowledge of know how in locating monies.

I spent most of my time trying to connect them to those resources. Hopefully, I can assist others by showing them how to utilize those resources, after the connections are made. After finding the money, it is important that you make the connection right away. Don’t put it off. Make the positive connection for the youth and those organizations to get the necessary funding to provide the services in order to improve the quality of life for all of our young people.”

Youth left the conference with the confidence of knowing how to exercise the power of choice, set goals, and how to work toward those goals. These are skills that will empower our youth to contribute to their local churches and community for generations to come.