Area students visit NY for ‘rolling retreat'

By Valari Hyatt

Published: Monday, November 10, 2008 2:28 PM CST

Times correspondent

PEKIN - So what did you do this weekend?  “I had breakfast in New York and went to Times Square. Then I saw the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero which was really cool seeing the two buildings - actually it was awesome. And then it rained the whole time,” said 15-year-old Drew Tarrant.

Tarrant, a Pekin Community High School freshman, was one of about 125 students from the Pekin-Peoria area who went to New York for breakfast, as part of a Youth for Christ (YFC) “rolling retreat.”  The group left Pekin Friday afternoon and returned Sunday around 1:30 p.m. On Saturday morning the group ate breakfast in New York and then broke up into smaller groups, to shop and take in as many New York landmarks as possible in the few hours they had left.  It was a lot of fun, according to the students. And educational, too.

“It was awesome. I saw Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, rode the subway to Grand Central Station and Times Square,“ said Tobias Crawford, 17, a senior and soccer player at PCHS. “I really enjoyed taking the ferry to Liberty Island. We didn't have time to go up (inside the Statue of Liberty) but just seeing all of the details was great. It was a lot better than staying home.”

Mallary Walker, 18, a freshman at Illinois Central College, heard about the New York trip from Joe Bland, who also went.

“I'm glad Joe told me about it and I'm glad I went. I went to the same places (as Crawford and Bland). My favorite part was the subway. Jake (Bland) told us not to go on the subway and we had two seconds to decide because they were getting ready to shut the door so we jumped on in a split second and one of the guys tried to jump on behind us and got caught and the door kept opening and closing on him. It was funny.”

Walker summed New York up as a place of “crazy drivers and homeless people. But the bus ride was fun. We had discussion groups and one was on speed dating.” She said “speed dating” was a discussion game in which everyone got to know another person from the opposite sex. “You'd ask questions and then see if that person was somebody you'd want to date.”

So, did she find anyone she'd like to date?  “No - there was no one,” she said, adding that she couldn't wait to get home where she could take a shower and go to bed. “None of us have showered for two days.”

Sara Oyer, who hails from Tremont, said she loved New York. It was her second time there. But this time was better because she got to spend time developing relationships with new friends on the bus. The ride was 15 hours up and 15 hours back. “It was a lot of fun and a good chance for some really good discussions,” she said, adding, “Times Square was cool. It's so busy and so different than what we have here. The girls went shopping a lot. I got some new makeup. I guess my favorite part, though, was riding the subway. There were six of us girls - it was hilarious but we didn't get lost.”
Oyer said she had a good time but was glad to be home.  She's not alone.

“I loved the subway - you get on and go and in a matter of seconds you've gone from one place to the next,” said Lindsay Watson, 15. The PCHS sophomore said she met a lot of kids, made new friends, and even met up with some past acquaintances.  “I met three of the girls from Germantown Hills that stayed in the same cabin with me in Colorado (another YFC trip taken last summer). It was nice seeing them again.”  She also saw “Trump Tower, Central Park, American Girl, Daily Plaza, and a homeless man on the subway. It was very interesting but I think my favorite part was seeing the news from the street. Here, we have billboards but in New York, they have movies showing the latest news and videos and things. It was great.”

Kelsey Justice, 16, a junior at PCHS, heard about the trip through YFC and from leaders at This Thing, a YFC-based teen-fellowship that meets for fun, food and activities once a month.  “I've been going to This Thing for about a year now,” she said, adding that the breakfast trip was more of a “shopping trip” for her.

“We had breakfast at Katz in downtown New York and then went shopping all around downtown. I loved the subway and seeing the different people - we saw a tin man ... a guy dressed just like the tin man from the Wizard of Oz. He was riding his bike. It was fun. I loved the shopping ... I bought two Coach purses and a few outfits and souvenirs and a lot of food.”

Sarah Solazar, one of the group leaders, said the most interesting part of the breakfast trip, for her at least, was the bus ride.  “I'm kind of amazed that we all survived the bus trip,” Solazar said. “Everyone had a lot of fun and it was a positive experience. The kids got to meet other kids and it was a good time of fellowship. It was a great time in New York. No - New York was awesome.”

Jake Bland, Youth For Christ associate ministry director, called the New York breakfast a “rolling retreat for students.”
Bland notes, “We had some rich discussion on the bus. One of my favorite parts of student ministry is hearing their ideas about life. The theme for the weekend was ‘relationships.' Friday night's discussion was about ‘relationships with friends' and Saturday night's discussion was ‘relationships with the opposite sex.' And Sunday morning's discussion was ‘our relationship with God.' Each discussion time ran 1-2 hours and included some high-energy interaction, small/large group discussion, and video clips shown on multiple TV monitors throughout the bus.”

Trips like this are always a win for student ministry, according to Bland.

“Campus Life is a relationship-based ministry. We don't have lots of flashy programs throughout the year, but our leaders are building deep and meaningful relationships with students - especially on trips like these. It takes time. You can't microwave a relationship.”

Bland said YFC reaches out to youth.

“YFC reaches young people everywhere, working together with the local church and other like-minded partners to raise up lifelong followers of Jesus who lead by their godliness in lifestyle, devotion to the Word of God and prayer, passion for sharing the love of Christ and commitment to social involvement.”

Bland praised the Rev. Shane Hawkins from First Assembly of God Church for “donating his time, church bus and gas to move our Pekin group of 42 to the departure site in Germantown Hills. He also picked us up today (Sunday) and brought us home. Reaching students is Kingdom work, and Shane's a Kingdom guy.”

Meanwhile, the breakfast trip to New York was an expensive one.

“We'll take a financial loss on the trip but the trip itself was priceless,” Bland said. “We needed to have charged $20 more a head just to break even. We'll be prepared for that next time.”

Campus Life is a non-profit outreach ministry of Youth for Christ (YFC) and several partner churches. Equipped by one full-time staff person and led by a committed team of volunteers, it is a multi-faceted ministry with multiple student groups that meet weekly, monthly, and take trips throughout the year.

It takes about $60,000 annually to keep this ministry in Pekin, and is supported solely by individual donations. To become a volunteer or financial partner, e-mail Bland at jbland@yfcpa.org