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By Rachel McHollister
YOUTH and their leaders from more than 40 Christian denominations, from across
B.C. and the Yukon, came by the thousands to Historymaker, May 15 – 17 at the Langley Events Centre.
Musical acts included Parachute Band, Manafest, As One and Revolution Band. The
key speakers were Lisa Bevere, Bob Lenz and Ben Johnson.
The conference attracted some 250 organizations and churches. According to many
in attendance, this generation is eager to learn more about Christ by analyzing
their unique relationship with him.
“The younger generation is diverse; everyone has their own personality, and
worships in their own way,” said Jeff Scott of Creation Fest.
“They tend to analyze things a lot more, because they are being hit with so much.
They don’t buy into anything; they need to find it out for themselves.”
“There is a lot of great music and speakers. It is a lot of fun. You can connect
with God in a different way here; everyone is around the same age, so it makes
it a unique experience,” said Letitia Andreas, 17, who has attended Historymaker for the last four
years.
Throughout the course of the event, attendees participated in five general
sessions, involving speakers, music and teaching. Between the general sessions,
there were 50 breakout sessions that include topics such as: ‘God is more excited about sex than you are’; ‘Community missions’; ‘Effectively ministering through sports’; and ‘Worship your guts out.’
The conference also featured a live unplugged café stage, outdoor sports, an indoor activity zone and a number of exhibitors.
A real God
“This event shows us that there is a real God. He’s not just something that is forced down our throat,” Andreas said.
“I always walk out of this sort of conference getting something new out of it – whether it be a new calling, or just a new expression of the love that he has
for us.”
Jeff Hoffert, who is part of the leadership team at Streams School of Ministry,
wanted to bring his booth back for a second year.
He was motivated to return not only because of how busy the booth was, but also
because his own faith grew with the number of youth his ministry touched.
His booth had two student-led teams. Their purpose was to prophesy over anyone
who requested it, and also to interpret their dreams.
“When someone sits down and we prophesy over them, I can tell that God has
touched them,” said Hoffert. “They walk away from our booth with a different look on their face. I see the
change in them and it confirms, once again, the Holy Spirit is really moving.”
Away from everyday life
Several attendees said they considered the event an opportunity to get away from
everyday life and get closer to God.
“What happens here is a memorable experience for the rest of your life,” said Josh Madson, 14, who was attending Historymaker for the second time.
“There is just so much this generation has to offer. It’s just such a fun experience with old and new friends, and our walk with God,” Madson said.
Paying attention
Attendees were moshing to Manafest and Parachute band. But they knew when to
calm down and pay close to the speakers – with pens, Historymaker notepads and Bibles in their hands.
Stefan Vojnovic attended Historymaker last year and came back not only for the
great music and the fun atmosphere, but because he felt privileged to come.
“Most of my friends don’t come to this event,” Vojnovic said. “It gives me the strength to go up to my friends tell them about it, so that
maybe they could come with me next year.”
For 17 year old Vanessa Rano, the perspective is similar. She came from Nanaimo
with her youth group to attend the conference, with the hope of growing in her
faith.
Rano and Vojnovic both believe the conference will help give them the strength
and courage to speak to their non-Christian friends about their faith.
“Most of my friends aren’t Christian; so this is kind of a break for me to restore my relationship with
God,” said Rano.
Betty Fei, 18, was attending Historymaker for the first time. She heard about
the conference through her church.
“My youth group has been going to these sorts of youth conferences for the past
10 years. It has been talked about so many times, and I have heard nothing but
good stuff – so I thought I would check it out.”
Fei said it exceeded her expectations, and said she was going to attend next
year’s conference – and would bring a bigger group of people.
“It’s good to see people who are really passionate about God. It’s encouraging to hear all the voices, and feel that you are not alone as a
Christian youth. You have your fellow brothers and sisters with you.”
The experience also rejuvenated her faith.
“I didn’t really realize it until now, but it’s easy to go through daily life and become a bit stagnant with your faith. This
is a nice refreshment to get us pumped and up again.”
Youth leader George Harris has attended Historymaker for the last six years.
This year’s crowd, he said, appeared to be more outgoing. The attendees all seemed happy,
and willing to dance and have fun while learning about God.
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Vital generation
“It [feels like] God is going to make an impact on this vital generation,” Harris said.
He continues to come back every year, but not just for the great facilities, a good time and hanging out with old friends.
The main reason is to see how his leadership has impacted his youth.
“We walk together with Christ, and I just experience it with them,” Harris said.
Many youth attending agreed that one of the key things bringing them here was
the belief that this generation is going to make a real change in the world.
Skeptical true believers
“Together with God, we can make a different [world] – no matter who we are, what our capabilities are or anything,” said Grace Guimbatan, 15, from Nanaimo’s Evangelistic Tabernacle. “We can make a difference.”
Historymaker continues to attract youth year after year, helping them build
friendships with others and giving them an exceedingly enjoyable experience.
Many of these young people are skeptical about a lot of things. But they are
also true believers, as they have seen the Holy Spirit first hand at these
conferences.
historymaker.ca
Photos by Ken Semenuk
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Facebook generation’s online preferences
The following is an excerpt from Youth Study, available at barefootcreative.com.
While Canadian statistics vary, most agree that over 90 percent of teens and
young people are online . . .
While young people volunteered a number of favourite websites, the front runners
are clear. Social networking sites are a favourite among young people.
Anecdotal evidence tells us that many young people are abandoning email for Facebook walls, messages and
chats. Google is a big winner online, and YouTube is well visited.
Participants in the survey reflected the trends observed in market research. While two years ago MySpace led in the social networking space, Canadians have been early
adopters of Facebook. In our survey, 76 percent of the participants used
Facebook weekly, while 6 percent used MySpace . . .
Young people still prefer to hang out and talk person to person, but they
integrate their communication tactics. Their home phone and Facebook are their
second communication choices if they can’t get together personally.
Email and text messaging are their third choice. MSN chat is gone – so if you are waiting to link with a teen through MSN, think again. You would be
best to visit Facebook and check to see if they are available to chat.
Mail – the kind that comes in an envelope and requires a writing device to compose – is history. Over 40 percent say they never communicate through the mail, while
only 1 percent say they never use Facebook. While 35 percent use text messaging, 43
percent say they rarely use it. Compare this to Facebook: only 23 percent say
they rarely use it; 49 percent say they use it all the time.
Bibby weighs in on Millennials
The following is excerpted from The Emerging Millennials (2009), by sociologist Reginald Bibby:
When asked point-blank, only 13 percent of teens across the country say that religious involvement is “very important.”
There are, however, important differences by service attendance: 68 percent of
teens who attend services at least once a month view involvement as important,
compared to 11 percent who attend services less often.
The same pattern holds true for the enjoyment young people receive from
religious groups. On the surface, teens as a whole do not exactly associate joy
with organized religion . . . . However, when we focus on teens who identify
and participate, a somewhat different picture emerges:
• One third of the seven in 10 who identify with a group indicate they are
receiving a high level of enjoyment.
• Some 60 percent of those who attend services at least once a month say they
are receiving a high level of enjoyment.
• Levels of enjoyment differ a fair amount across groups. Those who identify with either Conservative Protestant
(evangelical) groups or other World Faiths such as Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism
report higher levels of enjoyment than Catholics or Mainline Protestants.
These findings show that the majority of Canadian teenagers who are actively
involved in religious groups are claiming their involvement is both important
and gratifying.
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June 2009
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