My life changed at Searching in the Spirit 2019.
Two of my grandparents had died during my Grade 7 year, so I was feeling very low having lost these family members who were so important.
As well, I was conflicted in my faith, seeing areas of the Church that lacked the Christian love we need to show. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to associate with a religion that claimed to love everyone but then had members who didn’t fully bestow this love to everybody.
So even as I was confirmed, there was a chance that I would leave the Church when I was older.
Then I was offered to attend the Searching in the Spirit youth retreat with the Christ the Redeemer Parish youth ministry.
Given that my parish is Holy Trinity, I didn’t know the kids who I was attending with, so I was scared of intruding on them. However, I was welcomed with the Christian love I needed to see, and four summers later they’re still some of my closest friends.
Surrounded by their love and meeting faithful teen leaders who shared their personal faith journeys, I learned being a faithful, practising Catholic was for teenagers too, not just adults. Through Searching in the Spirit, I found a community that gave security to my faith.
I left the retreat knowing I wanted to serve and give this confidence to other youth. Being able to help and make a difference in people’s lives, both spiritually and as a whole, is something that has always been important to me. It became even more important to me after attending Searching in the Spirit as a participant, and it spurred me on to apply to lead Searching in the Spirit last year.
As a leader at Searching in the Spirit – sharing my faith story as well as planning a full day of activities for youth to come to terms with just how much God loves them and forgives them – gave me a clearer understanding of where I stood with my own relationship with God.
On top of this, serving on the team with such joyful and faithful people strengthened my faith more, and I am anticipating the same thing happening at this year’s retreat, Arise.
Being at Searching in the Spirit both as a participant and as a leader provided me with an opportunity to explore my relationship with God and with others. I was also to build community and make new friendships through the recreational activities provided by Camp Jubilee. I’m looking forward to having a similar experience at this summer’s youth retreat where as part of the Arise leadership team I can see Grades 8 and 9 participants grow stronger in their faith.
I found comfort as a younger teen as a participant because I could explore faith alongside my friends without fearing judgment. I remember being in Grades 8 and 9 and being surrounded by peers who weren’t open to the idea of God.
It’s important that the Arise leadership team shows these teenagers that God wants to hear from them, love them, and journey alongside them.
Arise is a 5-day overnight retreat at Camp Jubilee for students currently in Grades 8 and 9. It will be held July 3-7 at Camp Jubilee in North Vancouver’s Indian Arm. For more information and to register, visit beholdvancouver.org/events/arise-youth-retreat.
