Young Christian leaders for northern Manitoba

THOMPSON, Man.

I’ve been in full-time missions with InterAct Ministries for eight years now, based out of Thompson, Man. God has been working to grow disciples. Four people in their early 20s that my team and I have been working with since they were probably 12 or 13, attended Steinbach Bible College this last year and will serve as interns at Midway Bible Camp this summer.

God has grown these relationships to the point that they are now reciprocal, and these young people are mentoring me. We took a group of youth to a native youth conference close to Edmonton a few weeks ago and for the first time in eight years, I wasn’t the only female leader. It was so encouraging to have three other girls helping. When I was stressed, they were there to support me. And when they were stressed, I was there to support them. I’m blessed to have them in my life and that they’ve allowed me into their lives.

God has grown these relationships to the point that they are now reciprocal, and these young people are mentoring me.

I meet with three different Serving and Leadership Training (SALT) youth groups: one in Thompson, one in Nelson House, about 45 minutes from Thompson, and one in Split Lake, an hour and a half from Thompson. I’m also assistant director at Midway Bible camp this summer. The highlight of my job is spending individual time with people and showing them what it looks like to follow Jesus every day.

A previous role was leading the training program for younger camp staff (also called SALT). I’m excited to pass this role on to one of our interns. At this point we are on track to have 40 kids coming for the training program, which is higher than we’ve ever had before. God is raising up kids that want to serve him and want to serve in a camp context. Some of them just like camp and want to be there longer and they get to come and hear the gospel message, clearly stated.

Another way we’ve seen God working is through youth groups. During COVID, we stopped trying to get newer kids to come and focused on maintaining relationships with the same people. But about a year ago, most of the kids in our youth groups were aged out of it. It was hard to know which kids would start attending, but God has provided amazingly. It’s an honour to build trust so we can speak openly about the things they’re struggling with and point them to Jesus.

We plan to break ground on a new site for Midway Bible Camp this fall. We can’t stay on the current site, but God provided another place. We plan to build a year-round facility to hold youth retreats and other programming throughout the year. We’re waiting on more government paperwork, which has been the theme for the last 10 years, but now it’s a little bit less government paperwork.

Pray with us that God would be glorified and that many kids will come to know him and continue to serve him as they grow up.

This article is a summary of Kyla Plett’s presentation to Conference Council on June 3, 2023.