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Treasured Foundation has been a long-standing ministry in the EMMC that has been held for over 30 years. If you are unfamiliar with “TF” it is an EMMC-wide youth event for students in grades 9 to 12. The event is held over the course of three and a half days and is comprised of large group worship and a main speaker, mini sessions where attendees have an opportunity to learn and grow in many topical and relevant sessions. Two afternoons are dedicated to outreach, serving in local ministries, coming alongside the community to serve and encourage others in any way that we can. Of course, TF would not be complete without some fun activities that most definitely help to build community and make new connections from across the conference. TF is always a highlight! Youth come away having been highly impacted by the worship, by experiencing God at work, and having been impacted by new relationships forged.
Since the inception of TF, it was always held in Minneapolis, MN. With the uncertainty of the US dollar exchange rate and a few other factors it was determined that some things needed to change. Four years ago, the TF committee headed up by Kellin Friesen and myself set out to vision what a new version of TF might look like. We searched high and low looking at all of our options and ended up taking TF to Steinbach, Manitoba.
While the new TF was no longer the destination type trip that it had been (particularly for the kids in Southern MB) there was a lot of “new” to be excited about. We were particularly excited about some of the organizations we were able to better partner with because of the new location. Because we hosted the event at Steinbach Bible College and utilized some SBC professors, we were able to give everyone a small taste of what attending a solid school like SBC is like.
We were also able to partner with many local ministries like Pembina Valley Pregnancy Care Center, Union Gospel Mission, Siloam Mission, MCC, and countless care homes. Partnering with local missions has always been a cornerstone of TF and moving it to a place where we have a presence enabled us to build that up even more. We look forward to continuing to build on this in future events.
Since TF 2019, a lot has happened. Kellin Friesen resigned from his youth pastor position and I am now the TF committee chair. Matthew Antonio (Niverville Community Fellowship, MB) and Cody Schuender (Nassau Street Church, Winnipeg) have joined Vanessa Klassen (Morden EMMC, MB), Lana Penner (Gospel Fellowship Church, Steinbach MB) and myself on the TF committee.
Covid also happened and over the last two years I have been regularly wondering what it meant for TF. Two years ago, I was confident that TF 2022 would happen. As time went on and as Covid stuck around, we became less confident in a 2022 version of TF.
The main challenges in running TF 2022 event were in the ever-changing transportation rules, and service opportunities. While most Covid related rules are gone, organizations that serve vulnerable people remain vigilant in protecting their people (as they should be).
With the uncertainty of what all of this looks like in the near future (at least until the end of 2022) we have made the difficult decision to postpone TF to December 2023. In doing this, the hope is that we will not only be striving to make TF happen again, but to make it an amazing and impactful event. We expect Treasured Foundation 2023 to be a full “GO” and hopefully the best yet.
In the meantime, we expect to put out a package of materials for the 2022/2023 school year. The goal of this would be for our groups to have a “mini TF” of their own this year, whether regionally with the other local churches, or on their own.
We are looking forward to seeing many of you at Treasured Foundation 2023. Mark your calendars December 28-31, 2023.
Until then, keep serving, keep growing, and hold fast to the hope that we have in Christ Jesus.
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Tim Goertzen, is the Youth Pastor at Winkler EMM Church, Manitoba
This article was originally published in The Recorder Vol 59 No 3