Around 120 Asbury students gathered on Feb. 28 at Bluegrass Christian Camp in
Lexington for Asbury’s first All-Campus Retreat. Class retreats and men’s and women’s
retreats have been some of the staples in campus life in the past, providing time for
participants to re-center on the Lord and deepen connections with one another. This
event, however, was the first Asbury retreat geared toward the entire student body.
The worship was passionate throughout the weekend, led Friday evening by James
Ballard, director of the WGM student center, with senior Isaac Santala on drums.
Saturday’s worship featured resident directors (RDs) Haley Weaver and Kaylyn Moran,
with Santala continuing to hold down the beat in the back.
The different speakers were met with a warm reception, and lessons were taken from
each session. This retreat was atypical in that there was not one consistent speaker or
theme for the weekend, but each speaker brought a unique message and perspective.
This was a wonderful opportunity for every student to connect with at least one session.
In the opening session Friday evening, participants were privileged to hear Asbury’s
president, Dr. Kevin Brown, share a portion of his testimony from his university years.
His authenticity and concern for Asburians to develop the spiritual disciplines of prayer
and Scripture reading that have impacted his own life deeply were touching.
Friday evening ended with ice cream sundaes and free time; some students played
board games, while others painted, gathered around a bonfire under the lightly-falling
snow or headed to bed early. It was a great time of community-building and fun.
Saturday morning’s session featured Bishop Linda Adams of the Free Methodist
Church, who also spoke in chapel on Friday, Feb. 28. Her message on the woman at
the well brought powerful new perspective to a well-known story, emphasizing Christ’s
willingness to go outside social norms in order to demonstrate love and his complete
ability to satisfy our deepest desires.
Her message was followed by a time where students broke into small groups. We
answered reflection questions about the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives and had the
opportunity to pray for one another. I personally benefited from sharing with sisters in
Christ who are also battling busy schedules and mid-semester fatigue. I was
encouraged by this small group to keep putting Christ first.
A delicious Chick-Fil-A lunch was served before several hours of free time and
spontaneous activities. During this time, Kresge RD Kim Levengood led a Zumba class,
while other students played basketball or participated in karaoke. Moe’s chips and
queso were served just before the final session. This wonderful food and time of
fellowship led to deeper relationships among students and staff, which was a major
success of the retreat.
Kevin Bellew, of Asbury’s Center for Wholeness and Wellness, rounded out the
weekend by talking about the issue of loneliness. He proposed that the antidote to
loneliness is risking true relationship. He commended the gathered students for their
connection and enjoyment of one another throughout the weekend and charged us to
bring this relational energy back with us to campus.
Overall, the retreat was a success. All-Campus Retreat was made possible by a lot of
hard work from our campus chaplains, RDs, resident assistants, spiritual life assistants,
spiritual life coordinators and countless others. The event came together very well and
was a much-needed pause in a busy semester, as well as a rejuvenating experience of
connection with God and fellow students. Hopefully, this is the first of many successful
all-campus retreats.
