Ilana Lobbezoo
Missions Mobilizer and Youth Catalyst
"Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)
What a wonderful, hope filled promise to take away from a Bedlam retreat weekend, and we hope that, among other good things, these are memories that remain imprinted in the hearts and minds of each of the 274 Bedlam attendees.
We had a great time together again for Bedlam at Muskoka Woods Camp the weekend of October 24-26 with participants from 17 churches from around our district. Words are few that adequately express the excitement and anticipation one can hear in the Hangar as everyone gathers on Friday evening for the first session, but I invite you to imagine the energy levels of 184 grade 6-8 students and 72 leaders as they are welcomed and invited to participate in games and musical worship by 11 energetic high school leaders and the Wellspring Church band of 8 gifted musicians.
If you have attended Bedlam, you will know that the desired outcome for the weekend is that each church group that joins has fun being together within the context of our shared values of faith in Jesus and learning how to follow Him well. To that end, the weekend consists of a variety of activities including main worship and speaker sessions, small group time, leisure activities and sports, a dodgeball tournament and of course, the obligatory and much anticipated, wide game which is invented and executed entirely by the high school Student Leader Team (SLT).
An event such as this requires the support and involvement of many, and we are grateful for those who sacrificed time and energy to make Bedlam a success. Of course, all of our human effort would be for naught without the anointing of God’s Spirit over the weekend, and we are confident that Jesus was present with us touching and restoring hearts in His love, evidenced by those receiving prayer from our Prayer Team.
Having a prayer team that [was] dedicated to being present with the kids and praying over them was amazing and such a good thing to have implemented into the weekend.
What a privilege it is to be called to partner with God in His work of reconciliation, and in that spirit we are thankful for those who agreed to be partners with Him during our Bedlam weekend. Many thanks to Wellspring Church and Bramalea Alliance Church for releasing your youth band and our keynote speaker, Emma Donnan for ministry. The band skillfully led us into God’s presence and assisted in creating an atmosphere where our hearts were open to hear God’s voice. We are confident that God used Emma’s messages to enlighten the words of Scripture to us through the example of Joshua who made the choice to put God first and obey His leading. Many left Muskoka Woods with a clearer understanding of how to identify idols in their own lives, challenged to give Jesus first place. We won't easily forget Emma hopping back and forth from one ladder to another, as she illustrated the choice we have to build our life foundation and trust in Jesus or to choose to build our lives on other temporal things.
Last, but not least, we are so grateful for the 11 high schoolers from 8 churches who formed the Student Leader Team for the weekend. Thank you to the churches who identify young leaders and invest in their development by releasing them grow and serve in contexts like these. These students took time out of their busy schedules to spend 5 days in preparation and leadership serving our family of churches. Not only did they serve us well but it was an uplifting and learning experience for them too.
I cannot describe how amazing it was to be there and to around a group of other strong believers. This experience helped me grow in my faith so much. (Cody Cooper, GDAC)
Sam Sherritt described it as a “once-in-a-lifetime experience”.
Being at Bedlam was a huge eye-opener for me because I got to see how many people the Lord has touched. (Sam Sherritt, Bancroft Drive, Sudbury)
It was super cool to be a part of this group … and [watch] the kids be super excited and enthusiastic about the weekend that we had the pleasure of planning for them. (Brody Cressman, OSAC)
Several expressed feelings of appreciation for having the opportunity to meet new people, work in a team and have this shared experience.
Big shout out to our church partners who supported this weekend by providing leaders ...
Bancroft Drive, Bramalea, Gateway, Gregory Drive, Midland, Owen Sound, Redwood Park and Wellspring churches!!
Thanks to Alliance National Ministry Centre Communications department for providing a videographer.
Shout out to Envision Canada for hanging out with us too.