Canadian Mennonite
Volume 12, No. 20
Oct. 13, 2008
A desert experience
Youth retreat focuses on spiritual disciplines and service
Osoyoos/Kelowna, B.C.
 |
For five days in late August, youths from Eden Mennonite Church in Chilliwack, B.C., spent time in the desert around Osoyoos and in Kelowna, where they learned about spiritual formation and discipleship.
“This past year, our youth group focused their discipleship lessons by learning and practising some of the spiritual disciplines,” says Eden pastor Rob Brown. “The focus on the spiritual disciplines is based on the conviction that to be followers of Christ and this faith we need to bear the wonder of Christ’s story not only in our minds but bear this story in a physical way by bearing it in our bodies as well. These practices help us to be in a place to hear God’s voice. After a year of teaching on these disciplines, our youths culminated their learning with this trip that incorporated many of the disciplines that they had learned about.”
Group members spent their first 40 hours at Osoyoos fasting and spending some of that time in solitude and silence in the desert. (See their stories next page.)
On Aug. 24, the Eden youths and leaders joined Kelowna First Mennonite congregants in worship and then fellowshipped over the lunch meal. The Eden youths led the service, performing a skit and basing their message on the parable of the sower and the seed from Mark 4.
After an overnight campout at nearby Fintry Provincial Park, the Eden group gathered again at First Mennonite on Monday for a work day, as they practised the spiritual discipline of servanthood. Together with local volunteers, they removed several church pews and installed a raised platform to make the sanctuary more accessible for worshippers in wheelchairs. Another work group painted new lines in the parking lot, while others assisted senior members with their yard work.
Each day of the retreat was also punctuated every three hours with prayers that are known as “the daily offices” in some Christian traditions.
“Every evening we had reflection and journalling time as we investigated and learned more about some of these disciplines,” Brown says. “We then would break into small groups to pray for one another and talk about how we might incorporate these disciplines into our lives at home in the daily grind of life. In our final evening session we had a special foot-washing and communion service around our campfire to finish our retreat.”
Personal Reflections
What I learned on my summer vacation
Three Eden Mennonite Church youths write about their ‘desert experiences’ during a retreat this summer to Osoyoos, B.C., which was combined with worship-leading and service work at Kelowna First Mennonite Church.
 |
Time to think
Sitting in the desert alone and hungry for three hours at first seemed long and pointless, but it was one of the best experiences of my life. It’s very rare that anyone can find time like that in their busy lives to talk to God or even acknowledge him in any way. As I was sitting there I started to notice every little bug, cactus and living thing around me, and I remembered that God made everything there. It’s amazing how perfect his creations are.
That time also gave me an opportunity to think about relationships in my life and where they were going. Talking to God in a quiet place like that really gave me a better understanding of the kind of person I wanted to be and how I could change to get there.
Just meditate on God
Recently in our church we have had a fair amount of deaths in our commu-nity, some we all knew fairly well. Just before we left (for the retreat), we actually attended the funeral of a girl who used to go to our youth group, so we were all feeling a sort of sense of sorrow while we were doing this. But out in that desert I learned to cope with this and many other things upsetting me in my life.
We went and found ourselves our own little spot in the desert, all alone and away from everyone. I was silent for a long time, maybe an hour or so, but in that silence I found comfort with nothing to distract me. In that silence I felt God spoke with me and guided my thinking to answers for my questions.
After I was silent for a long time I felt compelled to read the Gospel of Luke, and so for the remainder of my time there I meditated on the book. It was weird; having being raised in church my whole life I’d heard these stories many times over, but for some reason as I reread this gospel I was drawn in, excited to read every word and have a deeper understanding of it.
I do not know exactly what happened in the desert that day, but I felt as if God was there talking to me the whole time, helping me through my questions. I encourage everyone to try meditating in solitude. You may not have a desert next door, but find a quiet place and just meditate on God.
A mountaintop experience
As we got to the desert plains and split up, there was only one thing on my mind and that was to get away from civilization. I had walked for about 20 minutes in the direction of a mountain and I realized that the only peace I could get was on top of that mountain.
As I climbed the surface I realized that God was leading me up a safe way. I prayed about three times on my way up just to make sure God heard me. Then I realized how awesome God’s creation was and how peaceful the world was with no civilization around.
I started praying for all the people I knew and for some events that had happened. When I had finished, it felt as if God was sitting right beside me and speaking to me. It was the best thing I had ever felt.