It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything.  Sorry about that.  With my dad’s health issues and Christmas preparations starting around church, blogging was the easiest thing to let go of to allow more space in my life.  Everyone needs some margin in their life right?

Anyway, this past weekend brought our annual high school retreat to J-Town (Jumonville via Pittsburgh Kids Foundation).  This was the biggest J-Town weekend in the history of the retreat with around 500 students (70 of whom came from our church).  If you’ve not had the opportunity to go to J-Town, here’s a glimpse into what goes on throughout the weekend:

Students arrive by the busload Friday evening, greeted by a very animated program staff from PKF.  There are 4 ‘club’ times throughout the weekend that include worship, a run-on skit, and teaching that progresses through the Gospel message.  The run-on skit exists to help students let their guard down and be comfortable and open to hearing the Gospel.  Some of the activities that the students can participate include a day-spa, movie, football, air-soft, guitar hero, a hike up to the cross, coffee-house, improv, and a number of other things.  After the 3rd club time (the message of the cross), everyone spends 20 minutes outside, alone in silence.  This is by far the most powerful time in the whole weekend as the students are alone with God.  After that 20 minutes (as well as after every other club time) there is cabin time where students and their leaders discuss the talk from club, relating it to life and what ever is going on in their lives.  Every cabin time is different because every cabin has different dynamics.  Sunday morning is the only time there is no cabin time because after club it is time to head home.

Now for my high points throughout the weekend…

I had the privilege to lead a student band this weekend.  It was an incredible experience for me as I got to witness hundreds of students jump right into worship wholeheartedly.  It was awesome to see our students leading them as well.  Our student band from blitz is growing into an incredible team of lead worshipers.  They are not just up there performing for their peers, but they are worshiping God from deep in their hearts and leading their peers is just a natural product of their worship.

After the 20 minutes of silence, our cabin time was deep and focused.  Just like last year, we took extra time during this moment to allow the students to get real and be open.  My favorite part was when John openly and publicly recommitted himself to Christ, accepting Him as Lord and Savior.  With a lot of freshmen in our cabin, it was great for them to see an upperclassman do that.  This was THE high point of my weekend.

Another high point for me was cabin time in general.  To see the students asking questions and being real with the answers they were giving to our questions was awesome to see.  Some students that I didn’t really expect to hear much from had some of the deepest input into our conversation.

With this past weekend being such a spiritually high moment, it is now important for me and the other leaders to keep up with the students.  We need to stay along side of them as they navigate being back at home, back in school, and the inevitable trials that they will face.  Please pray for us and all the students that were at J-Town (and all the students that will be there in 2 weeks).