Tundra ’24 Youth Retreat
On Friday, January 19, 2024 amidst a snow storm, 11 youth and 3 youth leaders from Grace Fellowship Church braved the icy road conditions to travel to Tuscarora Retreat Center for Tundra ’24, a weekend youth retreat. God had a plan for this weekend and made sure this group arrived at Tuscarora safely. The retreat speaker, Lance Svendsen encouraged GFC’s students to be vulnerable and get out of their comfort zone. Our students took that challenge and during small group time, most of them were able to open up and honestly discuss struggles in both their personal lives and their spiritual walks.
On Saturday night, affectionately called “Cry Night” by youth workers, Lance asked anybody making a first-time commitment to follow Christ to stand up. Two students from our group stood up! Then Lance asked those who had been struggling to prioritize their relationship with Christ and wanted to commit to putting Him back in the center of their lives to stand. Three of our students stood for that!
The weekend was a blast for everyone! Activities included games, snowball fights, and basketball, and everyone enjoyed candy as well. But the real reason our youth and youth leaders were there came to fruition when those five students stood up.
At the last lesson of the retreat, Lance left the group with the encouraging verse you see above the heads of the young men in the photo above.