Student Leader Retreat Stories - Josh Oliver

Josh Oliver a student leader at Southwestern Michigan College shares about his experience on our Student Leaders Retreat. 

As I reflect on the time we spent together I have made these observations. Not only about myself but the group as a whole.

We all have our own unique shape. That shape defines who we are as a person. That shape also plays a huge role when it comes to being a member of a team.

I learned that society can't define your shape for you. You have to be the one that does that. We have to be the person God made us to be and we can't let others tell us any different. We have to be able to stand up and step out in faith to show the world who we are and whose we are. We are children of God. I also learned that I have more to offer than I originally thought.

Don't be afraid to share your shape with others. Your shape is always changing with each new day.

Student Leader Retreat Stories - Lindsay Sherburn

Lindsay Sherburn a student leader at Bethel College shares about her experience on our Student Leaders Retreat.

I've always been someone who's fairly self-aware. Because of my introverted nature, I take more time to consider my surroundings and observe the world around me. I've always been able to identify my own strengths and weaknesses and the way my personality functions. None of this really seemed to matter too much until our weekend in Kentucky. 

We were asked to focus on our shapes - the way we are wired - in order to figure out how we can use our individuality to serve God. While thinking about this, God has really been pushing me to embrace that individuality, those traits that make me Lindsay Sherburn and no one else. This idea was not new for me but I think I needed some reminding. He created me, an original masterpiece, for a special purpose. The only response I can possibly have is to fulfill it.

Student Leader Retreat Stories - Dylan Lemert

Dylan Lemert a student leader at Indiana University-South Bend shares about his experience on our Student Leaders Retreat.

I'll admit, all I really wanted from this retreat at first was to get away from home for a few days and hang out with some great people. Maybe also have God show up in bits and pieces along the way, so I could come home having felt "in greater touch with my spiritual side". But God was with us from day one, the Invisible Passenger sitting beside us as we traveled in that old red church van. I could see His face in the stars at night as we praised Him with our meager voices. Instead of a relaxing weekend, I encountered a weekend full of the breaking, chiseling, molding, and repairing of my ego and character. God's hands must've been tired when He was finished because it's hard work trying to change a soul as stubborn as mine. 

I thank God for the staff, interns, and fellow student leaders who were as patient with me as God was. As tired physically as I was by trip's end, I came home refreshed and eager. My prayer is that this Impact student leaders retreat may simply act as a catalyst for much, much greater things to come. Our campuses will see God and I think the time for that is very soon.

Student Leader Retreat 2011

How does time seem to pass so quickly? We are already several weeks into the school year and it seems like it was just a few weeks ago I was packing up the car to head to camp. One of the ways our Impact South Bend team kicked off the school year was to take our student leaders on a retreat in Kentucky. One of our goals for the weekend was to help our student leaders discover more about how God has uniquely wired them and how that influences the way they can do ministry on their campus. 

We asked our student leaders, our host, and other guests to record some of their experiences and thoughts from the weekend. Over the course of the next several days, I want to share their stories with you. I’m sure you will be encouraged and challenged as you read their words.

Stay tuned!