For a few years, I had been asked if I would be interested in attending the Canada Youth conference, but never took the opportunity because I didn’t know anyone my age who was going. This year was different because the new youth leader at my church (who is around my age) and our young minister were attending. I had also met some other Saskatchewan youth earlier this year through various activities at the church. They just so happened to be going to CY. With the encouragement of my parents and my new friends, I decided that I might as well give this conference a try. I still felt quite skeptical about attending, as I associated CY with the typical “Bible camp” stereotype (having no fun and having to hang out with self – declared “Bible scholars”). I have also heard a fair share of criticism about Christianity, which had unfortunately stirred up some hesitation in me. But I’m glad to say that my skepticism was unfounded and the criticism is unwarranted and misguided.
Growing up, I’ve been lucky enough to have a church family in Regina (I’ve attended since birth), but have never had much contact with other Presbyterian youth. I was not really part of any youth group at church, and most of my friends are not particularly religious. CY offered a very different atmosphere from what I am used to. I saw that there actually were other people my age who went to church, and I was honestly surprised by how easily I could relate to them. With all of the ungodly and immoral messages being presented by the world around us, I feel it is important for us to have a sense of fellowship with other young people who share our faith. It is vital for young people to have a place where they can talk about their faith, as well as life challenges without fear of being judged. Also, young people can bring a fresh approach to how the church might be able to help out in the world today.
This year at CY there was much discussion on the theme, “Face to Face.” I learned that this may be interpreted in two different ways. First, we must come face to face with God, realizing that there is a personal relationship between us and our Creator. Any sense of formality that is brought into that relationship is solely from us. There is no select set of rules we must follow when talking to God; all we must do is be honest and realize that we have nothing to hide.
Second, we come in contact (face to face) with many situations that present opportunities for us to “take the high road or the low road.” Often, we will choose the easier path. At CY we dissected these situations, making them easier to understand. We read passages from the Bible in which a conflict had occurred and been resolved in a godly fashion.
We were asked to relate this passage to a conflict we have had in our own life, and consider how we dealt/deal with it.
The real struggle that we face leaving CY is bringing all of this positive energy and our new knowledge of God out to the rest of the world. Although judgment by others will happen, we must find the courage to act on our Christian principles.
