Many of you know that Janet Anderson, Qwanoes’ Board Chair and our friend, passed away on October 14 after a courageous battle with cancer. A service in celebration of Janet’s life and a carnival (yes, you read that right!) were held on Saturday, October 27 at Oakridge Baptist Church in Vancouver. Janet’s desire was that this service would be a party and that lots of kids would be there!

So what was it like to be there on Saturday and why did Janet want this to be a party and a time of fun?!

Janet’s celebration of life was an event those who were there will remember for a very long time! It was a truly unique and God-honouring experience. The service was all about what Jesus can do in a person’s life. Camp Qwanoes had been asked to put on the carnival Janet requested and we were ready. Once the service ended, the carnival got going and it was almost impossible to get around from one room to another in the church – it was jam-packed!

What it was like being at “Janet’s Celebration of Life Carnival”

Picture walking up to a beautifully-decorated table, getting a colourful paper cupcake holder, and filling it with delicious candies of all types that are displayed all over the table….

The carnival also included a whole bunch of fun games and challenges, face painting, bubbles, music, popcorn, cotton candy, hot dogs right off the barbeque, macaroni and cheese, Ice Cream Island, milkshakes from Club Coco, Shave Ice Palace, the Tuck Shop – you name it… it was there! I heard kids at the carnival saying that it was the best carnival they had ever been to! I know I felt like I was a kid again for a couple of hours. Janet would have been so pleased!

Help love kids to life at Qwanoes!

Those who knew Janet are aware that she was passionate about Qwanoes’ mission of loving kids to life… helping them discover, live, and share life like no other in Christ. For those who were not there on Saturday, an exciting opportunity exists to help love kids to life at Qwanoes! Janet’s husband Frank has requested that gifts in memory of Janet would be given to Camp Qwanoes. Several families that are also passionate about the mission of Qwanoes have committed to match the gifts that are made in memory of Janet! Every $1 given will be matched by $3 for the first $20,000 given – meaning that your gift will be quadrupled!

To give a gift to Qwanoes in memory of Janet, please contact Betty Bayley at 250-246-3014 or toll free at 1-888-997-9266. Or you could mail a cheque to the camp with a note that your gift is in memory of Janet. To have your gift quadrupled, please give by November 15.

Why Janet wanted her celebration of life service to be a party and a time of fun

Janet’s husband Frank made it clear why Janet wanted her service to be this way:

• “She would be in Heaven where there is no sorrow, no tears, no sadness, only rejoicing, peace, and love and we here can also rejoice in this.”
• “She wanted to recognize how joyful her life in Christ had been. She wanted to show that living the Christian life is exciting, fulfilling, and full of fun.”
• “Because of who she was… a fun loving, exciting person. She was known by nieces and nephews as the ‘Mac and Cheese and Milkshake lady.'”

I know that I am inspired by Janet’s life and by what went on at her celebration of life. I agree with Janet, as she said shortly before her death, that life in Christ is “wonderful!”

~ Written by Julie Bayley, Qwanoes’ Associate Program Director