VANCOUVER- Around 1,100 high school students have participated in the annual spring camp organized by the Ambassadors for Christ (AFC) Canada.

On March 13-16, the youths gathered in Toronto for the camp with the theme "In The Dash." It aims to remind the youths that one must live meaningfully as life is short and temporary. According to AFC, Christian faith is more than just "leaving the hell, entering the heaven," but it is about people live a life on this earth because it is what directly affects the eternality. Through the spring camp, young Christians are to realize the God’s calling and purpose on their lives, so that they can use their lives preciously and prepare themselves to gain eternal life.

Among the 1,100 participants, almost all of them are English-speaking second generation Chinese, just around 100 speak Mandarin or Cantonese. 260 of the English-speaking youths are non-Christians while there are among the Chinese-speaking group, according to the director of the spring camp Cherry Kwok.

"The response of this camp is very good and very meaningful," she said. "For non-Christians, we introduce to them the gospel, and they come to know God and accept Him. For Christians, we challenge them to reflect on their lives and help them understand the real meaning of life."

Many have dedicated themselves to Christ during the camp- 17 from the English-speaking group and 7 from the Chinese-speaking group. In addition, another 47 Christians have reborn again.

"Many Christians who came to this camp have been going to church with their Christian parents since childhood. They were born in the church, grew up in the church, so going to church has become a tradition or a habit for them, yet they don’t understand the commission that God has given to them," Kwok explained the spiritual status of the young Christians.

"After joining the cam, they truly grow in their faith. Many of them go back to serve in the Christian ministries in their schools. Some of them have started some ‘anti-terrorist’ activities. This terror is not about terrorism, but it is about the fear to life. Fear means that not to live according to your own effort, but to put everything on the Lord’s hand, so that you can be closer to the Lord," she continued.

Kwok added that the spring camp is not just a conference, but it is a leadership training camp as well. Through the camp, it aims to raise many future leaders so that they can serve in their own churches.

The volunteers working for the camp this time are the ones who are most probably to be raised as leaders. Most of them come from different churches in Toronto.

[Editor’s note: Alice Yao from Vancouver contributed in reporting for this article.]