On Valentine’s Day weekend, FBC’s Senior High Youth Group took forty-two high schoolers to a Christian retreat center in Blue Mountain, PA to give them two days of nonstop fellowship, filled with vibrant worship, dynamic speakers, soccer games, board games, Wii competitions, wild skits, late nights, and an unlimited supply of chocolate milk.

“The highlights were lots of snow, lots of sledding, and lots of funny crashes.  Plus a really good worship time led by Ben and Elizabeth Panter,” says Youth Pastor Jim Panter.  “The verse we focused on was Philippians 1:21, ‘For me to live is Christ and die is gain,’ and I feel like the Lord used it a lot this weekend.  Kids were even referring back to it at Bible study on Monday – which came as a great surprise to me!”

Of course Pastor Jim didn’t include his own speaking time as a highlight, but many others included it in their list of favorites. 

“Pastor Jim’s words were really powerful,” says Youth Ministries Assistant Jen Roberts.  “He got a lot of people thinking about what really matters to them, about what they are willing to live for and what they are willing to die for.”

But sometimes the downtime can be just as important as the scheduled events.

“Both nights about fifteen guys just hung out until one or two in the morning,” says Pastoral Intern Tim Hunt.  “It was a really good time of connection and fellowship.  I loved it.”