MIA (Ministry In Action): Recharge Update

Recharge has been over for almost a month now. The snow has completely melted and spring is on its way. This is the time to thank God for all the work that He did during snow camp and to look forward to the ministry coming in the months ahead. It is possible to go and on about Recharge, but why not hear from the one's who experienced it first hand! Here's what some of the students had to say: 

"I learned that we can serve and glorify God in any area He puts us in"

 - Esther, Quebec 

"Recharge was one of the greatest ministries to be involved here at Word of Life. It didn't even feel like ministry; it was like a party all the time!"

- Nathan, Goulais River


 “It was so spiritually uplifting! I feel so much closer to God. It really changed my life. Thank you so much.”

 “It was a great weekend of fun, but also being challenged in the Word of God was amazing. The sessions were great, and had lots of meaning in them and the speaker was amazing.”

Scott Foreman and Tyler Oldrieve present campers with truth of God's Word

“I brought my friend from school to Recharge this weekend and by the grace of God she got saved! This is a weekend that both of us will never forget so thank you.” 


“It was a really good time, great speakers, good food, and fun games!”


“I think this weekend was a great experience for me. It taught me to trust in God more than trusting in other things.”


Every weekend of Recharge saw campers and leaders make decisions.

56 Salvations
18 Assurances
243 Dedications

To the only wise God our Saviour, 

be glory and majesty, 

dominion and power, 

both now and ever. 

Amen.

Jude 1:25

It is strange to think that in just a few months, campers will be arriving for summer camp on property here at Word of Life. Please keep the students and staff in your prayers as they prepare for this life-changing ministry.

MIA (Ministry in Action): Recharge Snow Camp

We're off to a great start with our 'Recharge' (Snow Camp) weekends here on our Ontario campus. What is 'Recharge'? An action-packed weekend of evangelism and Christian growth, where youth groups from across Ontario participate in sports tournaments, paintball, high ropes and peer to peer challenges. 'Recharge' is seven weekends in length and helps teens identify their purpose (know Christ), intensify their walk (grow in Christ) and amplify their faith (share Christ).


Over our first two weekends our camp speakers (Rich Andrews from WOL Youth Camp Florida and Chris Finchum from WOL Local Church Ministries in the southeast U.S.) challenged over 150 teens and junior teens. We saw over 30 young people accept Christ over those 2 weekends, and 80 make decision of life dedication! Praise the Lord!


"It was amazing! Thank you for blessing us with a fun God filled weekend!!! You guys rock!!"

"I thought the weekend was very uplifting and I learned a lot about my relationship with my Saviour, God."

"I had an amazing time this weekend, the sports were well organized and very fun. The sessions were also right on the spot with what I was dealing with."

"I thought it was good and fun. I really loved how we talked about God because I really never had a relationship with him and now I do."


We have 5 more weekends of intense ministry. We're not wrestling against flesh and blood, but the opposition to God's work: Satan and his demonic forces. However, Christ is victorious and we're living in His victory. Please pray for our Bible Institute students who are intricately involved in our weekend ministries. They need strength, focus, and wise stewardship of their time. Pray for our camp speakers as they share the Word each weekend. And pray that we we would see more and more unsaved teens come to 'Recharge'. Thanks for your love and encouragement.

SF

P31: Women's Conference!!

It has long been known that girls just want to have fun, but this past weekend at an all-girls, all-nighter event called P:31, it was really proven to be true! As the 170 teen girls and youth leaders poured into the church for registration, tons of energy also poured in. The excited girls chattered away with our female Bible Institute helpers and other staff, and friendships were formed even before the event had fully started. We had some lady staff join us from the Word of Life campus in Schroon Lake, New York. Hayley Miller and Ellen Garland were the speakers. These two ladies, along with some other female staff, do ladies conferences in the US, and it was a privilege to have them join us in Canada for our first ever girl’s all-nighter event! The theme this year was “Metamorphosis.” Many butterflies decorated the church to remind us of the beautiful transformation that can happen in a life devoted to God.

