Over spring break, I was a part of SOAR Heartland, where 367 participants from eighteen youth groups came together in Winnipeg to explore God’s invitation to join him on mission. This year’s theme was feast.
For many years, SOAR has been a feast for me personally. Ever since my first taste of it with my church youth group back in my high school years, God has met me in significant ways on this program. On my first SOAR, sixteen years ago, I experienced community in a new way with my teammates. We learned together, worshiped together, prayed together, and served together. It was like something I had never experienced with God before. And now I see how God has been faithful over the years to use those experiences to shape me as a believer.
It was my youth pastor, Terry, who brought us to that first SOAR back in 2008. The next year, when I asked him if we were going again, he said he couldn’t make it but that I should take a team. I was a young leader, but Terry believed in me. He gave me an opportunity. That’s a discipleship lesson that continues to shape me today.
That’s why I was so excited when I saw Terry again sixteen years later at this year’s SOAR. As I was leading one of the sessions on one of the last evenings of the program, I looked out into the crowd and saw Terry. I had no idea he was there. When we talked afterward, he told me that he was now a police officer and he was there with his son who was a SOAR participant. It was so encouraging for both of us to remember our first SOAR experience and to see God’s faithful hand on our lives in the meantime.
In a way, Terry giving me an opportunity to lead in 2008 inspired me to encourage young leaders in my own life. In part, it’s why I kept coming back to SOAR and why I’m now helping to lead the program. It’s also why I got involved with the spiritual formation of discipleship students at Steinbach Bible College. In fact, it’s why I invited one of my former students from there to join me at SOAR this year and facilitate a workshop for participants on what the Bible says about our purpose. When I asked him, he jumped at the opportunity, and I realized what was happening—I was doing for someone else what Terry had done for me.
Who first invited you to join God on mission? Who is God calling you to invite?
Jesus said, “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).
PRAY
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Pray about how God might be calling you to invest in mission training.
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Pray for all the participants of SOAR Heartland, that they will continue to embrace God’s mission as they live in their home communities and serve with their local churches.
