I’m headed out on a weekend trip with some of the teens from our church this weekend.
I’m taking some of the guys from our youth group and we are going to a weekend retreat hosted by Ozark Christian College. It’s called Deeper Life.
It’s a pretty simple concept. They host high school students on campus for the weekend and provide main sessions with incredible worship and a challenging message. There will be an array of inspiring workshops to choose from, as well as some awesome fun. They house us in the dorms with the students and feed us in the school’s cafeteria (read into that what you will…).
All this for $25! Not too bad.
For this particular weekend, we didn’t have any girls sign up. So this will be just a guy’s weekend. We’ll be able to do a couple of fun things while we’re out. We plan on heading down to see if we can see the Spook Light. Probably not, but we’ll try. We’ll also try to fit in a few hunts for geocaches. (If you’ve never tried geocaching, you need to do it right away! Excellent fun!)
I love weekend get-away like this. Here are four reasons.
Trips like this build relationships
I love getting away with several of our teens because these kinds of things build relationships. I love the one-on-one opportunities trips like this provide. And half a dozen guys hanging out in a dorm room for the night? Awesome. Except for the kid who has smelly shoes. The kid is great. The smell… not so much.
Trips like this foster community
Some weekend trips, we may have a couple dozen students go with us. Others, maybe only a handful. Either way, we return home with deeper friendships among us. Teens who normally might not spend a lot of time together have just spent and intense 24-30 hours together, getting to know each other better, and opening themselves up to each other. Do you want to build community in your youth group? Take several of your teens on a weekend get-away.
Trips like this relax me
Yeah, you read that right. And right now you’re wondering what’s wrong with me. But it’s true. I find weekend like this to be relaxing. Not necessarily in a physical way. A few hundred teens, a busy schedule, and no sleep equals physical tiredness. But I find weekends like this one to be spiritually relaxing. I get to take in the teaching, instead of doing it myself. I get to participate in worship, instead of leading it myself. I get to just be a regular person for a few hours, hanging out with people less than half my age. Relaxing.
The van ride
This might just be my favorite part of a weekend like this one. A group of people, confined into a small space for a few hours. Is there any better group-building opportunity in youth ministry?
There are many other benefits I could list from weekend events like Deeper Life at OCC: the spiritual growth, the intense Bible teaching opportunities, the decisions made, the fun times, the restaurants, the time away from the daily routine, and many more.
What are your favorite aspects of youth ministry trips? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Ozark Christian College has three such weekends every year. Deeper Life (April) and Ambassador’s Rally (November) are for high school students, while Get[A]Way is for Junior High. They all provide excellent opportunities to spend quality time with students. See the OCC website for more information.