Growing While in High School: Element Fall Retreat

[intro]Element: Crazy, off-the-wall, high school ministry at Riv.

Fall: Beautiful season of changing colors, cooler temperatures, and college football.

Retreat: Time to get away, have fun with friends, and grow spiritually.[/intro]

The Element Fall Retreat is back! This year on November 21-23, we will be taking 60+ high school students from Riv to Timberwolf Lake, a Young Life property in Lake City, MI. Retreats are a huge part of the student ministries at Riv as leaders and students are able to share time together to have fun, eat meals together, and engage in spiritual conversation.

Becoming a Christian in high school, retreats were some of the most influential periods of spiritual growth in my life. Even though some retreats were over 10 years ago, I still have vivid memories of the experiences I shared with my friends.

Retreats let you be yourself.

So often, many of us are scared to let people know who we really are. What we struggle with or what we wish were different about our lives. When students are with leaders and friends who care about them, the masks come off and real conversations happen. Students need to be seen for who they really are, and retreats give them the opportunity open up about their lives.

Retreats show us authentic, godly community.

We are all parts of various communities. Whether it’s an athletic team, a band, a theater group, or just a bunch of friends with a common interest, we all know what it is like to be in community. A community of believers is different in that we push one another towards godliness.

For me, getting involved in a faith community in high school enabled me to develop meaningful friendships with people who shared what I believed in. Spending weekends together growing in our faith were some of my favorite high school moments.

Retreats remind us of the Gospel.

At every retreat we plan, we make sure that the good news of Jesus Christ is shared clearly and explicitly. Romans 1:16 states “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” We know that Jesus’ perfect life, death on the cross for our sin, and resurrection from the dead is what changes people. That is the message we must tell to everyone, and we use our time at retreats to share that and what faith in Christ looks like for someone in high school.

If you are interested in signing up for the Fall Retreat, click here.