Kenny Grant Evangelistic Ministries and The Band of Brothers will present the STAND17 Conference on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Savannah Civic Center. STAND17 is an acronym for Students Taking a New Direction.

The event is planned specifically for young people, ages 16-24, and guest speaker Dr. Frank Turek will address the audience and over his entertaining support for Christianity. Turek is a leading apologetics expert and cultural commentator and has appeared on hundreds of radio programs and many top TV programs, including “The O’Reilly Factor,” “Hannity and Colmes,” “Faith Under Fire” and “Politically Incorrect.”

The STAND17 event is the brainchild of Pastor Kenny Grant, and he said the idea was birthed because of a circumstance his youngest child faced as a freshman in college. Rev. Kenny Grant, senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Temple in Savannah since 2012, said:

“Some high school and college professors are hostile to the Christian faith. My daughter was confronted with a professor in college who challenged her beliefs, and basically said he wanted to ‘shake the students free’ of their ideas about God.”

Grant said that briefly, his daughter’s classmates remained silent during the professor’s exposition, but ultimately, his daughter was brave enough to challenge the professor’s ensuing statements. To which, other students echoed in agreement with Grant’s daughter.

 “If she would’ve remained silent, everyone else would have, too.”

Grant continued with, “I realized that even as a pastor with my own four kids involved in church and their faith, I hadn’t prepared my daughter to face that challenge. I never explained to her, aggressively taught her that she would face this in the world.”

Grant said, “I don’t mind faith being tested, but it’s how we answer back. This [conference] is our first attempt to do something to help equip kids in the world and in the university system, to help them realize they need to know what they believe and why. It’s not just their parents’ beliefs.”

Door prizes, including but not limited to, several quality, pre-owned automobiles and several laptops, will be awarded during the event. Certain restrictions apply, including proof of age with a valid driver’s license and presence during drawing. The event is free, but to be qualified for the prizes, attendees must have a ticket as provided during the online registration process.

Visit www.stand17.org to register and to find more information about the event.