Fall Retreat Recap

"This place is really nice!" It was always said with a mixture of shock and awe, and it's something I heard several times this past weekend from the students who came on our Fall Retreat.

13 students and I ventured to a farm south of the Cities on Saturday, and until Sunday afternoon, we spent our time connecting with God and each other through personal devotions, small group discussions, food, games, and a spontaneous dance party aided by blaring car stereos. Our main topic of discussion for the weekend was Transformation...what it is, what it looks like, how it happens, and how all these ideas come together for God to work through us to transform Hamline's campus. Also tied up in those discussions was the idea of why we do what we do on campus. Basically, it's all about how God works through the transformation that's happening in our own lives to transform others. It's a message that resonated with the students and will influence how we approach much of what we do for the rest of the year.

Our time also provided some relief from the responsibilities of school and a chance to get out of the city and admire the beauty of God's creation. Several of the students spent some of their personal time on Saturday afternoon wandering around the pastures enjoying the beautiful October afternoon.

Moving forward, my work now turns to integrating the discussion from this past weekend into the day-to-day ministry on campus. That will mostly involve discipleship of students, encouraging deeper relationships, and planning new opportunities for new students to engage in the InterVarsity community. This coming Friday, we are hosting a movie night with an opportunity afterwards for a discussion on how faith is portrayed in the film. Plans are also coming together for at least one service opportunity this semester and a couple outreach events in the Spring. Please keep all of this in your prayers.

Thank you so much for all your prayers that went in to this weekend. It came together quite rapidly, and that unfortunately added a bit of stress to the planning and preparation. However, God definitely was at work, and because of it, the students are even more excited for what is ahead this year. Actually, I am, too. It's going to be a great rest of the year.