            The night kicked off with some fun “Minute to win-it” style activities and oodles of prizes were given away. Then, our opening session began with some praise and worship, a thought provoking skit, and a challenging message spoken by Hayley Miller. She tied the gospel into a message about contentment in our materialistic world. Some of the girls responded to a gospel invitation, and also to a challenge to make God the source of contentment in their lives.

The Praise Team was formed from Bible Institute Alumni from BOTH our Sherbrooke, PQ and Owen Sound, ON campuses!

From P 31

            This session was followed by a short break, and then a split session for Sr. and Jr. High ages. Ellen Garland spoke to the Jr. High girls, while Hayley continued with the Sr. Highers. An evening snack of pizza followed this second session, and then our final session of the night in which Ellen exhorted the girls to learn wait for God’s timing as she spoke on the value and virtue of patience.

            After the sessions were over for the night, the activities began! Different rooms in the church were set up for different types of "girly" fun. There was a room set up like a beauty salon in which the girls could get their hair done. There was a nail painting room, a jewelry making room, a pedicure room, a flip flop decorating room, and even a candy room in which girls could indulge in all the candy, popcorn, and pop their little hearts desired! A favorite was of course the inflatable obstacle course, on which many shrieks could be heard, and many a hair stood on end, due to static. The energy never ran out. Even into the wee hours of the night, the girls were singing loudly at “Don’t forget the Christian Lyrics” and laughing uncontrollably.  It was a great bonding time for the girls to get closer to their youth leaders. The fun environment also made it less intimidating for some of the girls to talk to their leaders or the women staffing the event about things that were troubling them in their lives and their walks with God. It certainly was a blessing to be surrounded by other sisters in Christ, to encourage each other, and praise God together. Many girls heard the gospel, and were reminded how much God loved them.

            Over all, the event went smoothly, it was a great time, and God’s word did its work in many lives!

"It was great to reconnect with girls from snow camp, and was awesome to be able to counsel the girls and to see them go from darkness to light when they started to understand the Gospel.  It was sweet to see that the change in them was actually genuine.  I just loved it because this is the type of ministry that I want to be in!!"

From P 31

"This past weekend was a great time to see God work in the lives of young girls.  Some conversations that we had with them led to the Gospel and opened up opportunities to minister to them and strengthen them in their faith in Christ.  It is sweet to see that even at a young age you can grasp the peace of God."

"It was amazing to be surrounded by other young women all night and be able to just show Christ's love to them!  I loved being able to hear only voices of my sisters in Christ when we were singing during praise and worship time!"

The P31 WOL Staff/Alumni Crew

From P 31

And finally, a big thanks to our Local Church Ministry staff wives, Amy Speck & Lindsey Lyons for coordinating this great night together!

For more P:31 pics and info check out the Facebook page

AP

Recharge Recap - What God has done!!

From WOLBRANOS

We have seen 22 youth groups come to Recharge this year.  That is around 530 campers and leaders. 530 + lives touched by the Word of God and the testimonies of staff and students right here on the WOLBI campus. As I have been reading the comments written by leaders and campers over and over again what stands out is how much they appreciated the sessions and the positive influence the students and staff have been on the teens.  Out of 530 people we had 31 Salvation decisions, 7 were counseled for assurance of their salvation, and over 400 teens dedicated their lives to God.

Students also had opportunities to minister off-campus at 3 Satellite Snow Camp locations.  We traveled to Huntsville, Cochrane, and Goulais River, Ontario to share God's Word through testimonies, skits, music, and messages from God's Word.  It was incredible to share God's Love with 100 teens and to see 7 young people trust Jesus as their Saviour.  God also prompted 21 teens to dedicate their lives to serving Him.  What a great ministry season it has been!  Praise God!!

"It was so awesome and incredible to be part of the snow camp ministry this year!!  Being able to watch each week what God is doing in the lives of the youth was such a blessing.  It was so sweet to be able to minister to the girls and to show Christ's love to them, and it also showed me that we all have different skills and we can work together in an organized body.  I learned that its always for God's glory and that we should never do it for the reward."

"It was a great chance to practice what we have been learning and I loved meeting the new girls and getting into their lives.  I just love camp!!"

