Pics and Discussion Post from the Retreat Here!

THE NEW YOU! Winter Retreat 2010 Report

This past weekend our students had a retreat at Highland Lakes Baptist Camp.  We took 34 students and leaders to experience a retreat we called “The New You”.  The point being that every student is created in the Image of God and how that has significant implications on their lives.  We started Saturday morning learning about what the image of God is, how everyone is created in God’s image, how it has been distorted because of sin, and how the only hope for restoration is in Christ.  We learned that God created us the way we are for a reason and that every student is special.  We also focused on how we need to treat other people with dignity and respect because they are in made in God’s image.

            After a morning of teaching we played an epic game of capture the flag in the snow at Highland Lakes, all of the students got into it, painting their faces their team’s color.  It was great and exhausting.  That night we came back to worship and God moved in an amazing way.  We talked about how seeing ourselves as anything less than how God sees us is sin.  The students were challenged to repent of wrong thinking and to see themselves as God sees them.  They took a blank sheet of paper, tore it is half, and wrote how they used to think about themselves on one half and on the other half they wrote some encouraging word to themselves.  The note with encouragement on it they were instructed to keep close to themselves, where they could see it everyday, like in a purse or wallet.  The other piece of paper they threw into the campfire to symbolize that they were done with wrong thinking when it came to themselves and others.  God’s presence was felt in a powerful time of worship as two students led in a special song “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns.  Most everyone was crying and praying to God.  My hope is that the lies of the world were broken down and the students left that night believing that God made them special and in His image.

            Sunday morning we had two sessions that focused mostly on how God wants to use us.  The worship service focused on Gideon, his image problems, and how God used him.  We learned that God wants to use us for His glory, but that often we are held back by issues of image.  The challenge was for students to have right thinking and right feelings about themselves which would result in right actions for the glory of God.  By the end of the weekend we were all exhausted but knew that we had met with God in a special way.

            Thank you for your prayers this past weekend, continue to pray for our students as they live out the truth that they are created in God’s image – special, created for His purpose.