a devastating crush

there was a major car accident just outside of niverville in early may.

a young man named ryan died after being hit by a vehicle while riding his new motorcycle for the first time. four young men were in the vehicle, four young men that we at the drop-in centre have been getting to know in the last few years.

a devastating crush to all parties involved.

now the question remains, what happens to those left behind? one man had life and lost it, and four others are left with lives they hardly want. this all seems quite backwards. but when you look and the redemptive heart of God, it may not be completely backwards. One of the guys recently posted on facebook, while going through this season of intense eternal perspectives. the post was the bible verse that follows:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, Will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing"

we must understand that this reference wasn't just some comfort words pulled from some archive in this young man's life. with no church or christian background, these words were new, fresh, and revealing to him, unlike any characteristic of his past.

sometimes the most devastating blows can cultivate the best soil for change in our lives, change that brings us into reliance on God, and relationship with him.

Dance On It!

Last month we as the Niverville Youth Ministries hosted our 4th annual "Crave." With the help of a very modern youthful atmosphere, we opened the doors for the youth to worship God in a very atypical fashion.

In the midst of the music and dance, we gave everyone a chance to experience what we call "dancing on it." With a black-lighted atmosphere (see pictures below) we used highlighters that glowed to write on the dance floor things that we worried about, or brought us down. With that, the music pumped up and we were all able to dance on our situations, dance unto God and worship Him in the midst of our problems. The really neat thing that happened was that as we physically danced on the hightlighted words, they faded away under our feet. This was a perfect representation of what God does in our lives as we "dance on it" in the midst of our trials.

In another stream of the event, it was an outreach to many unchurched youth, and they came by the droves. We had about 200 youth, grades 9-12, show up and experience this Crave, whether it was by being right in the middle of the dance floor worshipping God with others, or on the sidelines watching...wondering what kind of energy makes these people move. We pray that this subversive expression of our faith takes roots in youth that are on the fringes.

a flock of youth crammed onto the illuminated dance floor

the night was lead by DJ DROPS (Chris Dropko, youth pastor of Maranatha) &
MC ROBOKOP (Rob Redekop, youth pastor at NCF)

teenagers writing writing some difficult issues onto the dance floor with highlighter

freedom was in the atmosphere as we praised God

the lighting was really cool, too.