Rise Up 2016

Now...who does this remind you of? Usain Bolt's grin perhaps?

It was another great weekend at camp for our annual Sr. High retreat. The small but mighty retreat saw youth from Linden and Calgary get challenged from the Word by Brennen Dyck (Dalhousie Church, Calgary).

The weather behaved...mostly. It rained while we were inside and the sun actually came out while we were outside. Basically - if it doesn't snow on Rise Up weekend we're pretty happy.

As always, Jug 'n' Jog seemed to be the highlight of the weekend as students battled for the Kings of the Field. I still don't know how people can play barefooted in single digit weather. :S

We did our best to incorporate Puzzles (our new donkey) into the game by calling a prison break when he would make his donkey sounds. We're not sure if this will continue to be the case but it certainly worked on Saturday.

Chapels were challenging and busy with conversation. Brennen spoke to us out of the books of 1 and 2 Timothy - letters that Paul wrote to a young leader in a church. 

We talked specifically about a couple questions -

1. What is standing in the way of me following God?
2. What do I struggle with in the Christian Faith.

Saturday was incredibly impactful as we were able to witness students be very transparent and authentic in their questions and a heart to seek after God.

As we face Thanksgiving this weekend - I'm pretty thankful for a lot of things around here. One of them being this place we call camp. It's a place where youth and adults come and are willing to be vulnerable in front of their peers, asking hard questions and willing to lay it on the line before a loving God and Father in heaven. How fortunate we are here at camp to be able to witness and be a part of these transformational moments.

Check back next week as we talk about how many more things we're thankful of around here.

Peace,
Jogee