SOAR TEACHES YOUTH HARDSHIPS OF POVERTY
Mission program provides students with ‘eye opening experience’
During the February school break, teens from across the province came to Saskatoon to be involved in a unique mission experience with SOAR Saskatchewan.
SOAR takes place annually in eight different places in North America. Four are in Canada; one is in Saskatoon.
Terry Friesen, the youth pastor at West Portal Church, describes SOAR as a 10-day discipleship/ mission experience geared for youth.
“This year we had about 80 students, aged 15 to 17, from eight different church youth groups participating, along with 20 staff and leaders,” he says. “We gathered at West Portal for training sessions and meals. Some slept at West Portal Church, others at Massey Place Community Church.”
Discipleship is a vital component of SOAR. Youth are given training in how to deepen their trust in God, how to surrender to God and let Him work in one’s life, then how to follow the Jesus-model of assessing practical needs.
Near the outset of SOAR, participants went on a learning tour to experience what it’s like to live on the streets. They went out in small groups with a toonie each and a schedule. On their way to a specific place (The Lighthouse), they were required to interact with other street people along the way.
“Our group had $12 among us, so we shared one 12-inch sub and an order of McDonald’s potato wedges,” Friesen said. “This is the reality of many people living in poverty. Our assignment also included trying to find a job so we could understand how it feels to go looking with very little food and no transportation.”
SOAR intentionally works alongside service agencies already working in the city like The Bridge, The Lighthouse, Friendship Inn, Cosmo Industries and Central Haven Care Home. Four days of SOAR were spent volunteering with the agencies.
Friesen’s six-person group was tasked with serving soup at The Bridge, which serves 80 people a day. The young volunteers washed dishes, helped prepare the soup, interacted with the people in the soup line, and then visited at the tables during their break. Friesen says finding things in common to talk about turned out to be a powerful thing for the youth.
Friesen says the purpose of connecting youth with service agencies is to offer a perspective on what it’s like to work there, what it’s like to interact with people with a variety of challenges, including mental health challenges. “We want our youth to come away thinking, ‘I should do this more often.’”
One SOAR initiative during the week was holding a free carnival for kids on Family Day as a service to the community. The 100 students and staff prepared, ran, and cleaned up after the carnival at City Centre Church. It drew many children and families.
The last few days of SOAR were spent debriefing.
“Yes, we had fun, but we also interacted with people in real pain. Now the question is: What’s the next step? What did we learn? Can we do this kind of service in real, everyday life? How can we be an encouragement, rather than focusing on our own little life? Is there more to life than me doing my own thing and just getting through each day?”
One teenager asked Friesen, “How will my Monday morning look now that I’ve experienced SOAR? Will it change how my life looks? Will it affect my responses when I walk down the school halls alongside challenging people?”
Another wondered, “How can I surrender to God? By focusing on my worries, am I not trusting God? How big is God in my life?”
Friesen says these are critical questions for today’s youth. He says it’s clear to him that young people today have much more anxiety, stress, and pressure to do well than they did when he started working in youth ministry 20 years ago.
He says the feedback on SOAR is positive on all fronts. Parents are encouraged by the amount of growth and challenge they see in their teens. Agencies are deeply appreciative of the continued relationship with SOAR.
“As for the kids, some didn’t want to leave. Each day they were absolutely ready for the program, even though they were tired. They caught the vision, and didn’t want to miss out on a thing. I heard many times that SOAR was a lifechanging, eye-opening experience and they wished others in their youth group could have been involved, as well.
“These values tie in closely to my own heart and God’s Word regarding how to live and love youth. Seeing youth valued and encouraged to trust God in a deeper way. That’s a win right there.”
This was the sixth year SOAR has run in Saskatoon. Next year it hopes to expand its service projects to Prince Albert and Regina.