TRANSFORMATIONAL GROWTH:
ONTARIO’S YOUNG PEACEMAKERS CLUBS

The Holy Spirit’s influence through the Young Peacemakers Clubs (YPC) program has been awesome. In response to a Herald article highlighting the Atlanta PeaceMobile, reunion director Darrell Belrose invited Andi Melham and her husband, Jim, and parents, Ralph and Leota Day, to share with three reunions at Ziontario Campground in 1998. In 1999, the Atlanta PeaceMobile was also shared at the McGowan’s Lake Reunion and the Wabash Peace Festival. The PeaceMobile was the centerpiece of the children’s program at each gathering. YPCs are now flourishing in several Ontario, Canada communities.

Following the Atlanta PeaceMobile visits, individuals representing all geographical areas of Ontario expressed interest in sharing the attributes of peacemaking skills with their communities. With funding from local congregations and Model Ministries of the World Church, Young Peacemakers Clubs have begun and grown in Cambridge, Etobicoke, Little Current, Ottawa, Owen Sound, Proton, Providence Bay, and Tillsonburg. Clubs are also being developed in Sarnia and Stratford.

Owen Sound
YPC Owen Sound was initiated by Pastor Jan Bruce in September 1997. Jan, Jaylyn, and Len Bruce, Charlene and Rob Goodwill, Kathy Atkinson, and Karen and Steve Whittaker are the team behind this YPC’s success. They use a multitude of resources to promote the four components of peace: Peace for Me, Peace for Us, Peace for Everyone, and Peace for the Planet. Activities include cooperative games, sports, snacks, and crafts at each meeting. Guests are invited to do special projects with the children.

The club mainly comprises children from different denominations (e.g., Muslim, Catholic, etc.), and several races are represented including Native Indian. The group’s diversity also extends to various socio-economic backgrounds and three separate age groups. The older youth have become an excellent resource as helpers for the younger YPC children. This club has grown to a total of ninety monthly participants.

Etobicoke
In the fall of 1998, Ken and Bonnie Avery established a YPC in Etobicoke. Approximately fifteen community youth between the ages of six and seventeen participate monthly in this positive and accepting environment. Through cooperative games, problem-solving activities, and other challenges, these young people learn how to communicate ideas and respect other points of view.

Ottawa
McGowan’s Lake reunion director Barbara (Barb) Kernohan and elementary school teacher Arlene Hutchinson formed a YPC in the nation’s capital, Ottawa. In November 1999, the Ottawa YPC piloted a project held during church school time. Approximately twelve to fifteen children attended the four-week program. Crafts, music, stories, plays, games, and other interactive experiences gave the children opportunities to learn and explore the four concepts of peace.

In February 2000, YPC programs were implemented in three Ottawa schools during lunch hours and class time. Classroom teachers and volunteers reinforce Barbara and Arlene’s YPC lessons. In less than nine months, approximately 200 children had the opportunity to learn and practice peacemaking skills through the YPC.

Cambridge
The Cambridge YPC started with Patsy Tonin and Verlyn Rowett’s efforts to establish a chapter in Cambridge’s Silverheights Neighbourhood Associations. The first ten-week session was held from April to June of 1999. It was a success, leaving children and parents wanting more!

Silverheights Neighbourhood Association has sponsored three ten-week sessions each year. Through this partnership, Verlyn and Patsy have access to the entire neighborhood via advertising and utilization of local schools. Cambridge has a total of fourteen associations, and Verlyn and Patsy would like to see the program spread throughout the city.

Providence Bay

The Providence Bay YPC developed a peace garden  for a community child who passed away several years ago.

YPC Providence Bay on beautiful Manitoulin Island was started in the fall of 1999 under the leadership of Pastor Weston Leeson, Jean and Pat McFarlane, and Shirley Sagle. They meet weekly in the church basement, and twenty-five youth have participated throughout the year. The group has joined with several other clubs and cities worldwide over the past two years for “virtual retreats.”

Virtual retreats allow YPC and community youth to get together at various local host sites simultaneously, and interact with kids from jurisdictions far and near. Several times throughout these weekend retreats, youth linkup via the Internet to discuss peace and justice issues, thanks to World Church personnel who help connect the locations. This past year’s retreat featured World Church Peace and Justice Coordinator Andrew Bolton who chatted online with seven groups ranging from Ontario, to the United States, to the Netherlands. Future retreats will be expanded to include other locations, such as Tahiti.

Tillsonburg
YPC Tillsonburg piloted their first four-week session in a unique location-a local senior citizen retirement home. Debbie, Karen, Linda, and Isabelle Mahoney, Cheryl Brooks, and Kim Sheppard-Veldhuizen are the club’s primary leaders. The group began meeting in the basement of the residence with six people attending.

With the success of their first session, the retirement home gave the club permission to meet in the glassed-in cafeteria next to the visiting room. This high visibility move brought with it an amazing ministry for both the children and the seniors as they observed one another during the first two sessions.

Eventually, one six-year-old ventured into the visiting area and invited a resident to join them during crafts. It was so inspirational to witness this young child walking the senior into the room, hand-in-hand, followed by an entourage of four other residents. They stayed for crafts, snacks, and singing. Since that time, the two distinct age groups have blended together in YPC’s weekly meetings.

Little Current
YPC Little Current has now completed its first year of weekly meetings on Manitoulin Island. The club started in January 1999 with two youth. They now average fifteen to twenty participants from the community under the leadership of Marilyn and Wayne Sparham, Marilyn Stere, Barbara Robinson, and Marlene and Darrell Dewar.

Little Current's vision is to be supportive of community children. Leaders strive to provide a safe environment and to become leaders in their communities. The children learn about themselves and others in a peaceful manner and discover where they fit into the world. The club’s weekly activities have included a year-end sleepover, square dancing, woodworking, cooperative recreational games, and puppetry. Plans are underway to provide opportunities for the children to connect with youth around the world via the Internet and take their puppets into a senior citizens’ residence.

Proton
YPC Proton is in a rural community that has been functioning for one year under the leadership of Pam McGinnis, Carol Marie Smith, Deanna Foster, Julie Hooker, and Sheila McLean. Attendance averages twelve to sixteen children in three age categories. They have supplemented their program with various resources, from reunion materials to Sean Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers.

New Clubs
YPC Stratford began meeting in October 2000 with the leadership team of Dorene Kilburn, Carol Smith, and Nancy Brookshaw. The program was advertised in Stratford’s ten elementary schools. YPC Sarnia will begin meeting in 2001.

Ontario’s Young Peacemakers Clubs have grown in terms of locations, participants, and transformational life experiences as the children and leaders have promoted the attributes of peacemaking. World Church appointee Darrell Belrose (outreach focus minister) said, “I have been richly blessed in working with these dedicated YPC workers and had the distinct pleasure of viewing the joy, hope, love, and peace that the children emulate.” Doors are continually being opened to promote the attributes of Young Peacemakers and their influence in the communities of Ontario.

-Darrell Belrose reporting