Mid High Cause Retreat 2010

Our Mid High Cause students were excited at the first announcement that we were going to have a retreat in February. For some this was the first retreat they’ve ever been on and others it would be the last of Jr. High. With the promise of 3 days of fellowship, night games, and teaching our staff set out to build relationships and to plant seeds.

Friday night began with our arrival to Camp Tapawingo. The Camp is located in Falls City which is just outside of Dallas Oregon. It was nice that it was only about 30 mins away as that gave us enough time to have some good conversations together and not so long that questions of “are we there yet…” set in.

Friday evening consisted of teaching time with our guest speaker Dave Bertolini who covered what proved to be very impactful topics for both our students and staff. Each teaching time was followed by cabin time to discuss reflection questions from the teaching and to pray together.

Over the weekend Dave covered:

Overcoming Evil with Good

Love vs. Evil – Romans 12:9-10,21

Apathy vs. Zeal – Romans 12:11

Selfishness vs. Compassion – Romans 12:13-16

Revenge vs. Forgiveness – Romans 12:14, 17-20



Friday night was our first night game called “The Ninja Challenge”. Students had not yet seen the campus in the daylight which added to the mystery. The game involved each student individually earning up to three of the skills needed to become a “Ninja”. First was balance, then agility and finally stealth. There were three stations around campus for each person to find representing one of each skill. The tricky part was that the leaders were scattered throughout the grounds with flashlights whose job was to catch the students and take their ticket forcing them to go back to the start to get a new ticket before continuing on their journey. After many chases, escapes and battles the winners were announced and new ninja’s were born.

Saturday was filled with more teaching, cabin time, devotions time, group games, free time and another night game. Although we packed a lot in on Saturday the most unique aspect of the day was some teaching from Dan that seemed to impact not just the students but the leaders as well. Dan explored John 13 – When Jesus washed His disciple’s feet. This teaching was followed by the opportunity for each discipleship team leader to wash each student’s feet.

After the retreat was over a couple of the students were asked what impacted them:

Joey Kelly stated “I imagined the body of Christ like a symphony where each person plays their instrument, not loud but just right and that way each person combines to make a total sound as a group that couldn’t be made as an individual. I’d never thought of it like that before.”

Jerry Haney stated “When talking about good overcoming evil I see that pride is the root of much of it, even in my own life. I think a person needs to develop a certain “Humbility” that only God can bring.”

Over all, the trip went off without a hitch. We saw a lot of fun and fellowship. We experienced personal growth as well as challenging times. Friendships were built that will impact our lives in Gods work for a life time.

Thank you to the parents and donors for providing ways to bring students to this retreat. Thank you to the camp staff of Tapawingo for serving us with wonderful food and facilities. We look forward to next year’s retreat!