Today’s blog comes from Rissa Larson, who is the girls’ ministry director at First Baptist Church, Clarksville, Tennessee. She recently took her girls on their first retreat. Hopefully, her thoughts will spark some for your own group….
What a great weekend! This was our first ever all-girls' fall retreat. Our team was excited about having a whole weekend to pour into our girls and just have some crazy, relaxing time with them.
Since we have girls that come from five high schools, are homeschooled and several military families, we really wanted literature that would teach about unity and provide us with opportunities to get to know each other better. The Woven material gave us exactly that.
As we divided the girls into small groups, they were given cards that had a series of numbers that led girls to a different small group with each session. At first, the girls were reluctant but were soon loved having different girls to talk to and discuss with each time. Another favorite was the rope challenge. The girls had to see how many people they could fit into a rope circle. It was amazing to watch the girls as they developed creative ways to get the girls all in the circle as it got smaller.
The morning of the 2nd session was our trust walk. The older girls blindfolded the younger and led them to the chapel in the woods. After some debriefing, we shared testimonies and had worship. It was so fun getting to worship together.
That afternoon, the girls had a scavenger hunt. They also enjoyed doing everything from climbing walls to building pyramids. It was a little daring but they loved the challenge.
I think all would agree that the highlight of the trip was the bonfire on Saturday night. After awesome worship under the stars, the girls shared how they began their walk with the Lord. Many of the older girls really led out in sharing and encouraging younger ones.
Our weekend was amazing. The girls came back determined to help promote unity and build up our youth group.
What ideas does this spark for your own group?
Our girls were deeply impacted by this weekend. Its a joy to have great female leadership in our Student Ministry! Thanks Rissa and Delight volunteers!