"Allow him to come into your heart and great things will happen to you!'' That was what minister Michael Manhardt told youth at the Roman Catholic diocese's first Christian Family conference on Saturday.

Several hundred people attended the conference at Mount Saint Agnes School to hear local and overseas guests speak.

Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Bermuda, Father Robert Kurtz this week said he thought there was keen interest to make it a yearly event.

He said: "Yes, everyone is looking to do it again. Mr. Manhardt and the other volunteers were so enthusiastic. It was a good conference. The pressure is mounting to have another.'' Bishop Kurtz said the conference's origins lay in Mr. Manhardt's idea for a youth conference but expanded to one focussing on the family.

He added that he was also pleased to see the inclusion of special events for Portugese Roman Catholic's and fellow Christians of various denominations.

On Saturday Franciscan Friars of the Renewal priest Stan Fortuna lectured teenage boys on chastity and encouraged them to be pure.

His mission is based on a directive by Pope John Paul II in 1987 to begin a new Evangelism.

"It's not a new message,'' Fr. Fortuna said in between sessions. "What is new is the people who are hearing the Word of God -- the gospels -- for the first time.'' He added: "Under the direction of the Holy Father, we are proclaiming the Gospel in a new way. We find new points of reference. We want to build the body of the Church.'' Fr. Fortuna's most arresting "new way'' is through rap music. The 41-year-old native New Yorker works among the poor and youth in the hard streets of the South Bronx, the home of rap.

His most popular rap song, F.A.M.I.L.Y. (Forget about Me, I Love You) proved a hit with teenage boys on Saturday.

An original member of the FFR, he said it was started by eight men of the Capuchian Order, who answered John Paul's call. The new order has expanded to 52 priests in 12 years.

"From what I can see, the reaction of Christians here has been tremendous,'' Fr. Fortuna said. "I tell young people to stay close to Jesus and build one another up.'' Trinidadian grandmother Babsie Blesdell spoke to Catholics about the Revelations of God to mankind.

"I talk about some of the characteristics of Him to explain the different names that he has given us,'' Mrs. Blesdell said. "God wanted a family, that is why he made Adam and Eve. But they failed him.'' She added: "The rest of us have been born sinners, but he is returning to recreate us until he has a family again that reflects his purpose.'' Mrs. Blesdell, who hails from Arima, said she had left her job as administrator to the University of the West Indies fledgling medical school after realising many patients would come to her for counselling.

"I had an experience of God that was so radical that I wanted to tell everyone,'' she said.

Bermudians have a golden opportunity to teach the world about God she said because of the unique make up of the community.

"This place is excruciatingly beautiful and the people are so warm,'' Mrs.

Blesdell explained. "It is a microcosm of what God must have had in mind.'' She added: "I have been telling people that with so much history and beauty it is impossible to not be aware there is an architect that is more powerful than we are.'' A special feature of this weekend's conference was the special attention paid to the Portugese community and Portugese speakers.

In from New Bedford, Massachussetts, were Fr. Henry S. Arruda and Debra Brum, who are natives of Sao Miguel (St. Michael) in the Azores.

Mrs. Brum spoke about God's Love and its importance in our daily lives.

"We must encounter God and give ourselves and surrender ourselves to him,'' she said. "We need money to survive but God is better than money. I told people that we should make every effort to unite with him.'' Father Henry S. Arruda