It is a privilege to say that retreats are a rhythmic practice here at LMPC, especially in the youth ministry. However, I think one retreat stands out among the rest and that is our midwinter high school retreat at Ponderosa Bible Camp in Mentone, Alabama.
Like many other retreats, we go away for a weekend to a camp nestled in the woods on the bank of a small river. Every morning and evening is centered on singing hymns together, prayer, and sharing God’s Word. There are intentional spaces and times for food and fellowship, play and laughter, conversation and silence.
But what makes Ponderosa stand apart is that the speakers are the high school students. Eight students are
nominated by their peers to share testimonials of how God has shown himself in the particulars of their lives. It is a beautiful time for underclassmen to hear their senior peers reflect on their 18 years of life, testifying to God’s goodness and love in their stories. It is a gentle reminder for us to do the same: to slow down, listen, and know that God is good. It is a reminder that what God has done in his Son Jesus, he is continuing to realize in and through us, his people, by his Spirit! It is a profound privilege to witness high schoolers sharing their love for the Lord and his Word, encouraging all of us (adults and high schoolers alike) to do the same.
The inherent beauty and goodness of this time of intentional Christian fellowship and worship is well summarized in an excerpt from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together. He writes “… the Christian… sees in the companionship of a fellow Christian a physical sign of the gracious presence of the triune God… But if there is so much blessing and joy even in a single encounter of brother with brother, how inexhaustible are the riches that open up for those who by God’s will are privileged to live in the daily fellowship of life with other Christians!”
What a gift to be able to immerse ourselves in the beauty of God’s creation and to remind one another of our identity as beloved and forgiven sons and daughters of our Creator. This is not merely an idea we have to convince ourselves of or manifest, but a divine reality we get to live into by his Spirit. As the psalmist declares in Psalm 133, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”
