When Krystyn Kurzyna first attended the Arise Youth Retreat, she found herself in a place of beauty where everything was focused on God.
Inspired by the ever-present “joyous atmosphere” she experienced as a camper, the grade 12 student from Traditional Learning Academy was excited to serve as a member of the Arise 2026 service team, where she helped others experience the same joy she felt three years ago.
The Arise Youth Retreat is an annual four-day event for youth entering Grades 8 and 9 held at Camp Jubilee in North Vancouver. Faye McCreedy, Youth Ministry Coordinator in the Ministries and Outreach Office in the Archdiocese of Vancouver and Event Coordinator for Arise, described it as a “check-in point” for former Grade 7 students who’d recently received the Sacrament of Confirmation.
McCreedy told The B.C. Catholic, the focus of the retreat is the term kerygma, an ancient Greek word translated to “proclamation”. Throughout the four-day retreat, attendees are led by the service team with the support of adult leaders from the participants’ parishes to learn more about God’s love, the value of community, and the many ways they are called to evangelize in their day-to-day life.
Another member of the leadership team, Isabelle Canete, said Arise offers a great opportunity “for the youth to see the face of Jesus in others.” Canete, a parishioner from St. Francis De Sales Parish in Burnaby, believes that youth have a natural desire to connect with others, and Arise gives young people a chance to experience fellowship with their peers in a faith-filled outdoor setting.
Kurzyna experienced this sense of community firsthand. Kurzyna attended Arise in the summer of 2023, a month before she entered Grade 9. “It is impossible to pick the single thing I remember most, as there were so many memorable moments…ranging from the inspiring testimonies to the hype praise and worship sessions,” she said. “Even little things like canoeing while singing ‘Down by the Bay’ or learning how to make a new kind of friendship bracelet are some of the first things to come to mind whenever I recall my camp experience.”
Reflecting on her experience more deeply, Kurzyna boiled her memories of Arise down to one word: joy. Even when participants were invited to discuss more serious topics, there was still “a sense of joy and freedom” which Kurzyna now knows is “the joy and freedom that come from everything we do being centered in Christ.” The most impactful moment for her Grade 9 self was receiving the Sacrament of Confession and participating in Eucharistic Adoration shortly after.
Preparation for this year’s retreat was hard work, she said, and “serving for the retreat definitely involved more responsibility.”
In the end, she said the time and effort spent on Arise was “more than worth it to see all the plans and activities finally coming to fruition for the youth to experience,” adding that “the training, learning, and planning leading up to retreat week helped me to grow in my own spiritual life, as well as doubling my excitement for camp.”
The joy Kurzyna found as an Arise participant now became the same joy she passed on to campers as a service team member. The atmosphere of joy she experienced as a participant was reinvigorated by the knowledge that God gave her unique gifts and talents to serve.
And it wasn’t all about service. Just as God met Kurzyna during Eucharistic Adoration in 2023, He met her once again at this year’s Arise.
“Seeing Christ in the Eucharist, surrounded by His beautiful creations and people, reminded me how much He cares for me, His child,” she said. “He created the ocean and the mountains to bring me awe and wonder; He came in the Eucharist so that He could be close to me; He died on the cross so that I could be with Him forever.” At that moment, Kurzyna felt blessed to know “such a loving God.”
Kurzyna describes Arise as “an environment where everything is focused on God,” and she encourages young people entering Grade 8 or 9 to consider attending Arise next summer: “Go, and allow the Lord to show you His glory!” she said.