Be sure to register early for Recharge 2012 or if you are too far away, contact us for a Satellite Snow Camp near you.

Recharge Weekend Six!

Our final Recharge weekend has come to an end and what an amazing weekend it has been.

This past weekend we had 72 campers and leaders visit our campus.  Among those 3 accepted Christ and roughly 60 dedicated there lives to the Lord.

Seeing hearts changed and lives impacted by God’s Word is great.    

Here are a couple of comments made by teens and leaders this past weekend:

“Praise God for two salvations in our Youth Group this weekend! Thank you for your ministry!”

“This was a really good weekend. I had so much fun and the sessions were really good!”

“Loved the zip line! Food was amazing...! Thank you!!”

“It was an amazing time and all the staff were great! The message taught me a lot and was relative to what I am going through.”

Thank you for all your prayers and support during the last couple of months. It was really encouraging knowing that people were praying for our staff, students, and campers.

God bless 

KD

Recharge Weekend Five!

From WOLBRANOS

Wow this weekend has been just amazing! With 125 extra people on campus it was an extremely high energy, and I must admit tiring time but God is good. 

One of our students commented on Sunday during our staff meeting that he had an amazing opportunity to stay up till the crack of dawn with two campers (one was very sick during the night). He shared with us that the opportunity he had to just minister to these teens was wonderful. It was really exciting to hear how God is using the students and staff.This weekend 3 campers accepted Christ as there personal Saviour, 1 was counseled for assurance of their faith and 95 dedicated their life to the Lord!

The more that I have been around youth and childrens ministry, the more I realize how much young people struggle with assurance of their salvation. I have struggled with it too as I have grown in my faith but I am just amazed of the assurance provided by God's Word. One of the verses I love from the Scripture Memory program during my Bible Institute year was Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing can separate us from God’s love. I praise God and thank Him everyday.

Here are a couple of comments made by leaders and campers from this past weekend:

“The weekend was amazing and the sessions really hit home.”

“The benefits of having a camp where student’s minister to younger teens is awesome, makes it so much more relevant for them.”

“I loved this weekend for so many different reasons. I simply get a lot out of it.”

“This weekend, I felt I really grew closer to my leaders by hearing their testimonies...”

Prayer Requests:

- Please pray for our last weekend of Snow camp.

- Pray that the students and staff will be dedicated to finishing strong and to make this weekend the best one yet.

- Pray that the campers coming on property will be encouraged and challenged throughout the weekend.

KD

Recharge Weekend Four!

From WOLBRANOS

Well it has been yet another amazing weekend of snow camp!

Out of the 81 campers in attendance this past weekend, 2 teens were counseled in accepting Jesus Christ as their Saviour. There was also opportunity to speak with 2 youth regarding the assurance of their salvation. On Sunday morning the challenge was given to live your everyday life for God which saw 73 campers dedicate their lives to God! Praise the Lord!

A special thanks to all of you who faithfully pray and encourage us to serve God and share His word with Canadian youth.

This week leaders and campers said:

“This was an amazing experience & the sessions were fun and taught me a lot.”

“It was amazing! Met a lot of new people and grew closer to God. Now I really want to come back here for school.”

“This weekend I realized we are all afraid to share the gospel, but I also learned that God is the one doing all the work we just tell the good news.”

 KD

Satellite Snow Camp #1

Some of our students and staff had the opportunity this past weekend to travel to beautiful Huntsville, Ontario. Riverside Baptist Church's Word of Life Student Ministry hosted a satellite snow camp. Five churches attended this event seeing 60 teens plus leaders gather for skating, tubing, snow sculptures, and piles of activities and challenges. WOLBI students helped as counselors, leaders, praise team members, and chaperons. Our Dean of Men and Professor of Bible Survey Mr. Jonathan Ward (blog here) shared God's Word and challenged teens to think about how they will win the "Game of Life" the "Battle of the Mind" and the "Battle against Temptation."
We praise the Lord for the 6 students who accepted Jesus for salvation and the 10 students that stood in front of their peers to commit their lives to Christ in the battle against sin!

