Winter Youth Retreat 2020

On March 6th-8th Kingswood held a winter youth retreat for 6 youth, ages 12-15! It was a weekend filled with beautiful weather, new friendships, laughter and relaxation. The overall theme for the retreat was fun, fellowship and spiritual renewal which I believe was achieved! 

On Friday night all of the youth arrived and the former and new Kingswood campers met one another over silly ice breaker games and ice cream sundaes! 

Saturday started with morning watch in the form of prayer stations allowing the youth to connect with scripture in a variety of ways such as drawing, reflection, movements and writing.  The rest of the day was spent doing crafts, cooking meals, playing group games by the lake, hiking and competing in “minute to win it” games!  Everyone had a blast with the “minute to win it” games,  consisting of challenges such as how many marshmallows can your partner catch in a minute, how many mini snowmen can you make with chopsticks in one minute and how many cheese balls can stick to your partner’s face (covered in icing) in one minute! The day ended with a scripture discussion and games by the woodburning stove inside the farmhouse – not the same as sitting around an outside fire pit, but it was definitely cozy! And of course, there were s’mores!

On Sunday the day started with a new set of prayer stations followed by a huge delicious breakfast consisting of pancakes, eggs, fruit, and sausage! The remainder of the day was spent sharing stories, singing and playing games as we hiked to the lean-to on the yellow trail. Before everyone departed and went their separate ways, all of the campers received a “paper plate” award consisting of a decorated paper plate with a unique and personalized award title on it made by the counselors.

It was a wonderful weekend and everyone is looking forward to seeing each other again at the summer youth retreat! The summer youth retreat will be taking place July 19th-22nd! The retreat will consist of games, swimming, hiking, crafts, a service project and more! 

By Rachel Bortin