Youth Unlimited’s vision of transformed youth, transforming our city is all about helping young people experience wholistic transformation in every sphere of their lives. We are on an ongoing journey of discovering how to best describe what this transformation looks like!
In 2013, Youth Unlimited’s leadership team began to ask the question, "How do we know if we are accomplishing our vision that all young people in the GTA are being transformed by God’s love and life changing power and becoming a redemptive presence in their families, communities, and beyond?" So, we set out on an expedition to both explore what God’s story in scripture says about transformation, and also what it looks like in the context of all of our unique ministry and program settings.
With input from every one of our staff team, we landed on 5 high level ‘transformation descriptors’ which eventually became our 5 Gauges of Transformation: Renewed Character, Healthy Relationships, Rooted Identity, Joyful Service, and Clear Purpose.
Over time, these descriptors have been strongly affirmed by both our ministry workers and partners. However, many of our staff experienced tension with the measurement imagery of the Gauges, feeling it was often impersonal, too ‘clinical’ and at times inadequate to capture the complexity of the journey of the young friends we serve.
While remaining committed to the 5 ‘descriptors’, we sensed the need for a new metaphor to help guide how we understand and dialogue about transformation. A group of several staff explored a number of Biblical images around transformation and eventually felt led to the metaphor of God as artist.
This metaphor has provided us with a way of envisioning what transformation looks like that is both motivating and compelling: The Canvas of Transformation. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that, “we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” This passage roots us in the awareness that God is the artist and source of all transformation.
Each of our lives is a canvas on which God desires to paint a transforming work of art. Of course, the canvas of our lives, and the lives of the youth whom we serve, are not empty. Many pictures have been painted onto our lives; some are joyous, others are painful. What we know is that God is able to redeem all things; to take what has been marred on our canvas and transform it into something new.
This can be a messy process and it is unique for everyone! We envision all of our lives (staff, youth and communities) as a canvas on which God brushes fresh strokes from a palette including our 5 YU Transformative Colours.
As we consider this reframed vision of transformation, we are captivated by the potential it has to also help us understand how God’s transformation is being unveiled within a neighbourhood, or even across our city. We want to keep listening and looking for how God is at work wherever we go! Join us in the journey.