Native Youth Conference
No place is more secure than to be in God's hands.
The Native Youth Conference was started in 1994, a joint effort of Local Native Churches, Sonrise Gospel Band, Interact Ministries, and the Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. As the Sonrise Band was a key player at the time, it started to be known as the Sonrise Youth Conference, a name that eventually was phased out in favour of the name that is in use today, the Native Youth Conference.
Among the Canadian Native Populace, those under the age of 25 comprise the huge majority, accounting for more than 70% of the total. It is small wonder that the absence of any major program or initiative impacting this age group was a concern to the Native Christian leadership of that time.
The first 15 years of NYC were centered in the Sundre AB area at the James River Bible Camp facility (with 1 year when it was held at the Rivers Edge Camp). The facility changed hands several times within that time frame. Eventually, as NYC grew past 250, it outgrew James River and the 15th Annual Conference (2008) was the last one held there. In 2009, NYC moved to the Lake Nakamun Camp Facility, about 50 miles Northwest of Edmonton AB.
The programming that is in place at each conference is some of the best available in both the Christian and Secular Native circles!! The music is diverse, from Christian Hip-Hop to Alternative Gospel to Uptown Country Gospel. The speakers and workshop leaders are among the best available in Canada and the USA. The seminars and workshops are cutting-edge and target areas that are very relevant to the youth that attend. The Sports and Social events are looked forward to with much anticipation by those returning...
NYC has been a self-supporting, self-governing conference that is run by representatives from a growing number of Native Christian Churches in Alberta. An Executive team of 3 is in place to get things done that need doing, and a large group of Volunteers help to make each conference a success!! 2010 is the 17th year for NYC.
Among the Canadian Native Populace, those under the age of 25 comprise the huge majority, accounting for more than 70% of the total. It is small wonder that the absence of any major program or initiative impacting this age group was a concern to the Native Christian leadership of that time.
The first 15 years of NYC were centered in the Sundre AB area at the James River Bible Camp facility (with 1 year when it was held at the Rivers Edge Camp). The facility changed hands several times within that time frame. Eventually, as NYC grew past 250, it outgrew James River and the 15th Annual Conference (2008) was the last one held there. In 2009, NYC moved to the Lake Nakamun Camp Facility, about 50 miles Northwest of Edmonton AB.
The programming that is in place at each conference is some of the best available in both the Christian and Secular Native circles!! The music is diverse, from Christian Hip-Hop to Alternative Gospel to Uptown Country Gospel. The speakers and workshop leaders are among the best available in Canada and the USA. The seminars and workshops are cutting-edge and target areas that are very relevant to the youth that attend. The Sports and Social events are looked forward to with much anticipation by those returning...
NYC has been a self-supporting, self-governing conference that is run by representatives from a growing number of Native Christian Churches in Alberta. An Executive team of 3 is in place to get things done that need doing, and a large group of Volunteers help to make each conference a success!! 2010 is the 17th year for NYC.