1990 ICS Niagara Conference
“Kid Stuff”
Perspective Report by Gayla Postma
The 1990 ICS Niagara Family Conference was for the whole family, including the kids. With workshops, outings and sporting events, there was little time for the younger ones to be bored.
In keeping with the conference emphasis on caring for the creation, 140 kids aged 8 – 14 went on a trip to see one of God’s magnificent wonders, the Niagara Falls.
Back on the conference site, the younger children had their own work-shop. According to five-year-old Rachel van Geest, her group went on a nature walk. After talking about taking care of God’s world, they collected nature treasures and made collages of all the they found. Thomas van Geest, 7, said his group talked about the environment.
“We talked about what is bad for the environment,” he said, “and how to clean it up. Some of the things we know are bad are pollution, acid rain and litter. We know that compost is good for the environment. Planting trees is good because it turns air into oxygen so animals and people can breathe. We learned that it’s okay for some factories to have smoke stacks because they have scrubbers on them.”
For cousins Ian Venema and Andrew Tenyenhuis, both 12, the favourite part of the conference was the Saturday night dance. But there was more. “We liked going on the Maid of the Mist ride at Niagara Falls,” said Ian, “and going to Miniature World and the Guinness Book of World Records. It was hot and it rained but we played soccer, too. There were lots of people I knew and there were lots of sports organized.”
William van Geest, 7, summed up the conference this way: “The best part was the baseball. The worst part was the mosquitos.”