How does the church in Canada do mission? This was the question with which I grappled during the Mission Track at Canada Youth 2012. From July 3-8, 27 young adults from across Canada as well as five guests from Malawi and six visitors from Taiwan undertook work projects in Southern Ontario and listened to Presbyterians explain how Canadians contribute to overseas mission projects.
Prior to Canada Youth, I had heard many messages about mission. However, I was still uncertain about the concept and how it related to me. I went into Canada Youth looking for answers to these two key questions.
As a participant, I was exposed to a Christian view of mission. Mission track leader Matt Foxall shared with us an excerpt from Dr. Tim Dearborn, “It’s not the Church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of Mission who has a church in the world.” This quote clearly stated that God was at the heart of our mission experience. For a week God used us, a group of ordinary youth, to help people in Southern Ontario in extraordinary ways.
In particular, I experienced God’s sense of mission as I spent a day gardening for Start Me Up Niagara, a non-profit organization whose goal is to help the region’s poor become self-sufficient. Start Me Up Niagara grows produce to feed the hungry and to raise money for its programming. In the scorching heat, other mission track participants and I pulled giant weeds from a field of half-grown corn stalks. These weeds, some bigger than the corn stalks, were jeopardizing the crop’s chance of survival. After a morning of hard work, we finished weeding the entire corn field.
Only later did the group learn that Start Me Up Niagara lacked the volunteers to look after all their crops. Initially, they had chosen to focus on other vegetables instead of corn, but the mission track provided the necessary people power to tend to the corn, ensuring that it could later be harvested. God worked through the mission track to provide hope where there had previously been none. In so doing, we left the organization with a powerful testimony of God’s provision.
God also worked through the mission track at Crieff Hills Community in Puslinch, Ont. Our group was tasked with moving a 400-pound cross from the parking lot to the top of a hill where it was to be mounted. We soon learned that our entire group was needed to transport the cross, with each member bearing an equal portion of the cross’ weight. Also, the members of the team were required to synchronize their movements—lifting, shifting and dropping the cross in unison. This challenge was no small task, but the mission track rose to the occasion, slowly delivering the cross to its final destination. God revealed to me through this experience that being His church requires collaboration among its members.
However, Canada Youth’s greatest faith impact occurred outside of the community projects. I volunteer as a mentor with my church’s youth group. Before Canada Youth, I sometimes wondered if my efforts actually helped the youth to grow in faith. This viewpoint was challenged during the conference by the testimony of three teenagers who, as part of the Friday evening worship service, recounted how they had encountered Jesus. The three youth explained how Christ had been shared with them by ordinary people: a grandmother, an elderly congregation member and the participants in a Presbytery of London youth mission trip. These experiences of Christ’s love encouraged me in my own mission work. They reminded me that the Holy Spirit can use my efforts in relating to the youth of my congregation.
My experience at Canada Youth 2012 prompted me to take a serious look at missions. The conference answered my questions and sent me back to my home congregation with a better sense of my place in God’s mission.
More reflections from Canada Youth 2012