This weekend was a great oppurtunity to serve the Lord. I was really excited about what God had planned. It was definitely a chance to grow as I stepped out of my comfort zone. By the end of the Snow Camp I could see some areas I needed to work on in my ministry. I'm so glad God gave me this oppurtunity and I'm excited for how He will use me next.

If your Church would be interested in hosting a WOLBI ministry team please contact Richard Heppner, our Associate Dean of Ministry.

Recharge weekend 3!

This past weekend of snow camp (Feb 4-6) was amazing. God worked in the hearts of many people, and it was such a privilege to be apart of this ministry. We had the privilege of hosting 106 teens and leaders.

On Friday night Mr. Gary Stairs shared the gospel message and 7 kids accepted Jesus as their personal Saviour. Also one of our students had the amazing opportunity to lead a camper to Christ on Saturday morning. Praise the Lord!

I have been thinking about the song “Amazing Grace” recently and these words have touched my heart “I once was blind but now I see… Was lost but now I am found.” God has been doing amazing things and we all have the privilege to be apart of it. He has been picking young campers out of the darkness and placing them into the light. Wow, eh? Praise God!!!

Along with the 8 salvation decisions, 1 teen was counseled for assurance of faith and roughly 85 teens dedicated their lives to Christ.

We also had 4 teens fill out applications to come to WOLBI.

Keep praying for us as we continue serving the Lord. Pray also for the youth groups that are coming these next few weeks.

Here are a couple of comments from campers and leaders from the past weekend:

“I always benefit going to snow camp every year. It is always good to know other Christians are going through the same things I am going through.”

“I really enjoyed this weekend. I think that it should be longer. The sessions were really good and they convinced me that I need to go home and share God’s love with my friends.”

“Great weekend!! The BI students were welcoming and friendly” 

KD

Getting ready for Recharge with zest and gusto!

From WOLBRANOS

This past weekend was an intense one as we prepared the campus for Recharge Snow Camp! We rehearsed a regular snow camp weekend meeting in the dining hall after supper to get ready for the campers to come. This past weekend we began our chores of putting up bunk beds, practicing music or drama, and cleaning the whole campus. All the hard work paid off as we took a break to "test" all the outdoor games that our visitors will be playing all winter. It was a great chance to see what needed to be tweaked, and have lots of fun in the meantime! The result of these tests have made us realize that this year we have some of the best outdoor games that we have ever had here in the past Snow Camps! (Much thanks to our guest missionaries from WOL Argentina - Adrian & Jessica Lovera for their ideas and hard work in preparing these games) Friday night after the games we went into the gym to have a praise and worship session with this years praise band. It was awesome to hear all the new songs and sing praises to our God as a break from all the work! Saturday morning we were all back in the dining hall bright and early to begin work all over again. Some laboured vigorously on the tube hill, which is now looking great and ready for the youth, some went to work stacking wood for the campfires, some to music practice, and others were in kitchen working out all the details on how to be as productive as possible when the loads of people arrive to devour the succulent camp food! Delish. What an awesome day! We all worked super hard and finished all our projects early so after dinner we finished the day with another praise and worship time.

It seems that the 'bugs' are worked out, program, music, and activities are ready. Now all we need are the teens and leaders to arrive. For the next 6 weekends we are going to have youth groups come and hear the Word of God from across Southern Ontario! How sweet it is to be living a 'reverse' Great Commission - the world is coming to us for fun, excitement, and to hear God's Word! We'll also be able to make new friends with the teens and encourage them and minister to them. Its going to be an intense and tiring next few weeks, but will be so rewarding and such a blessing! We all need to constantly remember that it is for God that we are doing this and if we do it by His strength then that's the only way we are going to make it through and have victory! As our Camp Director, Tim Chambers shared with us on Friday night, we must be prepared to serve the Lord "heartily" with "zest" and "gusto" as it says in Colossians 3:23.  to describe how our service for the Lord should be characterized.

Please pray for us as hundreds of teens descend onto our campus for weekends of jam-packed fun, activities and the eternal truths of the Word of God. Pray we will grow, learn, and have an impact for eternity.