By Kristi Smith, Pastor of Family Ministries, Milwaukie Covenant Church | Chair, PacNWC Youth Commission
Last weekend saw the PacNWC’s first-ever fall Mud Retreat for high school students. Hosting it earlier in the school year, we didn’t know quite what to expect. Would youth workers register their groups for a retreat, having just been to camp with their middle school group a few weeks earlier? Would student’s busy fall schedules allow them to attend? To both questions, the answer appears to be a resounding, “Yes!”
225 high school students and adult chaperones gathered with the theme “Food Fight: What’s Your Flavor?” to play wacky, food-themed games and to explore what it means to be the salt of the earth. Speaker Alicia Vela talked about the unique flavor that each person offers through the image of God they bear. Students were challenged to reflect on what things distract from God’s purpose for us and dilute our saltiness in the world. With arms raised high, students responded to God in energetic, heartfelt worship led by the “Food Fighters,” a band of North Park students who also staffed a booth to talk to students about post-highschool plans. Saturday night, students engaged with God through various prayer stations: looking into mirrors while listening to Spirit’s voice speak to them about who they are, and prayerfully planting white flags of surrender representing areas of surrender to God. They created a wall of prayer and offered their anxieties to the Lord by snapping craft sticks with stressors written on them. Youth workers and volunteers engaged students in group discussions and prayed with them, encouraging them to take steps closer to the Lord.
These serious moments were interspersed with unforgettable memories: plunging into icy lake waters, hiking through forested hills, flying across a ravine on a zip line, competing in basketball with donut holes and tongs, and playing archery tag, paintball, gaga ball and a real-life version of hungry, hungry hippos.
After a year off and a smaller retreat last winter due to Covid-19, it felt good to gather together again and feel the current of the Spirit at work in the hearts and lives of our students. Please be praying for them as they return from the mountaintop experiences of the retreat to plateaus and valleys that make up their daily lives. Pray that God’s Spirit would cause the seeds that were planted and watered to grow and bear fruit in their lives, families, churches, schools, and neighborhoods.