Dear Folks,

I have asked Rod Olson who looks after Urban Camping and Rocky Mountain College Students to give us an idea about his work with these students.  Thank you Rod for your mentoring of so many and your service to us all.

Warmly

In Christ,

Jeremy

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Rod, what would you like to share about your personal life, interests or ministry responsibilities in such a way that we might know more about you?

I have been a stay-at-home father - my life partner Joline, is a grade 6 teacher, and this has afforded us the ability for me to be involved in ministry part-time.  I have chosen part-time because I also enjoy pursuing creative interests and am currently employed by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra as the Principal Tenor in the chorus (Tom L. gets a kick out of that title, which, let's be honest, it is a bit ostentatious). I also sing in Spiritus Chamber Choir to add a bit of beauty to the world (if you are in Calgary and want a moving Lenten experience we have a concert "Seven Last Words from the Cross" on March 21 at 7:30PM -  http://www.spirituschamberchoir.ca/) . 

I love to garden (all a farm boy has living in a city) and love good food - just ask my kids (Anya 11 and Siri 9) about me and food.  I also offer spiritual direction and continue to grow and develop my skills of accompanying people on their journey of faith.

If you like personality stuff - I am all blue on the Birkman, a "4" on the Enneagram, an "INFP" on the Myers Briggs and learn best visually, musically or intrapersonally (multiple intelligence).

Within the CBWC my ministry responsibilities include Urban Camping and overseeing the CBWC EDGE students at Rocky Mountain College.  As part of these responsibilities I also meet with the Intergenerational Ministry Cluster (IMC) and the Camping Committee. 

What is the EDGE Program?

The EDGE program is an 8 month program held at Rocky Mountain College for students who want to learn more about God, and also want to experience the unknown, where they can be taken to physical, intellectual and spiritual limits. It combines classroom work, group work, worship, ministry exposure and adventure experiences to assist young people learn about themselves, God, and their connection to the world around them.

More specifically from a Canadian Baptist perspective - the EDGE program is a renewed approach to offering discipleship education to students that graduate from high school. In other words this is the re-imagination of what many of us remember as BLTS or Ascent.  Students are encouraged to attend and for doing so they receive a $3000 bursary ($1500 per term) and a chance to become involved and mentored in a Calgary and area CBWC church.

An added benefit to partnering with Rocky Mountain College is that the EDGE courses are also the foundation year for all the degrees and so if a student wanted to finish a degree they would be well on their way. 

What and where is Rocky Mountain College?

Rocky Mountain College (RMC) is a merger of Hillcrest Christian College (Medicine Hat, AB) and Mountain View Bible College (Didsbury, AB) that first opened its doors in Calgary in 1992.  One of the strengths of RMC is its multi-denominational character which makes it possible for students to rub shoulders with people from a wide spectrum of Christian thought and practice. As Canadian Baptists we resonate with its evangelical and moderate stance as well as its support of women in Christian leadership.

Who are the Students there? Can you tell us something about them and the ministry and churches they are in?

We have 16 students in total that we meet regularly with over a meal every other week.  But for the term of Jan - April we have 12 that are receiving bursaries (the others have either completed their bursaries but are in degree programs or are finishing up commitments made in the partnership).

We have been having a great time this school year.  It began with a retreat at Gull Lake Centre with Dr. Axel Schoeber giving us reason to be proud of our history as Canadian Baptists.  We also bonded over sharing our stories including pain and struggles that make each person unique.  The level of trust risked and offered was astounding.  This January we added three new students including Melvin Arachi who is part of a new Canadiam Baptist Church plant called Greenhills Christian Fellowship, Amelia Niesner and Shaun Bott.  The students on bursaries are: 

•1.     Katie Matheson from FBC Saskatoon helping at Bowness Baptist (Sunday School)

•2.     Danielle Truscott from Calvary Ft St John helping at Bowness Baptist (Youth and Music)

•3.     Amelia Niesner from Calvary Ft St John helping at Bowness Baptist (Youth and music)

•4.     Allison Fernandes from Calgary helping at Sonrise Community (Youth and music)

•5.     Sami Valavaara from Fernie helping at Altadore (Ministerial Student)

•6.     Elizabeth Sunrise from Hay River helping at Altadore (Hospitality and children)

•7.     Luke MacLeod from FBC Nanaimo helping at Westview (Youth and music)

•8.     Leah McMillian from FBC Clive helping at First Baptist (Sunday School)

•9.     Bradley Fraser from Trinity Sherwood Park helping at First Baptist (Sunday School)

•10.   Shaun Bott from Palmerston, Ontario helping at Frist Baptist (Community Outreach)

•11.   Mike Zelmer from FBC Olds helping at Awaken (community building)

•12.   Melvin Arachi from Calgary helping at Greenhills Christain Fellowship (Church planter)

Others in our group include Miranda Littel from Calgary helping at First Baptist (ESL), Jen Naish completing her youth ministry degree (employed with Bonavista), Brandon Witwer completing his Christian Spirituality degree (has helped with the 18-25 year old survey for our CBWC camps), and Bobby Wieler (has finished the bursary program but is still volunteering at Westview with the youth).

Can I also say that if you are interested in seeing young people mentored and encouraged to wrestle with their place in the Big Story of God then the CBWC is happy to receive donations to offset the cost of the bursaries - perhaps you could underwrite one student at $3500.00 per year?

Rod, you have several other interests. Could you briefly describe what you do in a given month and touch on Christian Camping?

