Hopeful Story, October 23, 2011

  Every year our youth leaders try to find a retreat that they can attend with our students. Our aim is to help our youth in their Christian walk and to spend time with them in a setting outside of regular youth programs. 

  This year we chose to go to the Anchor Retreat. This retreat was geared for grades 7 to 12, the first time all our youth were able to go together. On Friday, Oct., 14 six leaders and 34 students headed to Cambridge.
  The speaker at this event challenged those listening to become attractive Christians by 1. being yourself, 2. being hospitable and 3. being intentional. After listening, people broke off into small groups to discuss what they had heard and how it might apply to life back home. In addition to small group discussions there were also break out sessions, where we discussed ideas like this: “Even when people were not open to Jesus at first, they were very open to a meaningful journey with a meaningful human being who has met Jesus, and maybe that is where you come in.” As well there was an opportunity for students who felt they needed prayer to stand up in the large group session and for those around them to pray for them—a beautiful and moving experience.
  But the weekend wasn’t only about learning—there was other fun too. Everyone dressed up for a hoe down square dance. There was an Amazing Race where teams were challenged to turn a box into a mode of transportation and move their entire group from one spot to another in the vehicle they created. We enjoyed a camp fire and games, and great food also enhanced the weekend experience.
  The leaders who gave up their weekend to spend time at the retreat were excited by it. They thought it was great to spend time with “’their” youth in a different place, and also enjoyed the opportunity to connect with other leaders.
  So does the experience end with handing the students back to their parents on Sunday afternoon? Not at all! There are already discussions about how the three ways of being an attractive Christian (be yourself, be hospitable and be intentional) will look at both RAD for grades 7-8 and HSM for grades 9-12. It will be exciting to see how what we learned gets used in our every day life.
- Alice Brink, Evelyn Oudyk