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Delegates seek God’s will for their lives.
by Kimberly Kang –
Recently, 55 young adults gathered in Tahoe City—some traveling over 300 miles. They came for fellowship. They came for the beauty of Tahoe. They came to hear God’s message. They came in anticipation of finding God’s will for their lives.
The theme of the weekend was “LOST – finding God’s will for your life.” Special guests were Majors Tim and Cindy Foley and Captains John and Pam Brackenbury, with Major Tim as the speaker for the weekend.
Many delegates were hoping to receive a direct answer to God’s will for them. In the first session, however, Foley told them that if that’s what they were looking for, they might as well be asking questions of a magic eight-ball. Instead, he said that God’s will was already at work in their lives but that they need to wake up, grow up and respond to it.
Throughout the weekend, Foley gave the young adults practical tools and steps to use in order to mature spiritually and make an impact for God’s kingdom where they are. In addition, the delegates had fun and fellowship during meal times, sledding on the slopes, playing games and enjoying spontaneous snowball fights.
A song by John Mayer, “Waiting for the world to change,” is about the indifference of this generation and how they wait, sitting on their hands, for the world to take the lead in making changes to the events around them. The young adults at this retreat clearly felt that they could not wait for the world to change before affecting their world.
During the weekend they sang, “Break my heart for what breaks yours [God]; everything I am for your kingdom’s cause.” It was in tune with the theme verse from Romans 12:1-2. The group responded to the challenge to not conform to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by renewing their minds, so that they will be able to test and prove God’s perfect will.
Lauren Estill, Asian American Yerba Buena Corps, said: “The weekend retreat at Lake Tahoe impacted me in various ways. I half expected God to tell me exactly what his will is for my life because of the name of the retreat, but what I got instead was even better! I heard God speak through others about what I SHOULD be doing with my life as a Christian and also confirmation that my previous convictions were completely valid. Plus, I met some fantastic people!”
“I’m not a fan of retreats in general,” added Chris Rider of the South San Francisco Corps. “Having said that, as someone who has, and still does, struggle with finding my place in God’s plan, it was nice to come together with peers and realize that many people struggle with that same problem.”