Vineyard Winter Youth Retreat: Freedom, New Hampshire

I was all set to go at 6:30 AM, as we were asked to be prepared by that time. Unfortunately, one of the two van drivers mistakenly filled up our van with regular gas instead of diesel, so we had to wait for some time for a siphon to empty the tank. Many of the people that were supposed to ride in our van fit into the other one, but I was one of the 'select few' that was asked to stay behind. Naturally I was somewhat annoyed with getting up so early on a Saturday morning only to be told to wait.

There was an increasing amount of trouble with the van, so finally we elected to take an intern's truck and a leader's small car to transport the remaining 6 of us to Freedom, New Hampshire, where the retreat was about to begin.

Until we got there, I had no idea that the retreat was actually at a summer camp! Cody looks exactly like an authentic summer camp should, but of course winterized. Sporting fields and recreation areas are abundant, and most of the cabins are very close to Lake Ossipee. Cody has been around for most of the 20th century as a summer camp exclusively for boys.

Camp Cody's cafeteria and Lake Ossipee

We arrived around lunch time, but much of the food publicly available in the cafeteria was already eaten. There was grilled cheese sandwiches and salad left, of which I gratefully partook. I usually don't have grilled cheese, but it was actually surprisingly good. I'm finding more and more that as I eat stuff that I used to hate or merely said I hated, I actually end up liking it!

In the afternoon us interns were split up into several teams to do different workshops - I was in the prophetic ministry workshop. Basically what we did for the youth was briefly explain some foundational concepts for prophetic ministry, what God's voice can be, and some stuff to do and stuff to avoid in prophetic ministry. Each group we had was very receptive and posed little to no problems at all.

With each of our workshop groups we split them all off into groups and had them play a game called 'The Revelatory Wheel'. Half of the people in a group stand in an inner circle, and the other half surround that inner circle in a circle of their own. People on the outside 'listen' for a word, symbol, picture or feeling for the person they're facing on the inside, and then relay it to them. The teens were naturals - all we really did was explain some of the more odd symbology for them. In one case, one guy prophesying to another guy in the middle saw footprints on the ground, and then someone else walking in those footprints; I explained that the guy in the middle is a leader in the kingdom of God, and what he has walked through in his life will be of valuable assistance to others who encounter similar experiences in their lifetimes.

After finishing the workshops, we headed back to the cafeteria to grab dinner. In the parking lot, I saw Aaron from the Wakefield Massachusetts trip last month - he walked up to me with a grin on his face and gave me a big hug. It was so good to see him again, especially seeing how he's already grown as a person in one month. We caught up as I ate a heaping plate of Chicken Penne Alfredo - possibly one of the best meals God ever allowed to be invented! If it weren't so fattening, I'd quite possibly eat it every day...

Aaron showing his skillz

Upon dinner's completion we headed over to the main gym, as that was where the evening worship service and message was going to be preached. I kicked a soccer ball around with Aaron before the service, accomplishing my mission of finding another way to relate to him. How he enjoyed himself!

We were all set to do prophetic ministry at the altar call at the end of the service. Unfortunately we were never called upon by the camp leadership, despite having made previous plans with them. Slightly disappointed at that twist of events, we packed up and returned to the cafeteria to grab some dessert before leaving. I ran into Aaron one more time in there, where he asked if I was staying for the talent show the teens were all involved in. I was really sad to not be able to stay to watch, especially because Aaron said he and some others were going to be dancing, and I really wanted to see Aaron's artistic gifting in action. I gave him one more great big ol' hug, and then gathered with the other interns to leave Cody. It was so hard to leave him behind!

Next Saturday we'll be going to minister at the Olive Branch bookstore in Northborough Massachusetts, and then on Sunday to a church called MetroWest, about 20 minutes outside of Boston in Natick Massachusetts. There's one other cool part about next weekend, though - on Saturday I turn 21!

Worship in the gym