Greetings from the northern churches of Classis Ontario! Summer has sure flown by! Just recently, many youth in this area spent some time at Camp Shalom and other Christian camps. Pastor Girard, the minister of the Harriston Reformed Church, was the chaplain at Camp Shalom from August 22- 27. The staff at camp all helped to teach the campers many new things about our Lord this Summer and encouraged them to continue walking with Him.

On May 30, many youth from this area went to the youth service held at Camp Shalom. They worshipped together through singing, music, and learning more through God’s Word. They also enjoyed meeting both old and new friends.

The Drayton Reformed Church’s youth pastor, Shari Oosthoek, has really been keeping the young people busy. The senior youth enjoyed spending a weekend in July at the W.A.M. (Worship, Arts, and Music) retreat at Guelph Lake. The junior youth also had fun on their campout. In July, they went to Saugeen Cedars for a weekend. Both youth groups had an excellent time going to Canada’s Wonderland for Canada Day.

Fifty children from the Guelph Reformed Church area enjoyed a week of "The Ultimate Adventure" Vacation Bible School in early July. The closing program at noon on Friday was well attended by families. After the program, they served a hot dog lunch. Many

youth from the Drayton Reformed Church participated in a community- wide Vacation Bible School held July 5-9.

The young people in the Harriston Reformed Church are very much alive and have been quite busy this summer. They have been practicing up their volleyball skills and plan to participate in the Camp Shalom Fall Fair’s volleyball tournament this September. Some young adults plan on going canoeing with the Grimsby Reformed Church and Pastor Girard. The young adults and young couples have been meeting together and enjoy going bowling, playing volleyball, and doing other activities. In September, Pastor Girard hopes to lead the youth group and do devotions with them. Summer could not be complete without having at least one picnic.

The Drayton Reformed Church held a church picnic at the Moorefield Community park on June 27. Unfortunately it was raining, so they had to have their service inside. Thankfully, the sun came out afterwards so they could eat outside.

The Harriston Reformed Church is looking forward to their annual Sunday School wiener roast/ church picnic on September 10 to start off their new year. On June 13, Pastor Girard and his family held a barbecue and an open house for the congregation. Pastor Girard led a small adult Bible Study group for most of the summer months.

Several people in the Drayton Reformed congregation served in missions in Nicaragua this summer. Three persons left on July 1, and three other persons left in August. Both groups stayed for one week and ministered there. Peter Allen Devries, a member of the Guelph Reformed Church, has returned home from 10 months of working with RCA Volunteer Services in California with Audio Scriptures International.

Much work continues to be done in raising the new sanctuary of the Drayton Reformed Church. The existing church building is being re-bricked and re-roofed and will have the windows replaced to match the new sanctuary. Many volunteers thankfully continue to come out and help with all of this work.

The Harriston Reformed Church recently bought a new digital piano to replace their other one. Their church did some creative fundraising to get their new piano. They had drawn a piano with 88 keys, a normal-sized piano, and people could buy piano keys for twenty dollars each. Once each of those keys were sold, they had enough money for a new piano. The Harriston Reformed Church’s coffee break has recently been up to some fundraising too. On May 15, they held a garage sale to raise funds for the new year.

On June 5, The Friendship Club of Guelph Reformed Church had a successful garage sale again this year. Proceeds were used for their church's needs.