The vision for this year's retreat was to give our students an opportunity to have fun and crazy adventures while in a safe environment. Done! And with flair!
High school retreat begins early on Friday for those who wish to partake in skiing, snowboarding and sledding. For the rest, they begin the 3 hour bus ride up in the afternoon getting to Lenk, Switzerland around 4:30. Students find their rooms with their small group leaders and get to relax a few minutes before dinner. Our first session begins at 7 with worship then a message from our speaker. Our Chaplain's department is very passionate about finding amazing worship teams and speakers who can identify and speak into the lives of our students.
To mix things up a bit, students were not given a schedule for the retreat this year! Our Chaplain wanted them to come to their leaders for all their information, wanted to strengthen our connection with our small groups. After our session, we went to our rooms for a small group time to discuss what we heard from our speaker. About 30-45 minutes into our meeting, our Chaplains department came racing through the dorm saying we needed to be in the gym ASAP! This is what we found!
Two huge blow-up inflatables were set up including a broom that would go around and knock you down if you did not jump over it! Before students could play on these inflatables, games had to be played. We came to the gym dressed as a team with a team name. Four different games to be played included climbing up poles (everyone had to be on the pole for 40 seconds), stacking cups race, throwing a basketball backwards into a hoop, and the photo above where we had to create a pyramid and the one on top threw the ball into the hoop! Kristy, our Chaplain is helping catch the ball.
The broom inflatable was hilarious to watch!! I tried it three times but did not make it very long. Some kids were flung by the thing and had to duck to not get hit! Quite entertaining!!
Our speaker this year, Hany, is originally from Egypt and travels around creative access countries to serve and share the gospel with Muslims. His passion and love shone through as he spoke from the heart. Hany shared stories from his own life, how God changed his heart for a people group that desperately needs Christ!
After our retreat, Hany had engagements in another country, so our students came up and prayed over him.
Hany spoke of the story of Ishmael and God's love for Ishmael in spite of his birth. Here are some thoughts from Hany and our weekend.
"He can change curses into blessings."
"It's so beautiful to watch Ishmael's recognize their identity."
"If you want to pray for millions of people, pray for Mohammad (There are many Muslims with the name Mohammad)."
"I was struggling because it was not your will."
"I am the most safe in the middle of the will of God."
Hany shared about a Syrian family who were a part of ISIS. They were refuges from Syria and living in another Middle Eastern country. Two men were invited to a church after meeting with members of the congregation at a coffee shop. In this part of the world, one must be cautious on inviting strangers into church. They could be informers. They spent the day and into the evening eating and fellowshipping with believers. One of these men was so touched by the compassion and love he witnessed, he traveled back to the church that night to thank Hany and others. He professed a belief in Christ and made a striking statement. "One day, Syrians will be thankful for this war Without it, we would not have left our houses and come here to this church and found out about Jesus. The most precious Savior."
Saturday evening after Hany spoke, he asked for all the mom's and dad's to come up front and stand. Leaders and members of the Chaplain's team who are parents stood up front. Hany then asked for students whose parents were serving Muslim's to come up front. He spoke from his heart and said "Thank you." Your parents have made a sacrifice and you have made a sacrifice. Not having a choice, you came to live in a Muslim country, then were sent to another country to attend a safe school. Thank you for making that sacrifice so people in my country (Egypt) could hear about Christ. I am getting goose bumps again just writing this! His gratitude was so beautiful and touching! He gave them permission to grieve and cry and heal. "Go find a parent to hug, talk with or pray with. Typically, you do not get to choose your family, but tonight you do." Students went up to cry on a parent shoulder, pray and hug. Students and teachers and leaders were crying and hugging each other. This was definitely the highlight of the weekend!
Saturday afternoon always comes with free time where students can hike into town, go for a hike, play Dodgeball or just hang out. My friend Becky and I usually go for the hike to get a closer look at the Alps. It was snowing part of the way and was gorgeous!
I tried looking for myself and could not see me. I am somewhere in the middle...I think.
My lovely group of Sophomore girls! Thank you for all of your prayers!!! We had some great moments at retreat and got to know each other better! Please continue to pray. Three of these girls have parents who are currently serving Muslims, two have parents who are serving at BFA, one whose parents are serving in Europe and one who lives nearby.
No comments:
Post a Comment