This summer…
I pray that God will grant you One Connection
So you can better understand our One Context
As God unifies our One Church
To offer the Hope of Jesus to each, One Canadian
Who is wanting to receive it.

ONE CONNECTION

It was 11:30 PM and I was exhausted. I was juggling the high school math classroom with pastoring and was in the midst of planning two major outreach events. I was about to fall into bed when my phone began ringing. As I watched the unknown number flash across my screen, I wanted to shove it under my pillow and welcome sleep. I remember feeling a prompt to open my weary heart and answer the call… the choice to press that teeny green button has expanded my world in miraculous ways.

“Hello” I said.
I could hear the voice of a young girl on the other end and her words were muffled by obvious gusts of wind.
“Kaitlyn?” She asked.
“Yes, this is Kaitlyn…”

Glenda Colomb had caught wind of the Inspire Youth Conference our outreach team was planning. The conference aims to inspire youth to overcome challenges and be influencers in their world for Jesus. She was calling me from the First Nation reserve of Sandy Bay, SK. Glenda was walking home just after finishing a fundraising event with the youth who were going to attend Inspire. The conference costs were covered by generous donors and sponsors, however there were still costs for accommodations and travel. She told me she, along with her team, had raised $200. They would need $6000 to cover all the costs associated with the trip. I remember thinking: “Oh God … How on earth are you going to pull this together?”

Weeks later, Glenda came through the front doors of the conference, along with a large group of youth from Sandy Bay. As I reached out to hug her, God reminded me He holds all things together and brings about divine connections when we open our hearts to answer His call.

Leading up to the conference, I learned that Glenda had passion and talent to sing and I had asked her to perform at the conference. Glenda’s song rang like a war cry shattering the darkness of suicide, discouragement and depression plaguing countless youth in our province and across our nation. She stood in front of nearly 1000 youth, parents and leaders and sang boldly the words by Lauren Daigle:

O’Lord, O’Lord I know You hear my cry
Your love is lifting me above all the lies
No matter what I face this I know in time
You’ll take all that is wrong and make it right[1]

As she sang, amazement settled in the auditorium. Tears trickled down awestruck faces and a fresh outpouring of hope broke loose from the brave heart of my new friend, Glenda Colomb.

ONE CONTEXT

Glenda’s story includes hopelessness, addiction and a life-changing encounter with Jesus. She, along with countless other Canadian youth, are facing significant challenges, especially in the area of mental health.

According to a recent article by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health:

• 1 in 5 Canadians suffer from a mental illness each year

• 500,000 Canadians, in any given week, are unable to attend work due to mental illness.[2]
  Listening to Glenda’s story helped me understand aspects of Canadian culture I had never experienced – and by sharing friendship with her I have gained perspectives that propel me forward to fulfill the role, crafted uniquely for me by God, for this exact time in Canadian history.

• 1 in 12 youth are being dispensed a mood/anxiety or antipsychotic medication.

• 70% of young adults living with mental health problems report their symptoms started in childhood.

• First Nations youth die by suicide about 5- 6 x more often than non-Aboriginal youth in Canada.

ONE CHURCH

Today in the Canadian church, there is a growing desire for denominations to partner in creative ways to shape our culture and to bring hope to young people like Glenda. With the dawning of a new decade churches across the nation are reflecting on the past and leaning forward towards God’s vision for our future.
God’s vision for His church is this: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” – Matthew 28:19
This kind of impact won’t come through striving, forcing or pushing.
This is God’s work.

In his forward for Ruth Haley Barton’s Masterpiece, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, Gary A. Haugen, the President of International Justice Mission writes about the importance of stillness and solitude. He wrote about IJM saying, “We longed for transformation – in ourselves and in the lives of those we sought to serve. We longed to know more deeply the love of our good Father who leads us in transformation. And yet, we needed a more disciplined attentiveness that would ready us to receive more of God’s presence and power. We needed to learn to be still, to wait on the Lord, to simply be with him.”[3]

With this posture, what could the unified Canadian church accomplish for the next generation?

ONE CANADIAN

Shortly after the youth conference, Glenda enrolled at Horizon Bible College in Saskatoon with hopes to be a youth minister. I asked her to share her story of radical redemption with the women at the Sisterhood Conference, many of whom had never visited a First Nation community.  And one Canadian girl who had been transformed by the love of Jesus stood as a catalyst among the group. I watched while God expanded the perspectives in the room through Glenda’s heart wrenching testimony.

In 2020…

I pray that God will grant you One Connection
So you can better understand our One Context
As God unifies our One Church
To offer the Hope of Jesus to each, One Canadian
Who is wanting to receive it.

Who is wanting to receive it?
Will you answer the call?

[1] Daigle, Lauren. “O’Lord.” September 2017.
[2] Mental Health Now! Canadian Alliance On Mental Illness And Mental Health. Advancing The Mental Health of Canadians: The Federal Role. September 2016.
[3] (InterVarsity Press, 2018), 9–10.Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of MinistryRuth Barton and Gary A. Haugen