high school retreat
i wasn't going to put this post on here, but i was challenged by a friend to do so. this is from an email i sent out about a week ago.
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Every school year, the entire high school goes on a retreat for three days. The retreat is meant to be a time for students to meet each other and catch up, and for the entire student body to be challenged by the Word of God. This past weekend I had a great small group of guys and we had several awesome discussions about the things that keep us from completely following God.
The last night of the retreat, during the workshop session, our weekend got turned upside-down. Over the course of a couple of hours, several students underwent prolonged, physical, demonic attacks. The students involved had all experienced it before. Several other students were around when the attacks happened, and one even saw a demon. Teachers and friends prayed over the students for extended periods of time, and all the students were physically fine after the fact. It came out that a group of students had for years been toying with possession for the rush of it.
The decision was made to let the entire high school know what happened. In fairly short notice, we had a couple hundred high school students, many of whom were understandably very frightened. That left us with an unusual opportunity to address an issue that in the past has been swept under the rug.
There is one guy in particular who is in one of my classes. He's a Christian, but I've been concerned about him this year. He's in an unhealthy relationship, and going into the retreat, the girl actually told him that if he turned all Christian-like, she would walk away from him. This guy was around when the attacks happened and was very shaken. Late last night, he found me and asked me to pray with him. He admitted that it was the first time he had really prayed in two years. We had a good time praying together and talking, and he's committed to making whatever changes he needs to in his life.
My western mind doesn't have a good framework for how to respond to all this. As a Bible department, we have decided to address the issue collectively. But I have something bigger in front of me. On Wednesday this week, I am speaking in high school chapel. It will be the first time the entire high school will be gathered together since the weekend, and I don't know what to say. I had a message in mind, but I scrapped it last night, feeling the need to speak on something relevant. The problem is I don't know yet what that is.
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epilogue: so you know, the chapel service went really well. i spoke on the value of the heart, how much God values our hearts, and the need to guard them. students and faculty responded very well.
- - - - -
Every school year, the entire high school goes on a retreat for three days. The retreat is meant to be a time for students to meet each other and catch up, and for the entire student body to be challenged by the Word of God. This past weekend I had a great small group of guys and we had several awesome discussions about the things that keep us from completely following God.
The last night of the retreat, during the workshop session, our weekend got turned upside-down. Over the course of a couple of hours, several students underwent prolonged, physical, demonic attacks. The students involved had all experienced it before. Several other students were around when the attacks happened, and one even saw a demon. Teachers and friends prayed over the students for extended periods of time, and all the students were physically fine after the fact. It came out that a group of students had for years been toying with possession for the rush of it.
The decision was made to let the entire high school know what happened. In fairly short notice, we had a couple hundred high school students, many of whom were understandably very frightened. That left us with an unusual opportunity to address an issue that in the past has been swept under the rug.
There is one guy in particular who is in one of my classes. He's a Christian, but I've been concerned about him this year. He's in an unhealthy relationship, and going into the retreat, the girl actually told him that if he turned all Christian-like, she would walk away from him. This guy was around when the attacks happened and was very shaken. Late last night, he found me and asked me to pray with him. He admitted that it was the first time he had really prayed in two years. We had a good time praying together and talking, and he's committed to making whatever changes he needs to in his life.
My western mind doesn't have a good framework for how to respond to all this. As a Bible department, we have decided to address the issue collectively. But I have something bigger in front of me. On Wednesday this week, I am speaking in high school chapel. It will be the first time the entire high school will be gathered together since the weekend, and I don't know what to say. I had a message in mind, but I scrapped it last night, feeling the need to speak on something relevant. The problem is I don't know yet what that is.
- - - - -
epilogue: so you know, the chapel service went really well. i spoke on the value of the heart, how much God values our hearts, and the need to guard them. students and faculty responded very well.
posted by barlow at
4:04 PM
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