Last week, in Ottawa, at a meeting of the Canadian Council of Churches, the Board of Governors was informed that 1,000 young people from the Christian Reformed Church were converging on Sir Wifrid Laurier University in Waterloo to spend the long weekend worshiping God, being challenged and strengthened in their faith by various speakers, and reaching out to the community. “One thousand young people! Wow!”
they said, as Bruce Adema, the CRC’s Executive Director in Canada, shared this information with them.
Thirteen youth and three leaders, Alice Brink, Jake and Andrea, arrived by bus from Hope Fellowship Church. Once there, they were assigned to small groups that discussed the messages brought by two well-known speakers, the story-telling Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne, whose counter-cultural Christian lifestyle inspired the participants to re-examine their own relationship to the prevailing culture and whose hairstyle prompted at least one person to say, “I think I’m going to grow dreadlocks!”
In six main sessions based on Romans 12:1,2 they were challenged to “Transform The Everyday” by offering their lives to God 24/7. On Friday night they were invited to take their ordinary lives and place them as a living sacrifice before God. On Saturday morning and evening they were asked to really embrace what God had done for them. On Sunday morning they were urged to fix their attention on God, even in their leisure time. Sunday evening everyone was asked to change according to the Holy Spirit’s nudging. And on Monday morning, the youth were challenged to recognize what God wants from them and to respond readily. To prime the active Christian lifestyle pump, everyone was invited forward to pick up a $5 bill stamped with a heart and pay it forward in someone’s life. Imagine the sight of one thousand young people filing forward to get something only to give it away.
There were also opportunities to reach out to the community. On one of these Reach Outs, a group of young people deeply touched a son and his aging parents at a nursing home when they offered to pray for them. Amazing! Random acts of prayer!
One thousand young people now living counter-cultural lives for Jesus. Wow, indeed!
- Pastor Peter and Alice Brink
they said, as Bruce Adema, the CRC’s Executive Director in Canada, shared this information with them.
Thirteen youth and three leaders, Alice Brink, Jake and Andrea, arrived by bus from Hope Fellowship Church. Once there, they were assigned to small groups that discussed the messages brought by two well-known speakers, the story-telling Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne, whose counter-cultural Christian lifestyle inspired the participants to re-examine their own relationship to the prevailing culture and whose hairstyle prompted at least one person to say, “I think I’m going to grow dreadlocks!”
In six main sessions based on Romans 12:1,2 they were challenged to “Transform The Everyday” by offering their lives to God 24/7. On Friday night they were invited to take their ordinary lives and place them as a living sacrifice before God. On Saturday morning and evening they were asked to really embrace what God had done for them. On Sunday morning they were urged to fix their attention on God, even in their leisure time. Sunday evening everyone was asked to change according to the Holy Spirit’s nudging. And on Monday morning, the youth were challenged to recognize what God wants from them and to respond readily. To prime the active Christian lifestyle pump, everyone was invited forward to pick up a $5 bill stamped with a heart and pay it forward in someone’s life. Imagine the sight of one thousand young people filing forward to get something only to give it away.
There were also opportunities to reach out to the community. On one of these Reach Outs, a group of young people deeply touched a son and his aging parents at a nursing home when they offered to pray for them. Amazing! Random acts of prayer!
One thousand young people now living counter-cultural lives for Jesus. Wow, indeed!
- Pastor Peter and Alice Brink
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