Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8). These words challenged 1535 students and leaders as they gathered in Moncton for Springforth this past weekend (May 9-10, 2014).
At the high school site students were challenged deeply by Pastor Lennett Anderson’s messages to bury and let die the things that need to die in our lives, so that we can pursue walking humbly with God. When we get that right we will act justly and love mercy. The Shiloh Band led us into God’s presence with their worship and hearts.
At the middle school site students were challenged deeply by Rev. Diana E. Francis messages to trust Jesus to make us clean and right with Him, and then give us the courage to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him every step. Diana had great help from middle school students on stage, improvising along the way. Instead of Silver helped us worship with energy and great joy!
Together $4552.84 was raised to help provide tools for farmers to plant and harvest their crops in the Maai Mahui region in Kenya. Just $5 buys one tool for a farmer and his family to use – a hoe, shovel or marchete. This means Springforth is able to purchase about 910 tools! This also means over our three-year commitment to help Maai Mahui in the area of food security we have raised over $14,500! Thank you Springforth!
While raising all this money and being challenged deeply, students and leaders alike had a lot of fun at the Springforth Olympics, Atrium activities, Friday Night Live, Social Justice Fair, D-Zones, Workshops, Twitter Challenge, Bouncy Castles and more.
At the leader’s track, Brett Andrews (Youth for Christ Canada) invited us to have God’s heart for this generation, the heart we see God has in Hosea 11 where He does not give up on His children. Brett gave us great practical help in finding the way forward with this generation, including being courageous in trying new things. John Campbell encouraged us to take care in communicating the Gospel, to make sure we are not gravitating into communicating moralistic or motivational teaching, but truly communicating the Gospel of grace and truth. It is always wonderful to have our leaders, dedicated to the youth across Atlantic Canada, together to be equipped and encouraged by one another.
A huge thank you to everyone who made Springforth such a success, youth leaders, volunteers, planning teams, tech teams, and interns. Together we are joining God in changing lives and communities across Atlantic Canada!
To quote one student “Every year Springforth is like an accelerator for my faith. I haven’t missed a year!” Don’t miss Springforth 2015!
