The Indonesia Teens Retreat themed “Get Linked,” from July 3-5, 2015 was a success! All teens were excited about the retreat because many churches in Indonesia joined, such as Jakarta, Depok, Surabaya, Cirebon, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Tangerang, Jambi, and even Jayapura! Yes, JAYAPURA! There were 134 teens, and 27 teens mentors, so the total participants of the retreat were 161 people!
Friday morning, July 3, we gathered together based on our zone then we immediately departed to GDW, Sentul City, Bogor. After we arrived there, we had fellowship, teens and pre-teens, and then the retreat began with the MC reading the division of the groups for games. After that, every group presented their own chants. During the opening ceremony, we all watched a video which had been prepared before. In the afternoon, there was a lesson from John Oakes about how to get linked with God by loving God with all of our mind, loving God like King David, living our Christian life like an adventure, and using our talents to glorify his name.
After dinner, we enjoyed fun and hrilling games. It was called “Jurit Malam” or “Night War” in English. Thrilling because it was dark and our eyes were closed when we were brought by our leader to our first game post. Here, we learned to trust our leader when we’re scared. The game had several posts. All the posts trained us to be united, brave, and long for each other. The clue for the game was “1 is 10 and 10 is 1.″
On Saturday, we started with a morning prayer per room, followed by a lesson from Budi Hartono about how to get linked with our brothers and sisters. We need to be humble and selfless to do that. Also, we need to be open to build a relationship with our brothers and sisters.
After lunch, the retreat was continued with several games, indoor and outdoor. The indoor games were: Taking a good balance of one duct tape using fingers, moving a rope through body and hands held together forming a circle, and the last one, crossing over a “land” (marked with duct tape on the floor) with one group tied at the leg. This where the funny thing was. Some brothers had to bear the pain when the duct tape was untied. But they had fun though 🙂 The outdoor games were traditional games like Holi Powder War and Water Bomb War. We had so much fun that day!
That evening, we had a praise and worship night. Every group had a chance to lead one song. We learned here that whoever leads the song ministry, it doesn’t hinder us to praise and glorify God’s name wholeheartedly. The second day of the retreat was closed with a bonfire where some teens performed a cappella and stand-up comedy.
On Sunday, we began with a morning devo per zone led by the Teens Mentor. Then, after breakfast, teens prepared for the service and remembering the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross. After the service, the activity continued with sharing about our decisions, prayer, and a closing ceremony where the compilation video (see below) was shown, and the games’ winners were announced.
To God be the glory!
Shared from GKDI.org
