Youth Rally draws teens together

By Stephen Dafoe

Morinville – The stage of the Morinville Community Cultural Centre (CCC) was the platform from which a message of identity, change and faith was communicated to approximately 150 youth from the area Mar. 10. In their first youth rally, Morinville Christian Fellowship’s Impact Youth Ministries put together a two-hour program of worship music, skits, and testimonies that was unapologetically Christian in nature, but still managed to maintain the welcoming tradition Impact has developed in the community.

The evening began with several faith-based songs from the ministry’s worship team, followed by personal testimonies from members of the ministry. A highlight of the evening for many was a silent skit depicting the temptations that confront youth, and the power of salvation to overcome those temptations. Pastor Peter Visccher, who heads up Impact Youth Ministries, said he has seen the skit perform several times and is moved to tears each time.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Matt Sampson, a man who was a youth pastor in Morinville some years ago. Sampson spoke of his life, and the importance of faith in it, with the delivery and timing of a stand-up comedian, providing youth in attendance with a humourous path to receiving his message.

Impact Youth Ministries frequently have up to 100 youth out to their weekly Friday night gatherings at the St. Andrews Centre; however, the Mar. 10 youth rally provided them with a larger than normal gathering, including youth as far away as Rochester, a community north of Morinville where Morinville Christian Fellowship has been doing some work.