This fall’s Echo retreat brought together 80 students for a weekend focused on learning how to connect, be relational and build trust. Highlights included worship around the retreat’s traditional bonfire, team-building games, and a Response Studio.
The team-building activity was planned for outside, but the rain forced the group to move inside where they then lost power for a few hours! However, no one missed a beat and some of the kids even said it was bonding because it made for a good story.
The Response Studio took place on Sunday morning as a way for kids to spend an hour or so responding creatively (colors, paint, clay, song writing, photography) to what they experienced during the weekend. Kids wrote songs, presented paintings, and even leaders shared words that they have received from God over the weekend.
One student shared, “I have never really felt at home anywhere and this year I came to Echo and now I feel, for the first time, like someone that people want to be friends with.”
Lauren Rostron, Echo’s Worship Associate Pastor said, “As staff it is always the most humbling and amazing thing to be a part of this Echo community. To be brought into the inner circle of these students and trusted with their stories and lives is so beautiful.”
Here are some photos from the weekend (click to enlarge)
