Annual Eagle Retreat Draws Youth From Ministry Families
May 2008
On March the 28th, use from ministry homes all over Kansas and Nebraska gathered at Webster Conference Center for the annual Eagle retreat. Once again Andy Addis, Pastor of Westbrook Baptist Church, was the camp pastor. Mark Mackay, Minister of Youth at First Baptist Church of Seymour Tennessee, assisted Andy with the work. The band, A2O, provided worship leadership with music.
The worship services focused on the theme “Get Gripped.” The idea was to help youth discover the meaning of ownership… owning their ministries, owning their faith, owning their place… getting a grip on their real lives. The youth responded very positively to Andy’s preaching. Many commented that his messages were the highlight of the retreat.
One of the key highlights each year is the recreation time on Saturday. This year featured the “barnyard olympics” with hay bale rolling, cow chip discus and other challenging games. At the end of the planned games, a spontaneous “cow chip” fight broke out.
Eagle Retreat allows students who come from ministry families to bond together and share the pressures that come from being in the “fish bowl” existence of the ministry. Over the years that Eagle Retreat has been offered, strong friendships have developed between many of the students.
The retreat ends with a worship service on Sunday morning that ends with parents or sponsors giving pins to the students to celebrate their completion of another Eagle Retreat.
While the students were meeting, there was a parallel parent track and children’s track going on at First Southern Baptist Church of Salina. The parent track has become an integral part of the Eagle Retreat weekend. Parents look forward to gathering together with Dick Dearwester of Westside Family Church in Lenexa to consider some of the pressures of raising children in the context of ministry.
The children’s track was new this year. It was led by Judy Dearwester of Westside Family Church in Lenexa and Marie Clark who leads the Bible Training team with KNCSB. It promises to be a valuable annual addition to the retreat weekend.
If your youth were not involved this year, don’t miss next year.
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