I love youth retreats. Even though I invariably get to a point where I’m ready for my own bed and to breathe in something other than adolescent body odor, there’s just something about having a large group of teenagers stuck together for an extended period of time with the specific purpose of growing their relationship with God and each other that is, dare I say, enjoyable.
During a retreat students will spend close to two hours at a time in worship, in teaching, and in small groups. And you know what? More often than not the complaint is not that we spend too much time doing these things, but rather that we spend too little. In addition, over the course of a weekend students are given two hours by themselves to digest what has been discussed and to spend time alone with God. No cell phones. No music. No video games. No friends. Just them and God. While I am not naive enough to think all fifty kids use this time as intended, it is very encouraging to look out over an open field and see them spread out with their bibles, doing something they may not often get the chance to do in the weekly rhythm of their life.
The goal of a retreat is simple: at the end of our time together, am I as the participant better able to recognize my need for Jesus? Do I walk away from a fun weekend full of games, goofy lip sync videos, free T-shirt’s and junk food (oh, and sleeping arrangements that quickly end up smelling like musty socks) with a renewed sense of how much I am loved by the creator of the universe? If so, then it has been a successful weekend. And as soon as the last bag of trash has been taken out, I’m already thinking about doing this all over again.
— Tim Wilson