BSU weekend retreat brings students closer to God, each other
Posted by The Skyliner on October 1st, 2008Rachel Ham
Staff Writer
Even on a small campus, it is often hard for students to build meaningful relationships. But this past weekend, approximately 50 students from North Greenville University were able to get away from the chaos of classes and go on a retreat sponsored by Baptist Student Union.
The main purpose of going on the retreat was to help students get to know each other better.
Highland Park Baptist Church near Charleston, S.C. was kind enough to lend the use of its facilities to the group. They left this past Friday afternoon and returned to campus late the following Saturday.
“NGU has grown at such a rate that there are a lot of people attending BSU who do not know one another. This is a great chance for them to make new friendships that will be mutually encouraging,” BSU Director Jody Jennings said.
If students involved in BSU can grow closer to Christ and each other, they can be more effective when serving the community. Getting away from campus and focusing on their relationships with Christ and others helped the students regain that closeness.
“Through this retreat, we hope people will make friendships that will serve as a foundation for the first steps of deeper relationships that give you the freedom to be transparent,” BSU President Meg Kiel, senior marketing, said. When people become vulnerable and honest with each other, they can keep one another accountable and help when they are struggling with sin.
The students also learned about using their unique gifts from God to serve others. They discussed the fact that even though we all have very different gifts, we can work together to accomplish big things for God’s glory.
Many new friendships were made and relationships were built because of the retreat.
“It’s a little intimidating to a board a bus with faces you don’t even recognize, but always comforting to ride home on that same bus knowing you’re a little closer to one another than when you left,” Kiel said.
In addition to meetings every Thursday at 7 p.m., BSU sends out Impact Teams into the communities to, quite literally, impact those they come in contact with. The teams partner and serve with local churches and ministries.
Impact Teams coincide with another one of the BSU’s goals for this year. There is an emphasis at Fusion on putting actions behind our words.
Each month, an activity sponsored by BSU will encourage students to interact in order to think of ways to not only be hearers, but also doers. Impact Teams are a great way for students to become involved and to start serving others in the community.
Tags: Fall 2008, Vol. 108 Fall - Issue 4