Stand Update

I am exhausted! We have been going non-stop from my the time to that we have arrived at Camp Gilead. Over the course of 44 hours we have played capture the flag, Mini golf, ultimate Frisbee, Basketball, Four square ping pong, Speed Jenga, board games, Water balloon toss, Tag, water fight and a lot more. My legs feel like they will never forgive me!

Cue the pictures! 

Ninja was a favorite game - They played it all the time! 

 

Waiting in line with Kendra and Brianna! 

Katie & Amy chilling out :) 

Waiting in line to play ping pong

Table pic! Look at all these cute people! I got to spend three days with them :) Emily looks like she is getting tickled. The food at Camp Gilead was really good! 

Selfie! 

Me and my sissies! They are so awesome! It was great to get to spend time with them :) I miss them bunches. When we said goodbye on Friday I almost started crying. 

We played knock out, which I lost in the first round but it was incredibly fun!

We played around the world too. No surprise I wasn't much better at that one either =P

Another selfie with more awesome people!

One of the devotional times that we had. Jim did an excellent job teaching on the acronym STAND. 

Smiling when they should have been paying attention.... 

Cosmic Encounters.... One of the best games ever created! It is so much fun! (My birthday is coming up *wink, wink* haha just kidding)

Beki and Kendra!

That's a lot of broccoli that you got there Jason! Jason & Emily :) 

I was taking pictures of everyone as they were walking by me at lunch. I have to say I enjoyed this a little too much :) Brandon & Ivan

This is a picture of Sing & Share the last night. It was an awesome time! 

One of my favorite parts of this retreat has been to hear the testimonies from all the CYIA students. There were stories of kids being saved, challenges being overcome and the Lord moving. It was very encouraging to see them and hear what God had done. This year at CYIA our theme song was "Mighty Fortress" by Aaron Shust. It is a song declaring the goodness of God and what he is like. Last week was the last time this year that we will be singing that song all together and it was so beautiful to hear all 33 or our voices lifted up to our Heavenly Father declaring to him that through the summer he is and was our fortress.

The acronym STAND stands for..  (see what i did there? haha)

S - Surround Yourself - Jim talked about being around people that will encourage you to live a Christian life and challenged the students to think about who they spend the most time with. 

T - Tell your Friends - Be a witness! Tell people who don't know about Christ about him and encourage your Christian friends to follow him 

A - Aim to Please Him - This session focused on doing things to please the Lord and your motivation should be to please Him. 

N - Navigate His Word - Jim taught the students an excellent way to study the Bible and in small groups we actually put it into practice. 

D - Defend Your Faith - At this point he linked all the messages together and challenged them to know what they believe and stand firm in their faith. 

Overall the retreat was a huge success! 30 students came and were encouraged to make a difference this year in their schools and also challenged to invite one friend to come to CYIA with them next year. I can't wait to see what God does because of their faithfulness to follow him! We had a ton of fun and at the end of it all God was glorified!

I can't wait to do it again next year!!