Northeast Winter Retreat Recap
This past President’s Day weekend we had our annual college Winter Retreat. Many upperclassmen and college graduates describe it as the spiritual highlight of the year as they can take a break from the hustle and bustle of school and spend time connecting with God and with friends across the region. The retreat had a total of 125 students from 24 different campuses across the northeast region such as NYU, Boston University, Drexel University, Princeton, Rutgers University, and even some students from Florida and Indiana and more! So what do you do at this retreat? Well…
CONTENT
Pastor Manny Kim from our Boston church giving a message at the beginning of the Northeast Retreat.
During the retreat, we had several messages on different Bible passages such as the Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14. Mike Kang shared about how when Jesus invites us to the life of a disciple, he’s inviting us into an abundant, joyful life. For the characters in Jesus’ parable, though, the good things in their lives made them too busy to seek out the best thing. We saw how God is a generous god who wishes that his “house may be filled” and who invites us to “come and drink!” Given that this is God’s invitation to us, we were all challenged to look at our lives and ask whether we would seek God’s invitation.
On top of messages based on the Bible we had several workshops that students could take based on their interest. One workshop called the Art of Reflection given by one of our campus ministers from Boston talked about the importance of reflection and practical tips on how to reflect about your thoughts, emotions and motivations to grow in self awareness. Other workshops included “Case for the Resurrection”, “Do All Religions Lead to God”, “Why Do We Think the Way We Do?”, and Science and Faith among others.
FUN
You can’t have a retreat without a bit of fun! During the afternoon we gathered into teams by campus for some friendly competition through athletic skill (or lack thereof). We played a few rounds of ultimate frisbee and our classic Braveheart, which is basically ultimate frisbee and dodgeball using only huge yoga balls. We also had several indoor games such as ping pong, carpet ball and pool. One Drexel student even challenged our very own trash-talking pastor in a game of ping pong! These were some really precious bonding moments for students cross-campuses.
Northeast students playing ultimate frisbee in the snow!
Northeast students throwing around football during fee time at the retreat site.
SPECIAL ELEMENTS
Students watching the Gospel Skit by our church plant interns.
Our church plant interns came together to put on a special production known as the Gospel Skit. Some of the older ones in our church created and produced this skit several years ago in Berkeley, California to help capture the core messages of the gospel and even clearing up misconceptions of Christianity that people might have. I remember watching the Gospel skit during my freshman year of college and being particularly moved by one scene where a young woman forgives her father for walking out of the family decades ago, representing how much God is willing to forgive us if we are honest with Him and ourselves about our sins. It was actually at my Freshman Retreat where I first saw this skit and where I decided to become Christian! Several students laughed and cried along with the different scenes but also were able to relate with how people tend to view God as depicted in the skit.
Wedding Scene from the Gospel Skit.
During college, I was always on the receiving end of the retreat as an undergrad who would simply show up and participate in the various elements. Now as a postgrad, I get to experience being on the other side of things. For a week and a half, the other CPI’s and I worked tirelessly to put together the Gospel Skit. I helped buy and build props and manage behind-the-scenes tech for the skit. On the first day, a team of us made the three hour trip to arrive eight hours before the start of the retreat to set up the gym and rooms for messages and workshops. I had a newfound appreciation for all the time and energy necessary that were poured into my retreat experiences and allowed for many spiritual breakthroughs and milestones for me.
It was exciting to host students from many of the campuses that we arrived on just 8 months ago. This retreat was also a time when among 125 students, many made concrete commitments to become Christian and to entrust their lives to Jesus. I am grateful that I could be a part of God’s work in the students’ lives this weekend. I’m also thankful that God was able to use a sinner like me along with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to help the students better understand the gospel and make one of the most significant decisions of their lives!