Hey Everybody,
I just wanted to thank all of you who were praying for our first student ministry retreat, titled "Engage". Engage went really well. We only took four (4) students to White Oak Conference Center in Winnsboro, SC, but I believe that God wanted to do a work in those four students. The theme of Engage was relationships; as in, engaging in relationships. The first night I spoke on our relationship with God, it's importance and the different ways we hear the voice of God. The second day I spoke two (2) times. In the morning we discussed our relationships with those in our immediate sphere of influence (i.e. immediate family, friends and acquaintances) focusing on selflessness and humility. In the evening of the second day I spoke on engaging in relationships with people outside our immediate sphere of influence. As Christians, our testimony to others is not always how we talk; it is often how we live and engage with others in relationships. The way we live demonstrates the reality of Christ in our lives.
Our students enjoyed the trip a lot. We played a lot of brain teasers and did some good old team building exercises to emphasize the need we have for one another (a big thank you to Simpson University Spiritual Formation Dept. for all the great experience in debriefing. It paid great dividends on our retreat). We, as staff, also learned a lot about our students and I'd like to think they learned a lot from us, but you'd have to ask them. Our desire was to build stronger relationships with our students and I think we did just that.
To those four students, thanks for coming, I had a lot of fun with you and am looking forward to doing more of the same in the near future!!
