On the evening of Sept. 25, over two hundred John Brown University students entered the gates of New Life Ranch for Breakaway, an annual weekend-long retreat organized by the Student Ministries Leadership Team. The theme for this year was “Majesty,” based off of the vision of the Lord described in Isaiah 6. Breakaway is meant to be a time where students can step away from campus (and maybe even their homework) in order to reset their focus on God.
The speakers for the weekend, Seth and Andrea Sears, explored Isaiah 6 over the course of three sessions. Seth Sears hoped that students would gain a deeper understanding of God’s majesty and faithfulness toward His creation.
“I hope the students that were at Breakaway remember that the majestic God offers us peace and wholeness through His loving kindness. When we accept this from Him, he invites us into participating in His work,” Seth Sears said. “The fact that the glorious God makes provision for we humans to be healed, to be made whole and to be able to join Him in His redemptive work, is amazing and worthy of our praise and devotion.”
Being reminded of God’s majesty was impactful for the students in attendance. Sophomore Charlie Reimer reflected on the weekend and the lessons it taught him.
“I think they taught the theme of God’s majesty and holiness really well. You hear all the time about how God is all-holy and all-powerful so it’s easy to take that for granted, but focusing on it for a weekend really helped put that in perspective. I really feel like I gained a new awareness of God’s sovereignty,” Reimer said.
In addition to the lessons, the worship and activities strengthened students’ relationships with God and with each other.
“The Spirit-led worship was one of my favorite parts of Breakaway. The chosen songs were great and really reinforced the teaching for each session, and the leaders did such a great job of creating a space for genuine worship. Whether in chapel, at the Gathering, or at Breakaway, I love to see our students just worship with all their hearts, and get to do it with them,” Andrea Sears said.
Seth Sears also complimented the worship team’s talent and dedication.
“They did a great job of leading us into the Lord’s presence to celebrate who He is. The worship time was a real highlight for me,” Seth Sears said. “It was also great to see students connect outside of campus and deepen their friendships through participating in a variety of activities.”
There was indeed quite a variety of activities offered at Breakaway. Students participated in pickleball, volleyball and hiking; others did arts and crafts or engaged in Bible studies, all while the screams of those on the zipline echoed around the hills of New Life Ranch.
For many people, Isaiah’s response to God’s call – “Here I am, send me” – is inspiring yet daunting, especially for college students who are constantly faced with decisions that impact their future. Andrea Sears hoped students could rest assured that their future is in the hands of a faithful God who will strengthen them through every step of the journey.
“A ‘call’ is just an invitation to take the next step of obedience and move toward what God is already bringing to your attention,” Andrea Sears said. “I hope students follow this invitation into a life more abundant than they can imagine! God is on the throne, and He knows exactly what He’s doing when He calls you – it’s not a mistake.”
On Saturday night, students departed New Life Ranch, hopefully with a deeper understanding of God’s majesty.
“The angels say ‘the whole earth is full of His glory,’” Reimer said. “All of the earth, the entire world, is full of His glory – it glorifies Him all the time. Who are we to do any different?”
Photo by Hannah Wolfe
