by: Jason “Beard of Wisdom” Edgar

Just a few weeks ago, Olu Peters, Brett Andrews, and Dianne Cunningham organized a retreat at Crief Hills.  This was an opportunity to get away from campus, connect with the teachers on a new and more personal level, as well as share experiences and understandings of ministry with one another.  The seminars were quite helpful and practical.  There was a lot of time for questions, interaction, reflection, sharing, and things along those lines.
 But the best thing that I found about the retreat was that it was away from the school.  As a residence student, and my home being quite some distance, I rarely get a chance to leave campus.  Being able to get away not just from the campus, but from the city was of great tremendous value.  It was an absolutely refreshing experience.  The place was so peaceful.  There was a fair amount of land to walk, and think, reflect, soak in, or whatever you wanted to do!  It is a place to slow down and get right with God.  It is a place to enjoy a Sabbath’s day of rest.  The accommodations were quite nice as well.  Very basic, but it had heat, electricity, a kitchen, washrooms, showers, and dorm style bunks.  It was enough to not feel like home, but not enough to feel like one was “roughin’ it.”  If the sky had not been cloudy that night, the stars would have been absolutely beautiful as well.
The retreat only lasted 24 hours from start to finish.  One would think that 24 hours would not be enough, especially with crunch week coming up around the corner.  But to my surprise, the amount of rest that was had during the retreat felt like that of 72 hours worth!  The retreat was an amazing experience, and it is one thing that I will make sure I attend next year.  I highly recommend this retreat to any and all students who get the opportunity to partake in it!  Honestly, it will be one of best 24 hours ever spent!