By Chelsea Carson
This past weekend I had the opportunity to participate in Wake, a weekend retreat for Summit Students. I have been to a handful of these weekends and every year I am overwhelmed by the work I see God do. In our leader meeting this year some of the returning leaders were asked to give insight to what the weekend is all about. With confidence I was able to say that Wake is one of my favorite weekends of the year. It is filled with fun games, no sleep, awesome worship, great messages, and most importantly seeing what God will do in the lives of the students in attendance. The message this weekend surrounded the idea of what it means to serve the Lord and what we as Christians are called to be. One of the verses from this weekend was Philippians 2:4, which says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others.” What I loved most about this weekend was not only did the students sit and hear this message, they were able to put it into practice.
Mixed in with the games and the fun of the weekend, we took the students down to Harlem Heights to help a community that is still recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Ian. I was blown away by what I saw. Instead of seeing students complain that on their fun weekend with friends they had to work, they made the best of it. I saw students enjoying their time helping people who needed it.The students were walking the neighborhood picking trash up, digging holes, helping people with their yards, and really just being a gospel presence in the community. Every time I saw a student be asked to help in some way their answer, without hesitation, was always yes. I think we sometimes forget that our willingness to do things that we don’t necessarily want to is a direct result of the Lord's work on our hearts. We are not people who naturally want to help, we tend to want to do what is best for us. But, I saw God help these students to push past that selfishness and extend a helping hand. I saw God changing the hearts of the students and I saw them recognizing that because of the great sacrifice the Lord made for us, we are called to love one another.
This weekend I was encouraged by the countless smiles I saw on the faces of these students as they were doing work that isn't necessarily enjoyable. I saw the Lord shift these students' perspective on what it truly means to serve the community and by doing that serving the Lord. I was encouraged by the kindness I saw extended to each other. I saw many new friendships form and develop. Within my own small group we had conversations that lead to better understanding of God’s call for our lives. I am thankful to be a part of a church that calls their people to be more like God. A church that gives opportunities to students to tangibly represent the Gospel to every man, woman, and child. I am grateful for leaders who are willing to meet these students where they are and show them all that God has for them. All in all, this weekend reminded me of how good our God is and I am beyond grateful I got to be a part of it.
