Celebrating the Youth Summit

Celebrating the Youth Summit

"Awesome.” “Amazing.” “Empowering.” “A growing experience.” “A great opportunity.”

Those are some of the words used by the participants of EduDeo’s first-ever Youth Summit to describe their experience.

The Youth Summit was born out of a desire to invest in Canadian youth as the upcoming generation of leaders. We want to engage with them early, building their capacity to be agents of change in their own communities and beyond.

From October 11-13, EduDeo welcomed seven students from high schools across Canada to the Hamilton region for three days of learning about community development, networking with international partner leaders, community members, and like-minded youth, and developing an action plan for community change. Their unique gifts combined with a deep desire to see positive change in their local community and an idea to make it happen made them well suited to be the first participants in this highly anticipated event. By connecting with such a wide spectrum of people, they learned that healthy, sustainable change doesn’t happen in isolation.

Meet the participants! Top row (L-R): Marina Tinga (Edmonton Christian High School), Elizabeth Reitsema (Providence Christian School), Chloe Versteeg (Guido de Brès Christian High School), Shayla Freyling (Immanuel Christian Secondary School), Evan VanDyke (Woodland Christian High School) Bottom row (L-R): Jaina Kang (Credo Christian High School), Idawnya Zammit (Immanuel Christian Secondary School)

The stage was set by exploring what it means to be an agent of change in God’s Kingdom and constructing deep hopes for their community transformation ideas. Then we got practical, spending time in workshops led by Harold DeVries from the Innovation Centre and Bruce Wilson from the Career Centre at Redeemer University who demonstrated how to take their idea and develop an action plan. This time also allowed them to give and receive feedback from each other which proved to be a meaningful exchange. Marina commented, “The most important lesson I learned was how to take constructive criticism and other ideas and form an actual plan on how to bring my thoughts to life.”

We began by exploring what it means to be an agent of change in God’s Kingdom and constructing deep hopes for the students’ community transformation ideas.

Harold DeVries’ workshop focused on turning ideas into an action plans. Students clarified the community need, their audience, costs, partners, and resources. We celebrated the day with a dinner out!

Bruce Wilson led a workshop focused on executing an action plan. Students learned about communication, leadership, building a team, and evaluating progress

Students were also paired with community members working in a field connected to their idea for a one-on-one conversation. We were also joined by Redeemer’s Senior Admissions Officer, Sarah Freer, who walked students through a “Vocation and Calling” workshop to explore how their gifts and passions intersect with needs of those around them and how this can help them find clarity in where God is calling them.

One of the most unique aspects of the Youth Summit was that it gave students the opportunity to meet 29 leaders from 12 of EduDeo's international partner organizations. There were multiple occasions to interact with these leaders formally and informally, which had a meaningful positive impact on each student. “Being here and seeing all the leaders really push through to put God in their work and in their passions... it’s really inspiring,” said one student.

Sharing meals is one of the best ways to get to know each other! During this lunch, randomly chosen questions were used as conversation starters to learn more about each other.

Students and partners built relationships by sharing meals, attending a workshop on Asset-Based Community Development, and participating in a gallery walk, where students shared their action plans and received feedback. This proved to be a highlight for many of them. Jaina reflected on her favourite moments and said, “I really enjoyed the gallery walk the most. At first, I was sort of dreading it, but it actually was super useful and a lot of fun. It was also very encouraging to see that people had faith/confidence in my idea. Because I was a bit scared of what they would think.” Other students agreed, including Shayla:“I loved the gallery walk so much! Especially since my idea has to do with people from different cultures, it was really empowering to get so much positive feedback from the partners.”

Most students agreed that the gallery walk –where they shared their ideas and received feedback from the international partners –was one of the best experiences of the summit.

One of the goals of the Youth Summit was to equip students with knowledge & skills to move forward with their action plans. Although it was clear that because our time in was limited, there is still much work to do for each student to implement their plan, all participants expressed an increase in confidence and excitement about their ideas and the progress they had made. They came excited about their ideas and left inspired to execute them.

Even more importantly, we wanted students to develop their perspective on community transformation and be inspired and motivated to do the work God has set before them. They learned that they “don’t have to be perfectly good at everything because that’s what community is for” and that “the best form of change is equipping (people) to change themselves.” Many students also described a strengthening of their faith through these experiences. Chloe commented, “I learned that change can only truly happen through the spirit and God equips those he calls. All I can do is submit to God and let the spirit work through me.”

But it wasn’t all hard work! Students built relationships with each other by spending time playing outdoor laser tag, eating smores around a campfire, and making a trip to Activate, a gaming facility with a variety of mental and physical challenges. They bonded quickly and all expressed a sincere desire to reunite with their fellow participants in the months to come to share their progress and motivate one another.

The three days were packed with hard work, but we took time for fun, too! After the “Vocation & Calling” workshop led by Sarah Freer, students played a couple rounds of laser tag outside

We are encouraged by the positive responses and look forward to what these students accomplish in the future.

If you’re looking for opportunities for your students to develop as agents of change or have ideas for future summits, please contact EduDeo’s School Relationship Manager, Laurie ([email protected]).

We are so thankful to the many who partnered with us to make this event happen, especially Abbotsford Christian Secondary School’s Junior Residency Program and Redeemer University.

We are truly better together.