Youth Retreat

What an amazing weekend.

We spent the last weekend at this retreat center near Pittsburgh. It was pretty cool, there was skiing (snow tubing as well for the ones not so brave which includes me), time for hanging out, and some pretty serious time to spend with God. It challenged me in many ways: as a leader, as a child of God, and as a person who cares deeply about the upcoming generation.

The weekend began on Friday night with the speaker's first session. He was an amazing speaker. He was from out West and a youth pastor himself. His whole message was a presentation of the Gospel because this whole retreat was geared for kids who have never been churched or heard the message of Jesus before. He presented the Gospel from the eyes of those who had experienced Jesus: two women and two men from the Bible. They were all powerful messages that spoke to the heart of who Jesus was and remains. It was interesting hearing the kids perspective on this. I was able to be the small group leader for the junior high girls which was awesome. We talked a lot about the messages given and discussed how they pertained to the lives of each of them.

The small group was really exciting. My group of girls were open to God and to the messages that were given. The most amazing thing was that at the end of each of the discussions the girls were all willing to pray together and each of them prayed. That was probably the highlight of my weekend. It made all of the nights with not much sleep worth every minute.

And I learned just how much planning goes into these weekends. Wow.