Vancouver: Investing time in young lives

Kasey Chinn’s ministry in Vancouver included some spiritual discussions during the Khatsahlano Street Party, a popular music festival. (Photo: www.khatsahlano.com)

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Entering the home stretch of my time here in Vancouver, things aren’t slowing down. We’ve had a lot of things happening, and there’s plenty to pray for as my time here continues. 

kasey chinn81Kasey ChinnWe have been leading Vacation Bible School. We had about 40 kids coming to sing songs, do crafts and learn about Jesus. There were plenty of volunteers who came together in this endeavor, some all the way from Biloxi and some from right here in Richmond. My job was co-leading the crafts. So, I was not assigned one group of kids to spend the week with, but rather spend a little bit of time with all of them.

Not all of the children who attended are from churched background. It was good to see them singing the songs and being taught about Christianity in a fun way. One day, they learned about the ABCs of salvation—Admitting one’s sins and repenting, Believing Jesus is the Son of God and Confessing faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. 

Youth group

Our Sunday night youth group is still going strong. It consists of some fun group games, a little worship and small-group discussions about a biblical topic. My group of girls tends to be small—only two or three in recent weeks—but it’s still a valuable time to be able to listen, invest in them and develop relationships. Two sisters who consistently come to church functions do so because of the involvement of their father. I’ve been told they tend to keep to themselves, but this summer I’ve at least been able to talk with them get to know them in a consistent way. 

Frisbee night

Thursday nights are still Frisbee nights. We travel to games and visit with team members. I don’t play, but I’m good at watching. I was even able to meet up with one of the girls at the recent Khatsahlano Street Party, a large popular music festival. We talked to several of them about why we’re here, but that conversation rarely goes deep enough to share the whole gospel with them. A lot of what we’re doing is building relationships and hoping to represent Christ in a way that corrects their misperception of Christians. 

Kasey Chinn, a student at the University of Texas at Dallas, is serving with Go Now Missions in Vancouver, Canada.


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