Looking Forward to Fall
If you have found your way to our website you may wonder “What does Coldwater Canada do in the fall?” This is a valid and perfectly fair question. I mean, most of our programs are run in the summer, and you can’t really do canoe trips in Ontario’s winter. While summer 2017 is complete, this fall is a season we can step back to gain perspective and move into the year ahead with focus, determination and momentum. Fall is a time for us to learn from the summer, to celebrate it, and to apply our learning through strategy in the year ahead. Coldwater’s vision is to “see young leaders committed to Christ, serving and leading in local churches, actively raising up and discipling other leaders, and championing redemptive causes in their local community.”
Every year we have parents and participants ask us when Coldwater will offer programming year round. Until now, the time hasn’t been right, but we are coming out of summer 2017 with more momentum than before, and we are ready to turn a new page for Coldwater Canada!
This fall we have a few new initiatives we look forward to rolling out that we believe will help us move forward in fulfilling Coldwater’s vision.
A week ago we ran an exploratory session for our new MULTIPLY Leadership Program. MULTIPLY is an opportunity for students ages 14-19 who have an interest in maturing their faith and growing as a leader. This group will meet once a month and will enjoy rich fellowship. At each of our monthly gatherings, we will explore a session from the Growing Leaders leadership course, which comes out of Arrow leadership in the U.K. Our MULTIPLY participants will also get paired with a mentor, who they will meet with monthly for support, learning and encouragement. This program kicks off in November with a 24 hour retreat. Please pray that this program is formative in equipping and empowering young leaders to love, serve and lead. Be sure to contact us if you are interested!
You can also expect to see more information coming soon about our monthly Meet-Ups – activity based gatherings open to anyone in the Coldwater Community. A Meet-Up could look like a one-day canoe trip, climbing day, or service day. We are putting the finishing touches on our Meet-Up calendar and will be excited to have information out in the next week.
In the winter, we have opted to leave the canoes in the shed and bust out the snowshoes! More information about our winter trips coming soon!
Beyond programs, one of our main goals for the year is to go deeper and further with developing young leaders. Our MULTIPLY program flows out of this goal. We are also spending time and thought revamping our leadership development strategy, which will impact all of our programs. The big hope is that we can be even more intentional, seeing more growth in the lives that we have the opportunity to impact, with a clearer picture of the progression of growth that we want to see. Thanks to Arrow Leadership for equipping and inspiring me to think more intentionally about this!
Lastly, the Coldwater year-round team is growing! I am excited to announce that we have brought Michelle Matthisen onto our team as our Program Manager. Michelle graduated last spring with a degree in social work and has led young people on trips with Coldwater over the past three summers. She embodies the idea of “Make it better”, and we are excited for Michelle to use her gifts to lead, design, improve, manage and implement programs with Coldwater Canada. Be sure to read her bio on our website found HERE.
Thanks for journeying with Coldwater Canada as we raise up young Jesus-centered leaders and equip them to lead now, as a young person, impacting their friends, family, churches, workplace and community for Christ.
Matt
