Seacoast Lift 2009 Winter Retreat
Seacoast Lift 2009 Winter Retreat
February 14-16
This past weekend we loaded up over 200 students from five different seacoast campuses and headed to the mountains of North Carolina for an incredible weekend with God. The theme of the retreat centered around Worship being the main focus of our lives. We stayed at a beautiful retreat center surrounded by mountains that provided amazing views of some of God’s most beautiful creation. Throughout history people have journeyed to the mountains to be with God. Moses met with God on Mount Sinai to receive instruction for the people of Israel. Elijah went up the mountain to hear God’s voice in the silence. Jesus withdrew to the mountains often for prayer. Seacoast Students went to the mountain top this weekend to experience God like they never had before.
We learned that we must put away distractions in our life, ask for forgiveness for the sins in our life, and be willing to obey God’s will for our lives if we want to have an incredible worship experience with God. We learned that we have to take time to sit silently before God if we want to listen to Him. We also learned that we can use our mountain top experience to share the love of God with others back in the valley. The weekend was filled with incredible worship led by West Ashley Campus worship leader, Ryan Bailey and band. God spoke through Brandon Hair, Seacoast Summerville Youth Director, and Josh Ray, Seacoast Long Point High School Minister, each night to students who are desperate for God. We had an incredible team of youth group leaders sharing their stories and leading the students through small group sessions. The students had the opportunity to surrender themselves completely to God this weekend.
One of our students came to me after I spoke the first night and broke down because of the sin in his life that he is addicted to and how he felt so ashamed. It was hard for him to worship God because he could not accept forgiveness for his sins. We had an incredible time of prayer and seeking God for forgiveness and we both truly felt the presence of God. One young girl had been struggling with her self image and feeling loved by anyone. She approached one of our female leaders wanting to feel loved by God. By the end of their conversation, she knew that God loved her and she had felt loved by many of the other girls on the trip. Another student was so inspired by God, she wrote a worship song that night expressing her love for Jesus. We had even more students letting go of past mistakes that were hindering them from pursuing God. We had students forgiving their parents for getting a divorce and wanting to figure out how to better love and honor them. For some students, this was the first time they truly met with God and felt His presence in their lives.
Did I also mention that we had a blast! The students had an amazing time Skiing, Snowboarding, and Tubing. We even saw some real snow on Sunday night, something some Charleston students have never seen before. I know the stories will keep coming in about how God met with us on the mountain top this past weekend. I want to thank all of the parents for trusting us with your children over the weekend and for our church who wants to see this generation become fully devoted to Christ.
Thank you God for the Opportunity to Reach this Generation!
Joshua Ray
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