(CANADA) What do river rafting, mountain biking, and Honduran water filters have in common? They were all part of the first ever “Re: Activate” youth convention in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Students were challenged to walk 1 km with a gallon of water

What do river rafting, mountain biking, and Honduran water filters have in common?  They were all part of the first ever
“Re: Activate” youth convention in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

On September 12-14, over 200 youth gathered at Gateway Community Church in Abbotsford, for an event designed to “help unite and inspire Reformed youth in Western Canada to live out the call God has placed in each of their hearts.”

Through activities such as river rafting, mountain biking, hiking, and prayer and worship, youth explored what it means to live out a faith in an extraordinary God.

In a special partnership with World Renew, the weekend also included an opportunity for youth to learn about and support World Renew’s ministry of equipping God’s people around the world to overcome poverty and other injustice.

Emma Cunningham Rozeveld, World Renew’s donor relations staff member for Western Canada, was excited to take part in this unique event. She set up a “village hut” to serve as World Renew’s display booth and also created a prayer wall where conference participants could write their prayer requests on a ribbon, place them on the wall, and then take another person’s ribbon with them in order to lift that item up in prayer.

“The idea was to create a cycle of prayer that reminded us to pray without ceasing,” said Emma.

At several of the worship services, Emma spoke about how World Renew is engaging people around the world to use their God-given gifts and resources to improve life for their families and communities. She specifically encouraged participants to consider the blessing of clean water and how that isn’t equitably experienced across the globe.

Young people were challenged to walk a 1 km course carrying 5 gallons of water in solidarity with those in the world for whom clean water is hard to come by. Participants were then encouraged to make a donation towards water filters which can help families in Honduras purify their water and improve their health.

“I haven't heard a final total on donations but I'm expecting it to be around $5,000,” said Emma.

All in all, participants and organizers agree that the event was a success and have begun talking about hosting a second event in 2015.

 

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