ARTICLE WRITTEN BY BONNIE LASS (a leader from the March 06 Siege Week in Ottawa)



As our youth group prepared for our mission’s trip to Ottawa, we were regularly met with the question, “What are you going to do there?” And we would reply, “Pray.”

Inspired by our nation’s motto “He Shall Have Dominion from Sea to Sea” and by our national anthem’s claim to “Stand on Guard”, our group of 25 from Abbotsford Christian Assembly took a flight out of Vancouver on March 9 with the plan to simply honor our leaders and pray for our nation. O*ur team consisted mostly of youth, as young as 13 years old, as well as our senior pastors, Mitch and Bonnie Borrows, Pastor Roy Rubilak, and our youth pastor, Chris Carrick.*

While we were there we stayed at the National House of Prayer, a large beautiful building located only 20 minutes away from Parliament Hill. We joined with other groups from Chilliwack, Edmonton, Ottawa, and Kingston. All 80 of us came with the intention of raising our voices for the cause of traditional Christian values. *We all came together with a ministry called 4MYCanada (which stands for "Motivated Young People for a Strong Canada). The leaders of this ministry took the time to teach us some Canadian history and lead our tours around Ottawa.*

We took the time to visit Rideau Hall (the Governor General’s residence), 24 Sussex Drive (the Prime Minister’s residence), Parliament Hill, the East Bloc, and the Supreme Court of Canada. While learning history of our nation we were also able to pray in each place for there to be an increase in integrity and respect for the sanctity of life.

We also had the great honor of meeting with Senator Anne Cooles, an RCMP officer, the Conservative national caucus chair Rahim Jaffer, as well as a representative from the Supreme Court of Canada. In each meeting our young team members had the chance to share their views on what they envision Canada to be.

On one of our final days in Ottawa we took the time to visit the Canadian War Museum. As we walked around I became increasingly solemn as I again recognized the sacrifice that so many have made for us. A sign boldly displayed the words, “What We Have, We’ll Hold” and those words have been echoing in my heart ever since.

What _do_ we have? And what does it take to hold on to these things?

It takes a sacrifice of our time, our money, and possibly our reputations as we stand up for what we believe in. As long as we are able, we will continue to instruct ourselves on these national matters and raise our voices to share truth.