the HEART behind the Fair

What is God doing at the Niverville Fair?

This past Saturday, May 5th, there was a small gathering of people at John Henry's to hear and spread the vision of what's happening behind the scenes for the Fair, this year and years past.  Here's an excerpt of the heart that I (Mark) shared:

       To be involved in a ministry such as the Drop-In Centre, one must face an ongoing battle between relationship and events.  Two forces; each with the ability to consume or abandon each other.  But what about working together?
       In my 10 year-tenure in youth ministry, I had become a little jaded from event planning coming out of a lack of relationships.  So instead I spearheaded a ministry lifestyle of availability and relationships, abandoning the events.  But there was something missing to access our youth and this town.
      You've probably heard the saying that it takes a community to raise a child, well in the years of our youth ministry we've seen that to be the case.  And so we've sensed that it's as if God has given us a key to unlock a door into our community, that speaks its language, brings unity and therefore the very holistic relational approach we've hoped for.  So the Niverville Fair is a tangible vehicle to get started on the larger scale vision of seeing long term transformation in Niverville.
       As for the Fair weekend itself, our vision as YFC staff is to step in the gap to intentionally connect with our youth.  A tradition has developed of wild drinking and drugs, especially Friday night, and sadly this tradition has been growing in fame, drawing more and more youth in each year.  The last few years we've been throwing a wrench into the system, and this year's wrench has only grown with bringing in the band RED.  We've also just seen a vision birthed for this year's fair, where we offer a chance to respond to Red's concert with a late night worship gathering right after the show. 
       On the town ministerial front, we're looking largely to bring together the body as one, and see God move through it, reaching out to the lost, and disenfranchised believers alike. We as YFC staff have been commissioned to spearhead this vision with the unified blessing of the local pastors and spiritual leaders of our community.  What an honour!

So with all that said, check out the VISION video!
 fairvisionvideo