2022 Youth Retreat Reflections

Matthew Zhang:
Entering the April 2022 Lake Champion Retreat, I expected only two things: first, to play a lot of basketball with other members of my youth group and even other churches! And second, to grow spiritually by encountering God, learning more about him, and spending a lot of personal time with him. My first expectation was met during the organized 3v3 basketball tournament, where I enjoyed a couple of really competitive games against teams from other churches. My second expectation was not only met but exceeded during the prayer and reflection activity, when I spent more personal time with God than I had in a really, really long time. This activity gave me the opportunity to reflect upon my greatest sins and the things that are restraining my faith in God.  It was during this reflection that I, for the first time in my life, fully conceptualized the necessity of Jesus Christ as my savior. I finally understood what it means to be saved by his sacrifice on the cross, and why we need a savior in the first place! Moving forward, I have a new resolve to celebrate the ways God has blessed me by testifying to the miracles of his that I have been fortunate enough to witness. God is always good, and I want to use my life to show other people why that is true!  

Kaylee Kurimoto: 
The first time I went on a youth group retreat was the 2022 Lake Champion Retreat. I didn’t have too many expectations, I went to it with an open mind and didn’t think too much about it. We arrived on Friday and when we toured around, my first thought was that it was cool. Each building was separate for a certain subject; one a gym, the other the cafeteria. Over the three days, I got to experience many things with my friends, and ultimately grew closer to each other. A few other churches were there too, and I got to meet new people. In the mornings and at night, we would go to the chapel and sing songs and praise God. A man named Omar spoke about how God worked in his life, and how God works in his own ways. Many of his stories stood out to me and showed me how wonderful God is. One of them was how Omar went to many different places, and there was this woman who injured her foot, and even after a few days it was still sore. Omar prayed over her and instantly, it felt better. Omar prayed a few more times, and still, the pain subsided. Of course it isn’t always like this, but it was a true miracle right? After the retreat, I thought back and reflected how this trip impacted me. It opened my eyes and showed me how God was working in other people’s lives and that he can make true miracles happen. This trip opened up new paths for me and was a great experience.