Ontario • Alberta • Manitoba

Ontario

On May 21, 2022, 13 youth and three leaders from Straffordville EMC and New Life Christian Fellowship joined hosts Travis and Macey Plett and Sarah Barkman at Crieff Hills Retreat Centre for the first-ever Abundant Springs Ontario event. Travis is Young Life Pastor of Heartland Community Church and Sarah is a member of the National Youth Committee (NYC) and a student at Providence Theological Seminary.

The day started off well with introductions, ice breakers, and a session with Travis Plett, who introduced us to the theme verses for the day (Acts 2:36-47). These verses describe how the message of Christ pierced the crowds to the heart and their desire was to respond. We also get a glimpse of the church: through Christ and loving him most we take on the role of the church, expressed through devotion to Christ, fellowship of the community, and transformation of sinners into saints. Following the session, we played games in the big field outside the meeting room.

As we headed for lunch, a massive storm rolled through the area. While the heavy rain and wind only lasted for 45 minutes, the storm knocked out power for the rest of the day. Despite the power outage, we enjoyed fantastic food cooked by the retreat centre chef. The power outage also knocked out our plans to play bubble soccer in the afternoon, so we alternated between field games in the wet grass and less active, but still intense, indoor games like four-on-a-couch and mafia.

After another fantastic candlelit meal for supper, we finished off the day with a session. Travis talked about devotion and transformation, using the illustration of training for a marathon. The training is not always glamourous but the experience and end goal are worth it. He challenged us to think about what we are devoted to and how that devotion was transforming our lives. We left encouraged and excited about meeting again!

Alberta

Abundant Springs Alberta took place on May 21, 2022. Nearly 80 youth gathered with their leaders at Coaldale Mennonite Church for a fun-filled day of worship, learning, eating, and fellowship hosted by Jordan Doerksen (chair of the National Youth Committee and youth pastor at La Crete Christian Fellowship Church) and Ruth Block (EMC staff).

The day both began and ended with a session. A group of youth and youth leaders from Taber EMC led in worship throughout. Jordan shared stories and thoughts around the theme verses from Acts 2:37–42.

The remainder of the morning was filled with ten plagues—the game, that is. Youth leaders were designated as one of the ten plagues found in Exodus. They did everything they could to keep the youth from making their way across the field. One by one the youth succeeded in banishing each plague, winning with just minutes to spare.

The afternoon was filled with fun and games: an archery tag tournament was greatly enjoyed, and time was spent playing Dutch Blitz, basketball, and more, before ending off with one last group game.

A final session after supper closed out the day with more worship, a challenge, some great giveaways from Steinbach Bible College, and time for each youth group to discuss what they had learned.

Much thanks to Kaylene Buhler (Steinbach Bible College) and Valean Doerksen (La Crete Christian Fellowship) for their skills in the kitchen!

Manitoba

Sunny and warm, Abundant Springs Manitoba was a wonderful day with nearly 150 youth and youth leaders. On May 28, 2022, youth and leaders gathered at Valley View Bible Camp (MacGregor, Man.), kicking off the day with worship led by a team from Riverton Gospel Chapel. Lyndol Fast, associate pastor at Kleefeld EMC, challenged the group from the theme verses before heading outside for a (nearly-impossible) wide game. Hosts Travis Plett (Heartland Community Church) and Robyn Kampen (Evangelical Fellowship Church, Steinbach) kept attendees entertained and informed as the day moved along.

After lunch, the afternoon was spent on camp activities provided and run by Valley View. The zip line had a long wait at times, and kayaks were kept busy. Archery, riflery, gaga ball, wagon rides and more entertained the youth for the rest of the afternoon.

The session that followed supper included more worship, another challenge, youth group time to discuss and debrief, giveaways from Steinbach Bible College and a hilarious game of “don’t laugh at the dad joke!”

Valley View was a wonderful host for a great day and contributed to the making of an awesome Abundant Springs Manitoba regional event!

Ontario report written by Sarah Barkman, Board of Church Mininstries liaison to the National Youth Committee. Alberta and Manitoba reports written by Ruth Block, EMC Outreach Assistant.