<Catalyst06 Story>

Ministry Report – Catalyst 2006

by: Kelly Manire

Catalyst: An Event That Stimulates Change

A gathering of young adults in Vancouver, BC

to serve in the community
to give our lives away
for the cause of Christ

Held Oct. 13-15, 2006

Catalyst was our attempt at following God’s promptings to put together a regional gathering greater than any one of us could pull off alone. To do this our team (Suzanne, Adria, Joel, Kyle, Jeanne and me, Wes and his team from the NWBC, and many partnering Southern Baptist State Conventions and Agencies) spent a lot of time praying, planning, and

preparing for what would become the largest gathering of students and young adults (that I am aware of) in the history of our Capilano Southern Baptist Association.

The focus was to gather a large group of students and young adults from across the Lower Mainland and the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho) in downtown Vancouver, and let them see and experience the needs we have in reaching Greater Vancouver for Christ.

Catalyst served as a conduit for the participants to serve in 5 of our CCSB churches and ministries across the city. Participants served on Saturday afternoon October 14th, helping our churches in their evangelistic and outreach efforts at…

Royal Heights Baptist Church
Coquitlam Chinese Baptist Church
The Point Church Plant at UBC (First worship service for this new church plant!)
The Bridge Church
And many prayer walked downtown Vancouver specifically asking God to plant churches among those living in our concrete jungle.

According to my leadership team there were a total of 181 participants (including children but not counting infants)

Of these

7 were band members
11 were "conference staff," incl. most of our team, speaker, reps with booths
35 were leaders of various student/church groups on both sides of the border
23 were from The Point churches (including children, plus those who attended
only part of the conference, plus "conference staff")
38 were from Canada
143 were from America

We asked the 181+ that attended Catalyst to fill out Feedback Forms. One of the questions we asked each person

The CATALYST Speaker:

Steve Saccone
College Catalyst at Mosaic Church in Los Angeles.

Steve leads degrees, Mosaic church's collegiate ministry

The CATALYST Band:

The Justin Cofield Band

has been leading worship student ministries, across North America, for the past 5 years. The band's home is Lubbock, Texas

They are known for their energetic style of celebrating Jesus, as well as leading others into intimacy at the throne of God.

was “What did God say to you this weekend?” Here is a small sample of what some said.

Take initiative to influence others towards Christ
To be a light
I need to be willing to trust God with the uncertainties of my life
I think He really spoke to me about missions and how I can do them at home.
I should think about moving to Vancouver
My mission is downtown
I need to take more initiative when telling my roommate and suitemates about Christ.
Be more proactive in sharing my faith with my co-workers.
He is continuing to challenge me to serve Him with my hopes and dreams
He helped me on the path of recommitment (one of our local Point leaders)
I need to repair some relationships. I need to talk to some people about God.
God is calling me to missions.
Reach out, take initiative, and get away from the mediocrity that dominates my life.
Trust in Christ no matter what. There is hope for Vancouver B.C. and the rest of Canada.
Do what He wants
He was showing me that Canada is the place He’s wanting me to be….

What did our team learn about doing this event?

God is at work in our city and He used this event to impact many lives.
The value and strength of teamwork. Our personal respect for one another grew greatly as a result of Catalyst.
That these kinds of regional gatherings though costly and challenging to make happen are well worth the expense.
Next time we will charge a little more for students and let the hotel make arrangements directly with those who are coming.
Patience!
Although regional events are good every so often, we need to focus next year on involving our local students and young adults.
We grew in relationship to our connections in the NWBC. This event helped to strengthen the good relationship we already have with our friends in campus ministry.

For Information about future collegiate events in the Vancouver area contact Kelly Manire

kellyandjeanne@shaw.ca