The goal during our 24 hours together was to lay a foundation that would promote Christian unity and launch legacy leadership. This is an amazing group of seniors who don't want to waste their senior year on selfish ambitions, but rather seize the opportunity to influence the rest of their school towards Godly things.
One of the many things I love about running camps is that camp actually is a relationship incubator. Camp literally accelerates the growth process through concentrated quality time together and activities that inherently quicken relationship development. You can accomplish months worth of growth in 24 hours of intentional relationship building.
Just check out this list of activities from our 24 hours together: canoeing, swimming (belly flop contests, of course!), wagon rides, create your own pizzadillas, low ropes course, water slide, gaga ball, 9-square, basketball, dodge-ball, volleyball, bonfire, smores, nighttime sermon, small group discussions, campout (in air conditioned cabins!), stuffed pancakes, morning devotions, climbing wall, high ropes course, ziplines, and hot dogs for lunch!! Now that's a lot of memory building along with great conversations to forge deeper levels of unity quickly.
They had an absolute blast! And so did we!! It was a God-awesome activity-packed 24 hours that accomplished a lot! Glory to God!!
Our heartfelt gratitude to the teachers / leadership who spearheaded this trip and daily pour their lives into these students: Lauren Schaeffer, Janessa Jannarone, Brandon Ray, and Jon Seals.
Special thanks to Pastor Stephen Rice for a superb and passionate sermon from Hebrews 12, and Cavan Ingram for a fantastic and inspiring morning devotion among his fellow seniors.
Much appreciation and respect to my fellow workers and volunteers for all of their hard labor and great attitudes before, during, and after the retreat: Laurie Finger, Erin Powell, Matt Russell, Shannon Kennedy. And a HUGE shout out and big time thank you to my Dad (Jerry Garner), Ray, Al, and Dean for helping us piece together equipment and supplies while our trailer (with all of our gear) is 7 hours away having the axles replaced. Ministry is a team event and GTD couldn't do what we do without all of our helpers, volunteers, staff, and supporters!
Thank you Word of Life for all you do to reach young people with the gospel and create lifelong memories!
And finally, thank you so much to Calvary Christian High School of Clearwater, FL for giving us the honor and privilege to host our largest event in 21 years of ministry! We love what you guys do and the many lives you impact!
That was GTD's last event of the 2017 summer... we are already looking forward to the fall and winter!! Thank you JESUS!!
Check out all 500+ pictures from this retreat on our online photo album HERE!
