Story: Student Ministry Fall Retreat 2023
Just under two weeks ago, 38 Hillside students and 8 leaders hopped on a school bus and headed up north to Trout Lake Camp for their annual Fall Retreat. They spent two days playing games, eating great food, engaging in worship, listening to a great speaker at chapel, engaging in small-group discussions about what they were learning; and building deeper relationships with one another.
One of the leaders, Piper Kurschner, explained “During the fall retreat we spent time alone with God, went to Chapel, spent time in small group discussion about what we were learning, played some all camp games, and hung out with one another, allowing us to build deeper relationships with one another and strengthen our youth group community.”
Students and leaders alike had a great time!
Kayla, 11th grade, says “One of my highlights from the Fall Retreat included the end-of-retreat campfire! All of the youth groups gathered around a 15 foot campfire and played games, ate snacks, and hung out!”
Britta, grade 8, agrees. “My favorite thing was the giant campfire in the horse corral! It was really fun to hang out there!”
Kayla remembers many other highlights “…earlier in the day we played another youth group in two games of football and ultimate frisbee (we came out on top). It was super fun cheering on our team as well as playing! One final highlight would be the discussions that we had with our cabin. We dove in-depth and discussed how to individually apply the things we learned to ourselves.”
The leaders loved seeing relationships form. Michael Kurschner said “I loved spending time with everyone and building up relationships. I also loved being at camp, it is such a special place and a wonderful place to spend time with God.”
Eric Patenaude agrees. “I especially liked seeing the middle school and high school boys playing football together and how the bigger boys really included the younger boys.”
“The high school girls in my cabin were amazing!”, says Leah Nelson, “Their laughter and their honest discussion truly encouraged me. I loved seeing how God is real in each of their lives.”
Eric also loved the opportunity the retreat gave him to connect with the student ministry. “For me as a new leader, there was massive value in being able to sit down and really get to know the other adult leaders. I really got to know Matt Bostrom so much better and am so excited to see him grow and excel in his role. He’s a great guy with a real heart for the youth. I was also surprised and happy to see that he seemed to be well known and well liked by all sorts of other leaders from other towns and the staff at Trout,” he says, “And maybe even more important, I’m so glad that I now know the names and personalities of probably 40+ kids that I didn’t before and that I now feel much more equipped and prepared to serve the kids in my small group. There are so many great kids and families at Hillside!”
“Honestly, the thing I enjoyed most about the retreat was getting to spend such a large amount of time with the students,” says Piper, “It allowed me to form deeper relationships with them and get to know them in a way that would have taken weeks of youth group to accomplish.
Some important lessons were learned in chapel.
Leah shares “We learned we need to pursue God with our whole hearts and turn from whatever is distracting us from that. The speaker told us about 5 words that start with A that can help us turn away from what distracts us from God: Adoration, Abhorrence, Assurance, Avoidance, and Accountability. I pray that our youth group can be a place where we can be real with each other, encourage each other, and keep each other accountable.”
Kayla says “I was able to learn that we as Christians are not meant to walk through life alone. I saw God bringing all of us as young believers closer together and developing friendships that will last a lifetime. We are meant to hold each other accountable in our walk with Christ and grow in our faith together.”
Indeed, perhaps the most encouraging is the spiritual impact the retreat had on students and leaders alike.
“I saw God this weekend when I was at chapel during worship!” says Britta, “It was really cool to see so many people worshiping!”
Eric says “God was working in many places during the retreat, but I think where I was most excited to see Him working was in the process of slowly bringing the middle school boys just a couple small steps closer to spiritual maturity.”
Leah says “It’s so encouraging to see that the teens have so much going on in their lives yet they choose to take a weekend away to connect with God and their peers.”
