This weekend was the 2nd Annual Winter Youth Retreat,
with about 7 other Houston-area churches, with the theme Underground.
It was an experiential retreat, with the idea that it was the year 2047 and Christianity is illegal.
The beliefs of the nation were Moralist, Therapuetic, Deism.
In short, as long as you are a good person, and you do what makes you feel good, there is a god who will take care of you.
Jesus was not allowed.
Group worship focusing on Jesus was definitely not allowed.
There were even guards to enforce all of the laws.
That just meant that the youth kids had to get a little creative.
Some chose to blatantly ignore the "laws" and they were quickly put in jail.
(and let out soon after)
But others found ways to worship their Savior.
This group put up this cross (or found it?) and claimed it was to honor one of the guards named Tony.
There were several different objectives the kids had to meet throughout the day,
such as a devo of 3, a devo of 15, and a devo of 100.
They had to come up with a way to communicate with each other about these too.
At the end of the day, the guards captured the Ally (or Christian) leader.
They had him face down in the dirt, beating him in front of everyone (not really)
and then this happened...
This is a picture of over 100 teens laying their lives down in the name of Christ.
This was a powerful moment that none of us will ever forget.
And it completely threw the guards off - they didn't know what to do!
It was incredible!
It was a fun weekend for the kids, but a challenging weekend as well.
I think that each teen that committed to the experience gained SO much!
For me, it was great to see teen boys stepping up to lead devotionals, preach sermons, and get everyone singing praises to our Lord together.
One youth minister said it well when he said that this weekend showed him the future of the Church is a bright one.
These kids are going to make sure it survives - and they have the knowledge to do it.
It was a great weekend, spent with even greater teens!
And it completely threw the guards off - they didn't know what to do!
It was incredible!
It was a fun weekend for the kids, but a challenging weekend as well.
I think that each teen that committed to the experience gained SO much!
For me, it was great to see teen boys stepping up to lead devotionals, preach sermons, and get everyone singing praises to our Lord together.
One youth minister said it well when he said that this weekend showed him the future of the Church is a bright one.
These kids are going to make sure it survives - and they have the knowledge to do it.
It was a great weekend, spent with even greater teens!
This sounds awesome! And I'm glad you explained it all, because I've been wanting to know since I saw your pictures! So glad it went so well for you guys!
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