SERVE 2010 has come and gone and Flin Flon and Creighton will never be quite the same again. The work our teenagers did in blessing this small northern Manitoba/Saskatchewan community certainly had the locals talking. Thank-you for your prayers; they were certainly felt during the event, and continue to pray that the work we did will have a lasting influence and the congregation of First Baptist will continue to witness for Christ now that we have left.

As the teenagers return home having been encouraged by our worship times together and with the message of "CHARACTER NOT COMFORT" ringing in their ears, here are some interesting facts from our week:

• 42 - the number of volunteers (mostly from local churches) who helped prepare and serve meals during the week
• 105 - the number of bags of garbage collected by one group (11 people) on our rainy Tuesday.
• 1,200 - the literal dollar amount of the work done by one group in less than half a day. (A moving company quoted the Adult Learning Centre this price to relocate them. The non-profit couldn't afford it. Our group (of 15) did the job in a matter of hours - for free.
• 25 - the number of kids at Day Camp who went down the 'Slip-n-Slide'.
• 154 - the number of people who travelled to participate in SERVE 2010.
• 4 - the number of outhouses demolished at the City's Wilderness camp on Whitney.
• 23 - the number of volunteer leaders (not counting paid youth pastors) who gave up a week of their time with no pay to supervise, disciple and work alongside our teenage participants.
• 30 - number of gallons of stain used on the Flinty Boardwalk
• 20 - the number of churches from our CBWC Family represented at SERVE this year.
• 0.8 - the area in hectares over which we spread lime for the Green Project.

This is just a taste of some of the visible things that took place during SERVE 2010.

CBWC Youth Leadership Training will be September 24-26, 2010, at Gull Lake Centre, Lacombe, AB. The theme is “Growing in Christ”; information, brochure and registration are available at cbwcyouth. This event is focused on encouraging and equipping our volunteer leaders in the Central Alberta area; however, anyone involved in ministering to youth is more than welcome to attend. It will be a great opportunity to worship, fellowship together with others from this family of churches. Chris Folmsbee of Barefoot Ministries will be our main speaker and there will be lots of opportunity to share stories and learn from the experiences of others during the Breakout Sessions and as we connect over meals and during the free time.