This past weekend, 200 students attended the annual SMLT Breakaway retreat at New Life Ranch. Breakaway is a spiritual fall retreat that has been a tradition for JBU students. It is a time for students to get away from campus, classes and routine, and seek spiritual rest. JBU students arrived on Friday night, and enjoyed community before the first worship service.
The theme for the weekend was “Taste and See”, coming from Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” With Professor Jay Bruce as the weekend’s speaker, students immersed themselves in the Word and how it speaks to Christian duties in three sessions.
Between sessions, activities such as the zip line, rope courses, canoeing, kayaking and creek activities were available to students. The Ranch also provided meals and lodging overnight. For those looking for further adventure, there were hiking trails leading to wide open spaces made perfect for star-gazing. For those looking to relax, there were countless comfy couches and spaces to rest. Freshmen and upperclassmen alike were able to enjoy this restful getaway from campus life.
For this retreat, sophomore Daelyn VonRiesen, Outdoor Leadership Ministry major, expressed his excitement about being part of the staff of this year’s breakaway and how he enjoyed serving others. “Having worked with ropes courses in the past, I missed the experience of being around adventure courses and helping other people get to experience them. I also wanted to help out New Life since I knew Breakaway was a large group, plus it doesn’t hurt to earn a little money.” Von Riesen recommends this opportunity to other OLM majors “into working with New Life Ranch during next Breakaway.”
VonRiesen had one major takeaway from the spiritual part of the weekend: “My take away from Breakaway may not be what SMLT or the speaker expected. While the message was great, entertaining, and encouraging, I took away a desire to put Christianity into practice more. I came back with a desire to have an accountability group that checks on my intentional progress in pursuing the Lord. I want to both listen to the Bible and what pastors say and put it into practice.”
Breakaway looks into creating spaces for connecting with other students and growing personal relationships with Christ. Freshman Anna Goodwin expressed her experience with Breakaway. She said, “Honestly, I had no expectations for what I would learn at Breakaway. I had never been before and I hadn’t read too much information on the retreat so I did not know what to expect.” Goodwin continued, “I would definitely recommend Breakaway to incoming freshmen. I believe that God can create fellowship within a body of believers, even with people you don’t know well,” shared Goodwin. She describes Breakaway as a good opportunity to enjoy a balanced retreat of free time to connect with nature, and to worship in the wonderful services that the weekend offers.