•·        Urban Camping is again coming onto people's radar for spring and summer of 2010.  I have been asked by the CBWC board to begin tracking the number of children impacted by urban camping whether funded by the denomination or not.  If you had a day camp, a sports camp, or some type of summer program for kids in 2009 - I would love to hear from you This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

•·        In order to better serve local areas I have invited several people involved in Urban Camping to participate in a team that will help inspire and implement Urban Camping in old, new and creative ways.

•·        Another way Urban Camping wants to encourage gathering young kids is around gardens on Church properties.  Several schools and community groups are recognizing the need to educate children on where food comes from and how to grow your own food. How much more equipped is the church to offer space for neighbours to garden creating a safe space for conversations about Life around the metaphors of seeding, weeding and feeding plants.

•·        Over the fall and winter much of my time is spent overseeing the CBWC EDGE students. This includes finding churches where they can volunteer, meeting with pastors and mentors, feeding them a meal every 2 weeks and engaging them in discussion of pertinent life issues.

•·        Meetings with the Intergenerational Ministry  cluster  - Nadia VanderKuip (short-term missions), Claire McLean (Interim Youth), Faye Reynolds (Women), and until recently Mandi Hecht (C-fam), provide support and encouragement for part-time employees of the CBWC.  It is also a place where we work on certain projects that affect the life of CBWC members from cradle to grave. 

•·        Meetings with the Camping committee have taken a new and exciting shift as all the Camp directors (or a representative) now make up the camping committee along with myself and Claire McLean.  Our greatest task is to see how collaborating will ensure greater excellence and sustainability for camping across our denomination.

•·        Generally this gets done on 20 hours per week.

Dear Folks,

Well, for starters it is Sherwood Park, Alberta, which in the 1960's when I was a kid might as well have been Sherwood Forest. 

Trinity Baptist Church provides all sorts of leaders and initiatives:  Wayne Larson, a former Area Minister and Chair of our Ordination Examing Council; Mike Engbers, who has been influential in Children and Families work and in summer programs for children in general; and Graeme Watt, in Youth Ministries and his ‘Make a Difference Challenge', (www.madchallenge.ca.), which is the topic for this newsletter.   Claire McLean, our interim Youth Leader, told me about Graeme's work. The attached letter not only tells you the story of this exciting initiative, but gives you Graeme's contact information.  I draw your attention to the powerful story of the 13-14 year old girls and the link to the International Justice Mission (http://www.ijm.org/ ).

Warmly

In Christ,

Jeremy

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Hi Claire,

I am in the process of refining and reframing a project that I started last
year with my group called the MAD Challenge and I am wondering if you would
be willing to help me promote this with all our youth groups.

Last year I wanted to find a fun, creative, tangible way to engage students
in issues of social justice beyond just teaching and talking about it or
showing some videos and leaving them there. So, I created that MAD
Challenge. MAD stands for Make A Difference and it is a collaborative
competition in partnership with International Justice Mission. Here is how
it works...

The challenge goes for 8 weeks in the spring.
Students form and register a team of 4-6 students to compete against the
other teams in the challenge.

The objective of the challenge is for teams to create a project of their
choosing and raise as much money as possible during the 8 weeks

We focused on Human Trafficking last year and I taught about God's call to
justice and we brought in Mark Wollemberg from IJM to speak to the students.

Each team is paired up with a mentor that helps them along the way and
ensures that their project is legal, ethical, etc. The mentor also
encourages the team and helps to guide the creative process.

Each team also has a parent or adult who manages their money and acts as an
accountant for the team.

Last year our winning team was a group of 4 13-14 yr old girls and they
raised almost $4000 in 8 weeks through various projects in the community.

The best part about this is that the students go out into the community with
these projects and tell the story of what they are doing...fighting human
trafficking and raising awareness. IJM sent us boxes of bookmarks and info
sheets for teams to give to the public. The media caught wind of this and
wanted to cover the story but the challenge was over by the time that got
organized.

There are so many layers to this challenge and the students learn teamwork,
basic business principles, how to manage money, how to raise awareness in
the community, and what it can look like to participate in the redemptive
work of Christ in the world as a teenager.

Most importantly, the MAD Challenge empowers these young people to act and
do something while living out their faith in tangible ways.

At the end of the project we donated $10,000 to IJM as a group and we
couldn't believe what we had done in only 8 weeks with a bit of effort
creativity and passion.

This year, I am opening up the competition to the world! I am having a
website designed that will go live at the end of February that will allow me
to coordinate teams from anywhere in the world. Teams will be able to
register online, create a team profile, submit their funds through the
website and share stories, videos, pictures etc.

The Challenge dates are set for April 14th - June 9th and the registration
deadline for teams will be the end of March. A grand prize will be awarded
to the winning team and I am trying to get IJM to agree to send the winners
to participate in whatever IJM project the MAD Challenge will be funding in
order to experience first hand the work of IJM in a foreign country. Isaiah
58 is the scripture passage that will drive us and create the underlying
"why" for what we are doing.

I have already spoken with several of our youth pastors but I would love to
have you help me in spreading the word. My goal is to have 100 teams
registered by the end of March. Mark wants to help me out with this and is
going to help by coordinating and mobilizing teams in the greater Vancouver
area and Steve Roadhouse will be helping me get the word out through his
network as well.

I have such a passion for this project and a vision that has captivated my
heart and the hearts of my students! I see a generation of students coming
together across Canada fighting for justice and telling the story of a great
God who compels us to Make A Difference by His spirit alive in us!

Let me know what you think of all this and perhaps we should chat on the
phone as well. Let me know if you have questions.

Thanks for reading. I hope this makes sense!

Graeme Watt
Arize Youth Ministries
Phone:(780) 464-4040
Fax:  888-294-3083
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http://www.arizing.ca/