Youth Retreat Recap

   Thank you to all of you who prayed for us this past weekend as we ventured to Matagalpa with 23 of our youth for a retreat focused on purity (the whole group pictured left at Cascada Blanca waterfall).
  It was an amazing weekend of being surrounded by the beauty of creation as we entered into the beauty of God’s presence. We stayed in the mountains at Selva Negra coffee plantation for a weekend filled with worship, relationship, teaching, and adventure.
   Jacob started our teachings speaking on the Lord’s love and how we need His love to fill our hearts first so that we are free to love others. Ashley taught next on what the heart needs in order to have healthy relationships and the balance between vulnerability and guarding your hearts. I finished off the weekend’s teachings talking about the Lord’s standards of purity and how we can choose to wait for what is best rather than settling for what is now. We were able to really see our youth understanding and openly sharing about relationships and how to have relationships that reflect God’s best for them. They were very engaged and inquisitive during the teachings. I will be excited to see them walk out these truths!
    Another key component of the weekend was diving into the Lord’s presence through worship. I believe that the Lord did more in our times of worship than in any other part of the weekend. True change will only come to the extent that they can receive the Lord’s love and allow that love to saturate, heal, and restore their hearts. I loved seeing the authenticity and the intimacy of their worship. It delighted my heart to see as some sat crying and praying before the Lord, some danced, others raised their hands in adoration, and still others lay before Him starring into His creation as they worshiped. It was beautiful to see them enter into God’s presence and the way that the Holy Spirit filled their hearts. We saw inner healings take place and youth released into more joy than they had ever experienced. I also love to watch the youth as they began to minister to one another. It was incredible to watch the Lord move on individual hearts and then to watch as others would come around them to embrace them as they wept- to pray, and to speak truth over one another. (You can see pictured left youth worshiping in different ways and several of the youth ministering to others in small groups). The Lord spoke some powerful truths over their lives in this weekend and I believe that it is the beginning of a huge work that He is doing in them as a group and as individuals. My heart rejoices to see them longing more and more for His presence! One morning during worship, I thought back to last year’s retreat and thought about how much we were teaching on what it means to be real before the Lord and worship Him authentically. We didn’t have to start there this year. Our youth have really been growing in their individual relationships with the Lord and in worship and so this year we were able to enter more deeply into His healing presence. Sometimes in the day-to-day it’s hard to see how much they are growing, but when I think back to where they were a year ago I can see what a huge work the Lord has done!
   Jesus said, in John 10:10b, “I have come that they may have LIFE and have it to the full.” We wanted this weekend to be filled to the brim with LIFE! These youth pushed themselves to new depths in God’s presence, new heights of adventure, and a new level of community together. Our location in Matagalpa allowed us to engage the teenagers in adventures both Friday and Saturday. On Friday we took them all hiking through the rainforest at Selva Negra. We chose to take the trail to the mountaintop overlook. I don’t think any of us realized what a long or hard hike it would turn out to be. Many of our youth were really struggling during the hike, but they came around one another and encouraged the others to keep moving forward. I also heard several of them talking about how the Lord was speaking to them during the hike about learning to walk in dependence with Him and how to conquer their fears. On Saturday we took the kids to Cascada Blanca waterfall (pictured at the top). On the side of the water, there is a rock where you can jump into the water below. Honestly the rock is not very high, only about 10-12 feet (which anyone who enjoys cliff jumping will know is really not high), but most of our youth tend to have a great fear of heights and water so I really doubted that many of them would jump. Several of them climbed up to the top and then you would see their arms and legs just trembling as they said, “I don’t think I can do this.” I stood behind them, encouraging them. I remember saying to Rosita, “You are such a strong woman! You have more strength than anyone I know. I know you want to do this and you can. You can do it!” After about five minutes of waiting she took a deep breath and plunged into the water where Jake and Diego were waiting for the ones who needed help swimming to the shore. More kids followed suit. There were at least a dozen youth who swallowed their fears and took that leap into the water. They were so proud of themselves and really enjoyed the adventure of it all. I really believe that the combination of diving into the Lord’s presence and diving into adventures that push you to more, allow the youth to taste the abundant life that the Lord longs to lavish upon them.
   Thank you again for your prayers! I could not have asked for a more amazing weekend FULL of life, adventure, and the Lord’s love. Please continue to pray for our youth (the entire group on our last day pictured right) as they learn to walk daily in His presence and to walk out the truths that they learned this weekend.

*This is just a short recap, but there are more stories to come of specific things the Lord has done in the midst of this weekend. Stay tuned for more…