Praise #2: God spoke through the speakers and people giving their
testimony, and this opened up conversations with the students about this theme
and what it means to their life.
*Esther: Esther (H.S. math teacher at CCA
and dear friend of mine) came to me super nervous about what she would say on
Friday night. She was only told on Thursday that she would be the one giving
the wrap-up talk/challenge after the gospel was shared at the retreat. The Lord
has gifted her incredibly with an ability to communicate truths from Scripture
to a middle school/high school audience, and she did a phenomenal job letting
Him speak through her.
She
challenged the students to examine their lives and think about why they were at
retreat that weekend. Were they at the point of crossroads with making a
decision to follow Jesus? Were they following Him, yet wrestling with big God
questions? Or were they there to enjoy “walking in the cool of the Garden” with
God and grow deeper in understanding His love and purpose for their lives?
This talk
really set the stage for the entire weekend, as well as delivered the most
powerful message of all: “He (Jesus)
was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed”
(Isa. 53:5)
*Danae: Within the past month, God has
been confirming His call on Danae (H.S. English teacher at CCA and my upstairs
neighbor/running buddy/accountability partner) to spend next year in Guinea
(Africa) with Mami teaching missionary kids. Panama has been a place of
spiritual renewal for her, of understanding what God’s love means and looks
like through His people, and yet, why would God remove her from this place and
send her somewhere far outside her comfort zone? There is a song we’ve been
singing in worship during Crossfire that sums up pretty well why:
“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet
could ever wander
And my faith will be made
stronger
Danae shared how God wants our
WHOLE SELVES. This is not to say that once we find joy and peace that He
removes us from that situation, but yet, God teaches us and lays different
burdens on our heart as we get closer to Him.
He stretches us to trust Him,
whether it is like Abraham who left his family, his people, and his country to
obey God, or it is like Ruth who surrendered identity and security (“your
people will be my people and your God will be my god” Ruth 1:16), or like
Peter, who, while fearful, climbed out of the boat and walked on top of the
waves toward Jesus (Matthew 14:22-23). Her talk was a challenge to students and
leaders alike.
*Student #1: One of the worship band members, an incredibly talented
guitar player and gorgeous singer, shared about a vulnerable part of her life
and how she’s surrendering it to Christ. Having struggled with an eating
disorder throughout middle school, she now finds assurance and worth in knowing
Christ.
*Student #2: One of the sophomore guys who is known mainly for being
able to free style rap at the drop of a hat shared openly and honestly about
having Tourrete Syndrome. It took a lot of guts to get up there and share in
front of his peers, especially as he talked about how these impulses have
affected his friendships, his daily life and even made school a huge struggle.
He shared how he wasn’t sure how God was using this experience; although, I’m
pretty sure that simply sharing his story was a big step in allowing God to redeem
this struggle in his life and a powerful witness to other MS/HS guys of looking
to God when we don’t understand the circumstances in our lives.
*Seniors #3-4:
After the weekend, a senior
girl and guy each shared in church about the impact the retreat made on their
lives and what God was teaching them in particular. For the senior guy, it’s
been a year-long journey of surrendering to God his future, as he college plans
and is unsure about what career path to take. This retreat came at the perfect
time for him.
For the senior girl, what
resonated the most with her was the symbolism of literally nailing our sins
(written on a slip of paper) to the cross. Saturday night, Pastor Bob Gunn (a
long time Bible translator and missionary/pastor in Panama) shared stories from
his life of how he had to surrender to God in the little and big decisions. He
then gave the challenge to the students to surrender their own sins/struggle
areas of their life to Jesus, the only one who can forgive and redeem and
restore us to a right relationship with Him.
God had been working in
students’ hearts during the weekend, and middle and high school students rushed
to the stage. Kneeling by the wooden cross, they scrawled their sin/area of
life they wanted to surrender to Jesus on a square of white paper. Then, they
selected a nail and a hammer and began the work of nailing this piece of paper
into the cross. I watched as student after student sat by the cross and
committed this act of surrender and prayed for God to continue to work
powerfully in their lives. I had the sweet privilege of praying with a few
middle school girls afterward who surrendered some pretty tough stuff, like
future plans and family life and anger and attitude. Some students returned to
the cross multiple times, as God spoke to their hearts and said, “Well, what
about that area of your life? Will
you give that to me, too?”
In church, the senior girl
explained how the sound of the hammers pounding away was convicting, because it
made her reflect on how Jesus took the punishment of death that we deserved and
all of our sin upon Him when he
suffered an agonizing death on the cross.
What a fresh perspective to
view the experience through the eyes of a student! To those listening to her
testimony or those present at the retreat, I’m sure we will never take
communion or look upon a cross in the same way. The cross will always serve as
a reminder of just how much He loves us.
His love is:
