Willow Park Church

By Narayan Mitra
BC Christian News, April 2009

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.

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!

“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.