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By Narayan Mitra
 | | Jon Buller (left) with Fresh IE, at Rush 2009. Photo by Jason Krumm. |
RUSH 2009 is now history. The annual event, now in its
fifth year, drew some 1,700 teens the weekend of February 27 – March
1.
Willow Park Church was the main organizer, but young
people from more than 80 churches attended the event at the Rush Dome in
Kelowna.
“We want our youth to get radical in their faith
. . . to lose their lives in order to find it. The conference is pure
worship and discipleship, and it gives them a tangible way to follow Christ
and live for him,” said Joel Feddersen of Willow Park.
Speaker Shane Claiborne’s personal life stories
of sacrificing for the poor touched nerves with his listeners. His
association with Mother Teresa of Calcutta connected well with them.
Claiborne had incredible stories to tell, and was very
dynamic. Many youth in attendance were clearly infected by his passion.
Performers Starfield and Fresh I.E. were amazing. The
kids jumped to their feet often during the performances.
Phil Cann of Youth for Christ was quite witty during
his brief appearance. His humour played fairly well with his type of
audience. Daren Streblow was likely the funniest comedian Rush has
ever had. The youth could not stop laughing at his presentation.
But the humour of some speakers did not disguise the
seriousness of personal commitment to God’s purpose. The call to full
surrender, inherent in the event, was a call to die to one’s old life
– a call to rebirth.
Given the power of the speakers and musicians, and the
general response of the attendees, it is estimated that there were a number
of first-time decisions for Christ over the weekend.
 | | Shane Claiborne. Photo by Jason Krumm. |
Lee Hollinshead, the new youth pastor at Lake Country
Alliance (LCA), was a first-time attendee. “The organizers did an
excellent work. The speakers, the worship and the rallies were
amazing,” he said.
“Just being challenged by the speakers – to
look at the need all around in our communities, and not to stand back but
take action – were highlights for me.” LCA sent 10 young people
from their youth group of around 60.
Karyn Bonikowsky, youth leader of Grace Baptist Church
in Hope, came with 32 youth and seven leaders. This was their second time
at Rush.
“I’m always impressed by how well things
flow! My favourite part of the weekend was the different options within the
‘Adopt-a-Block’ [program]. Our youth enjoyed it so much!
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“A girl in our youth group knitted a bunch of
scarves, along with some family members, and we got the opportunity to hand
them out to the homeless of Kelowna. It was great listening to their
stories and learning a little more about them and their lives.”
Attendees could choose any option they wanted, ranging
from paintball, snow boarding and spas. But the option to serve the poor of
downtown Kelowna got the most extraordinary response.
Three years ago, only 30 chose that; last year it was
180. This year, the number was 450 – a 15-fold increase from three
years ago. “That is amazing!” said Feddersen. “The kids
are way more into serving than being served.”
Hollinshead plans to take many more youth from LCA to
Rush 2010. “The team who spent time volunteering from Willow
Park had awesome heart for youth,” he noted, adding: “And
it’s not just the youth pastors – but the whole church
got motivated and involved in reaching the youth of Kelowna.”
Bonikowsky expressed disappointment that Phil Cann only
got 10 minutes on stage, given that he always has so much to say. She also
would have loved hearing more from Jon Buller, one of the worship leaders.
Both she and Hollinshead were effusive in their praise
of an incredible weekend, spearheaded by Feddersen and his team of
volunteers.
“They are always so friendly! We will definitely
be going back each year, as long as I am a youth worker at our
church,” said Bonikowsky.
Contact: rushyouthconference.com
April 2009
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