FTS Retreat is a highlight every year for all the Joyland fourth through sixth grade kids and teachers. This year we bundled 48 eager and excited boys and girls together and headed for the Silver Spur Conference Center near Tuolumne, CA. The 4 days we spent there were very action-packed and memorable, and a wonderful opportunity for the kids to bond through events like King Kong Shower, sports, swimming, hiking, water slides, archery, team competition/skits, campfire times, and more.
Some of the activities the kids really enjoyed were things like the huge water slide at the camp. It was a blast watching the kids face their nerves and go down the twisty slide, and by the end of the time they were so into it that they would cheer loudly for one another as we tried to see who could stick the farthest landing at the end of the slide. Or the time we spent at beautiful Pinecrest Lake, where the kids and teachers alike were able to engage in nice, all-out, water splashing wars. (Although Teacher Nelson had the unfair advantage of being the only one with a water gun.) Altogether, it was great to see the kids enjoy this type of wholesome, outdoor fun, in an environment and culture that makes experiences like this increasingly rare.
For me, some of the most memorable times were those more subtle moments: witnessing those elusive smiles emerge from some of our shier or more troubled children; watching some of our more seasoned children reach out to the relatively new faces; or seeing the barriers between our more regular kids and former Impact kids continue to gradually erode through team activities, food fellowship, and shared fun.
Not that the retreat was only about games and activities. Our time there was also a precious opportunity for the kids to take a more focused and deliberate look at who God is. The theme of the retreat was Divine Design, and through Teacher John Ko’s messages we wanted the kids to learn that God is great, God created each of them, and that God loves them and cares what happens to them. It was a blessing to witness as the kids were able to have this time to engage and respond to Teacher John’s illustrations and points.
Ultimately, one of my boys responded to the messages by making a salvation decision. As I heard him articulate his need for God and clear understanding all that Christ had done for him, I marveled at all the ways God must have orchestrated this boy’s life to bring him to this point: all the family, friends, older brothers, Joyland messages, past FTS retreats, former teachers...all these things must have acted together to guide him to this most important of decisions. And of course, as we were learning at the retreat, we serve a God who cares about us enough to do this orchestrating for each of us.
In the end, a number of the FTS kids made salvation decisions, re-commitments, or expressed the desire to learn about God; but even for those who didn’t, we know that through this experience, through all the messages and wholesome memories and fellowship, each child walked away with a clearer picture of who God is and how much He loves and cares for each of them.