On the weekend of Oct 23-25, 27 young people aged 13-15 took part in First Third Ministry’s YouthTREK in Camrose, Alberta. Youth came from Chinook Winds and Pacific Mountain Regions and this was the first YouthTREK with participation from Northern Spirit (North Alberta) and Living Skies (Saskatchewan) Regions. Northern Spirit hosted!
Each person came from somewhere special with their own unique gifts, and by sharing our gifts and ourselves, we became a community together. Verna Fisher, a Cree Knowledge Keeper, helped us explore our theme of Becoming Kin as she shared Seven Sacred Teachings. We learned a new theme song written just for this year’s YouthTREK, some of us played handbells for the first time, and we prayed together. We went bowling and played so many games and stayed up way too late! 
Several adult leaders contributed to the event, providing food, music, tech support, supervision, recreation, teaching, listening, first aid, administration, and more. Older teens and members of the Chinook Winds Youth Council also led their younger peers in games and role modelling.  
YouthTREK challenged us to establish new relationships and to work at collaboration. It fostered a sense of wider church identity among all participants (old and young alike) and demonstrated what is possible when we work together. Thank you to all who worked to make the event so successful. 

Yours in faith and kinship, 
Kevin Guenther Trautwein 
First Third Ministry Animator, Northern Spirit Regional Council