EMERGE Youth Retreat Equips Students to Grow in Their Faith
This fall, high school students and their leaders from across the diocese went on a retreat held at Toah Nipi Retreat Center in New Hampshire. The theme of the weekend was “Emerge” with talks and workshops focused on how discipleship begins with the heart and moves out from there. Rev. Canon Craig Vickerman encouraged students to consider what it means to follow Jesus as a disciple: to spend time with Jesus, to become like Jesus, and to do what Jesus did. On Saturday afternoon, everyone had the chance to practice Discovery Bible Study, Lectio Divina, and Visio Divina and to create a Rule of Life. Students and leaders also built new or deepening relationships through games like giant Jenga and handball.
When asked about the weekend, one student shared, “I went to the retreat too busy for God. Developing a Rule of Life and learning new tactics to study the Bible and listen to God have really helped me and left me on spiritual mountain top.” Spaces away from the regular routines of life, like a retreat, give young people an opportunity to experience the Holy Spirit in new and powerful ways.
Students not only engaged well with spiritual disciplines, they also had focused conversations on how they can continue to grow in their faith or explore faith on their own at home. For example, all of the students had a chance to develop a Rule of Life for themselves and discuss it with the group from their church. One high school senior wants to try leading a Discovery Bible Study at his school while a high school freshman plans to spend more time in solitude and silence.
Biko Che Guevara, a high school senior from Faith Anglican Church, summarized the weekend well when sharing his testimony about meeting God during the Visio Divina time:
I felt like this weekend would be a good opportunity to stop and breathe for a second: to get back what I had been missing… I came on this trip with questions like “What I am supposed to do to go back to not being tired, not having headaches, and smiling every day?” When we did the Visio Divina, I sat by the lake, and I breathed. I don’t know why, but when we started the activity, it was like the lake was calling to me and I just knew where to go… I realized that God wanted me there to awaken something in me, to snap me back and say, “This is what you’ve been missing, the calmness, the taking in the scenery, and the reflection. You should write it down so you don’t forget it.” …I felt like me. I felt relaxed. I felt like I could smile. …I can just relax. I really thank God for this amazing experience.
We are grateful and encouraged to see the work that God is doing in and through the emerging generation. The Emerge retreat was a testament to God’s faithfulness and a glimpse of what is still to come.
