Last Friday night at 7:43, Covenant Pines Bible Camp was quiet. You could stand outside and easily pick out distinct sounds. Rustling from pesky Oak trees that refuse to let go of their leaves. Scampering squirrels that seem so busy all the time. Crunching snow under the boots of the few staff that were making last minute preparations. Perhaps the distant horn of a train as it passed through McGregor.
But 7:44 another sound was added to those; the sound of a yellow school bus crossing the Davis Lake bridge. At 7:45 all other sounds were drowned out as the bus doors opened and 50 screaming elementary students rushed out into a 48 hour adventure called Trailblazer Retreat.
The adventure started with dinner in Oak Ridge and then ice breaker games in Bald Eagle Lodge. After the ice was sufficiently broken, we sat the campers down and told them about our theme for the weekend. The theme was based off of Psalm 121, which is a beautiful Psalm about a God who “will not let your foot slip.” The psalmist paints a beautiful image of a God who always watches over us and helps us through our challenges. “Climb On” was the title and our meeting room was decked out with mountain decorations.
The next day was jam packed full of games and activities. We ran, we searches, we climbed, we tubed. Take two minutes to watch the video at the bottom of the page and see for yourself!
Campers came from many of our Covenant Churches; Sanctuary, Faith, Plymouth, Community, Maple Grove, and Crossroads. Joining them were volunteers and church leaders from those churches. The purpose of the retreat was to provide these leaders with an opportunity to bond with their students. The staff here at Pines took care of all the messages, devotions, worship, and games so that these adults could simply pour into their students. At the end of the retreat our Marketing Director, Tate, got to interview a handful of the campers and ask them about their experience. All of the campers mentioned three things: fun, friends, and God. Those are the three goals with every youth retreat; that kids will have fun, make friends, and learn about God.
Join us at next year’s Trailblazer Retreat!
Click here to see pictures from the retreat.
