Overall, it was a fun weekend. The majority of our group is fairly new - we've got a lot of sixth graders and a handful of other students who moved in during the summer. We also had a group of students from a different chapel service join us. With so many new faces, we wanted to see students mesh together. Our goal for the retreat was team building. We did a few experiential learning activities that gave students a chance to interact with each other and work together to accomplish a few obstacles. AJ taught out of Romans and 1 Corinthians on the Body of Christ and what it means to be a part of the Church.
Even though we've done tons of retreats, it seems that every trip teaches you a few new things. Here's a few lessons we learned this weekend:
- We had one kid throw up off the top bunk, onto the bottom bunk and all over the wall in the middle of the night ... lesson: don't eat too many Third Degree Burn Dorritos before bedtime.
- A lot of our kids have lived down south most of their lives and have no snow experience. This was evident when someone threw an ice ball (not a snow ball) and "accidentally" hit a girl in the face, giving her a bloody nose ... lesson: snowball making lessons are important for southerners.
- The snowfall closed a lot of the hiking trails that we'd planned to enjoy in the afternoon. We decided to go to the local arena, and spend the afternoon ice skating instead. It was really fun! For many students, it was their first time on skates. With the exception of one cut from falling down, it was injury free! lesson: I didn't learn anything super profound during ice skating, but I was surprised to have to help so many students tie their skates (I spent the first half hour doing this) - I didn't realize that a lot of kids don't know how to tie their shoes tightly.
Praise the Lord for:
- Safe travel to and from Switzerland. The snow and rain didn't interfere with the driving!
- Some good conversations with students in the vans.
- The relationships that developed and deepened among students.
We got home from the retreat on Monday night, and on Tuesday we began our "Relationship Series" at youth group. AJ opened with a theology of relationships and talked about submitting to authority. This week he'll cover parents and next week I'll talk on friends. After that, we'll get into dating, marriage, sex, etc. Please be praying for this series! It's important stuff that kids are wrestling with. We'll end the series with a purity banquet in mid-November.
Well team, thanks for praying! Have a great week.
