2023 Bible Retreat: In Review
Academy Headmaster, Gregg Garner, and Jr High and High Vice Principal, Ms. Mathews propose a question for students to answer in light of the weekend’s bible study: what is it about Jesus that you want the world to know through you?
This spring, Jr. High and High School students packed up and headed to Deer Run Retreat center, for two days of Bible study, worship and fellowship.
This is the second year the Academy has held a Bible retreat. These times serve as an opportunity for students to step back from their daily lives and responsibilities. They take focused time in God’s Word, developing the spiritual and social aspects of their holistic education.
This year’s theme was ‘World Renown’, taken from John 13:34-35. “A new command I give you: love one another just as I have loved you. This is how you are to love one another. By doing this, the world will know you learn from me but only if you have love for one another.” In considering the question of how to love one another well, students were pointed to the whole of Jesus’ life and teachings. If you are going to love as Jesus did, you will need to study and understand his life. Such a weekend retreat is not an ‘end’ but just the beginning of a deeper dive into lifelong biblical education.
Headmaster Gregg Garner was the main speaker, joined by a power team of other faculty and administrators who spoke on panels, led worship and facilitated small group discussions! Saturday night was an especially powerful time of worship. Many students and faculty testified to the presence of God moving so strongly that night.
“I have always had this sort of wall inside of me. It specifically has put a cap on my worship and relationship with God,” says 10th grader Ethan Benoit.
“During the worship time on Saturday night, I was trying my hardest to get past this gate, but I couldn’t. There was a limit to my worship. I prayed and I cried out but I could get no further. Then I saw Leif on the ground praying with his family and a few others. I felt compelled to go pray for him, so I did. I went to him and knelt beside him, and as soon as I touched him to pray over him, that wall, that very thing that had been blocking an emotional side of me that I have never seen, disappeared.
I had never felt anything like it. It was this new sense of freedom and love that washed over me. The moment my hand touched Leif’s shoulder I broke into tears of joy.”
Vice Principal Meg Mathews, who organized the retreat, also testified to the willingness and initiative of the students to engage the Lord in times of worship and Bible study:
A retreat is never absent of good times of fellowship with one another promoting unity, teamwork, and lasting friendships.
“Our Jr. High and High students do not wait to be entertained or facilitated; they are proactive in their faith and take the opportunity to engage God’s Word. I am so proud of our students as they have persevered so much through adversity and trials and yet they are still standing firm in their decision to follow Jesus and emulate him to the world.”
Students were also blessed to have parent chaperones join them in ensuring a smooth time. Academy parents had been helpful in volunteering for the two Parents Night Out events which gave students the chance to fundraise for retreat costs. Thank you, parents!
In between worship and times in scripture, the students played soccer, enjoyed the wildly popular zip line and navigated a climbing wall and high ropes course!
Senior Leif Nadeau shared after the retreat,
“Before I went on this Bible retreat, I had a conversation with my mentor, Mr. Aaseby, who challenged me to approach this weekend with an open mind and fully participate in all the activities. Let me tell you, everything I did during this retreat was way out of my comfort zone. From sitting at a table that was already crowded, to talking with people I don't usually interact with, riding on a zipline, playing by the real rules in sports, raising my hands in worship, and giving a testimony — it was all new territory for me.
What I discovered by pushing myself out of my comfort zone was truly eye-opening. Through this openness, I was able to fully embrace the spirit of God during worship in a way I had never experienced before.”
Times of worship and bible study characterized the weekend as students were challenged to consider what it meant to make Jesus known in the world.
The weekend was a power-packed, rich time of encountering the Lord, growing in relationships with one-another, and having a ton of fun! Vice Principal Mathews reflects with conviction,
“I have no doubt these students will be World Renown through the ways in which they care and love one another and those in need one day as they continue to become these young men and women of God.”