The purpose of this retreat is to:

1. Identify the different directions and where they lead

2. Decide which direction is the best for our lives

3. Go in that direction

PLACE: Kalamazoo, Michigan

CONTACT: Eric Yew 248-982-7307

COST: $20 per person

SPEAKER: Pastor Barry Usher from London, Ontario, Canada

The ROCC 2003 Summer Retreat is focused on learning what to do in situations when the path is unclear. We often don't know which way to go. We would like to be able to separate our own will from the decision and recognize what God wants us to do. And even when we discover which way God wants us to go, we sometimes don't want to follow. It often comes down to a decision between our will and God's will for our lives. While it is a simple thought, it will help us to make better decisions for the future. We also hope to have a wonderful time of fellowship in this learning process of building our relationship, walking along and aligning our will with God.

Clothes

Long sleeve shirt/sweatshirt and pants for campfire

Toiletries including toothpaste and toothbrush

Flashlight

Bathing Suit

Towel

Camera

Yourselves with an open, excited, and fun attitude!

Bed Linens

Firewood

Board games

Basketball

Football

Volleyball

Boat and tubing

Great opportunity to get to know God!

Graham crackers for Smores
Hershey's Chocolate Bars
Marshmallows
Chips
Cookies
Mix Drinks

Bug Repellant

Sunscreen

Pen/Pencil

Paper

What goals have you made in your life that you thought would make you happy, yet once those goals were realized, they didn’t bring the satisfaction that you expected?

How do we know what will be fulfilling for our lives?

If you had a child, how would you raise him/her? What kind of decisions would you allow a 5-year old to make? What about a 10-year old? Or even, an adult? Is it better to control or protect them from all aspects of suffering as a result of their decision-making?

1. Given an opportunity to do something for God, how do you respond?
2. How do you recognize what you've been given is from God? Stated another way, how do we know something is God's will as opposed to our will?
3. Is it ok to say no to God?
4. If there is something God is asking us to do, how do you get ourselves to
do it?
5. If I'm doing something for God and I'm not happy, what should I do?
6. If what God asks me to do seems hard and almost impossible, how can I do it?
7. Has there ever been a time where you did something you thought would make you happy, but it turned out otherwise?
8. Does God make decisions for us, or can do we have options where God's
will for us lies in multiple directions and we have to choose one?
9. When God asks us to do something uncomfortable, does God intend for us to suffer in following Him?

Chong Soo and Tom Bliss will lead a discussion for the guys and Susan and Unyong Bliss will lead for the ladies. The topic of the discussion will be Which Way, Whose Way when it comes to relationships.

Tucked away in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision in which we see ourselves on a long journey that spans an entire continent. We're traveling by train and from the windows, we drink in the passing scenes of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at crossings, of cattle grazing in distant pastures, of smoke pouring from power plants, of row upon row of cotton and corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is our final destination--for at a certain hour and on a given day our train will finally pull into the station with bells ringing, flags waving, and bands playing. And once that day comes, so many wonderful dreams will come true. So restlessly we pace the aisles and count the miles, peering ahead, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

"Yes, when we reach the station, that will be it!" we promise ourselves. "When we're eighteen...win that promotion...put the last kid through college...buy that 450 SL Mercedes Benz...pay off the mortgage...have a nest egg for retirement."

From that day on we will all live happily ever after.

Sooner or later, however, we must realize there is no station in this life, no one earthly place to arrive at once and for all. The journey is the joy. The station is an illusion--it constantly outdistances us. Yesterday's a memory, tomorrow's a dream. Yesterday belongs to history, tomorrow belongs to God. Yesterday's a fading sunset. Only today is there light enough to love and live.

So, gently close the door on yesterday and then throw the key away. It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad, but rather the regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow.

"Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead swim more rivers, climb more mountains, kiss more babies, count more stars. Laugh more and cry less. Go barefoot oftener. Eat more ice cream. Ride more merry-go-rounds. Watch more sunsets. Life must be lived as we go along.