The world has never seen a greater humanitarian crisis than the AIDS pandemic.

AIDS is something we hear about everyday. But do Christian students realize it's something that God calls them to care about?

Do they know that even while they are still teenagers they have the ability to make a difference?

That's what Youth Summit is all about.

"The Youth Summit will encourage students to care for those with HIV, strengthen their knowledge, engage their abilities, and launch them to maximize their potential to help in the efforts to end AIDS," says Kay Warren.

CCN is proud to bring you the first Youth Summit on AIDS and the Church on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007 – live from Saddleback Church in California. If you are a CCN subscriber, this simulcast is included in your subscription!

The church of Jesus Christ – his Body – offers the only possibility of lasting hope for those whose lives are touched by AIDS. As followers of Jesus, we can bring compassionate care and help to those who need it most, as well as offer life-saving information about prevention to those most vulnerable.

This day will stir students’ hearts to make a commitment to personal purity, develop a passionate concern for those with HIV, and mobilize a generation to end AIDS.

Regardless of your students’ level of HIV expertise, they will leave the Youth Summit equipped to launch an HIV ministry in your church or make their current efforts more effective.

You CAN make a difference!

Dr. Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church in 1980 with one family. Today, it is an evangelical congregation averaging 22,000 weekly attendees, a 120-acre campus, and has more than 300 community ministries to groups such as prisoners, CEOs, addicts, single parents, and those with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Warren is passionate about attacking what he calls the five “Global Goliaths” – spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and illiteracy/poor education. Often named "America's most influential spiritual leader" and “America’s Pastor", Warren also leads the Purpose Driven Network of churches, a global coalition of congregations in 162 countries. His book, The Purpose Driven Church is listed in “100 Christian Books That Changed the 20th Century.”

Kay Warren is the Executive Director of the HIV/AIDS Initiative at Saddleback Church, a church she began with her husband in their living room in 1980. Using her far-reaching influence as a voice for the weak and vulnerable, Kay is challenging the worldwide Church to take on not just AIDS, but the global giants of spiritual darkness, lack of servant leaders, poverty, disease, and ignorance through the P.E.A.C.E. Plan. She launched the HIV/AIDS Caring Community at www.PurposeDriven.com/HIV in 2006. Warren has addressed many government, church, and professional groups, including the Government Women Leaders of Rwanda and The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS (UNAIDS). Her doctrinal study, Foundations, co-authored with Tom Holladay, won a Gold Medallion Award in 2004. Additionally, she has written for CNN.com and Missions Mosaic magazine.

Jenna Bush is the daughter of President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004 with a degree in English. Jenna was an elementary school teacher in Washington, D.C., for a year and a half before embarking on an internship for UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean. Her recent book, Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope, co-authored with her friend Mia Baxter is based on her work with UNICEF.

John V. Thomas is Senior Pastor of Fish Hoek Baptist Church in Cape Town, South Africa. The church and its Senior Pastor created Living Hope Community Centre in 2000, bringing Jesus' hope and compassion to those living with HIV and dying of AIDS. Seven years later, the 147 paid staff of the center dwarfs the 10 church staff. Moreover, the work of Living Hope has expanded to six communities with their own facilities and hundreds of volunteers delivering hospice and home-based care, food distribution, HIV testing and counseling, and spiritual nurture. Known as "the church that cares," Fish Hoek Baptist won this year's Courageous Leadership Award. It has become the model for multitudes of local churches that now have their own AIDS initiatives and has been recognized by governments worldwide, including that of the United States.

Shaun Blakeney has been in youth ministry since 1992, and he's currently the high school pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. In addition to his ministry at Saddleback, Shaun keeps busy with speaking engagements and writing books, including Date with Jesus, Guys' Night Out, and his most recent release, Energy Zappers: Dealing with People Who Drain You Dry (with Wallace Henley). Shaun is also a presenter for The Blur.

Francis Chan is the teaching pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California where he has been serving for the past 13 years. He is the President of Eternity Bible College and serves on the board of the Children's Hunger Fund and World Impact. Francis spends much of his time speaking to high school and college students. His commitment is to teach directly from the words of Scripture. His passion is to see the next generation of American Christians display a much deeper love for Jesus.