Braden Fender: Challenge Was the First Time I Felt God's Presence

At Challenge 2024—the EFCA's biennial youth conference—we captured a photo of a youth leader praying for a student during Prayer Moves, a daily prayer gathering for students. We posted the photo on our social media, and earlier this month at Challenge 2026, we used it for the Prayer Moves sign.

While in Kansas City for Challenge, we caught up with the student (Braden) and leader (Cole) to learn more about that significant moment.

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Braden Fender (lead photo, right): Challenge was my first church camp ever. It got me connected to church and made me feel part of the group, but I never understood any of it. [At Challenge 2024], Prayer Moves was the first time I felt God's presence. It was the first time I sat with the Holy Spirit in the presence of the Lord. It was overwhelming in my heart, and I came to Cole in tears. 

Cole Hartman (lead photo, left): In the picture (below, black-and-white), Braden's experiencing that for the first time and realizing there's a bunch of other stuff he's wrestling with. His heart was heavy in the right kind of way.  

Braden: Things were going on in my life at the time that I didn't realize were hurting me, tearing me away from my connection with the Lord. I was always angry at God, and I'd blame Him for things that were going on in my life. But at [Prayer Moves], we were praying to ourselves, and I sat in the silence of the Lord. I felt it all at once, and it was overwhelming. This God spoke everything into existence and has more power than we can even comprehend, and I get to talk one-on-one with Him and have a conversation with Him and have a relationship with Him. It was insane to me.  

Cole: When Braden asked for prayer, I just started praying against darkness and against the heavy weights and for real transformation to occur. 

Braden: I've never forgotten the power of prayer in that moment. As I've gotten older and worked with other people, I've always had prayer as my most powerful weapon in the fight against sin and bringing others toward the light of God. 

Cole: That night, Braden came up to me and said, “I need to give my life to Jesus,” so we prayed—sort of a sinner's prayer but also a commitment that he was all in with Jesus. That week, we also had our first conversation about how God might be calling him into ministry of some kind.

Braden: I thought maybe it'd be a pastor, but I don't know exactly. I've seen that I'll have to work on patience, and I'll have to work on selflessness. I feel like God's showing me things as I go, and He's pushing me in some unexpected directions.