Fall 2007
"Listen, God is Calling"

Title: "Listen, God is Calling"
When: Oct. 12-14, 2007
Where: St. Joseph's Dwelling Place, Ludlow, VT
Cost: $30/person
Guest Presenter: Don Johnson from Project Connect

At first it may look like exam week, but this fall retreat was actually a very good break from campus life.

We are free to be the person God created us to be!

Spring/Winter 2007
To Be A Light In Tough Times
Why Do Bad Things Happen?

Title: "To Be A Light In Tough Times"
Discussion question: "Why do bad things happen?"
When: Feb 9-11, 2007 (arrive 8pm Friday, leave by noon Sunday)
Where: St. Joseph's Dwelling Place, Ludlow, VT
Cost: $20 for newbees, $40 for returning

As always, we ask that campus ministries help support their students financially by covering half the cost of the retreat, therefore the student would pay $20 and the campus ministry $20. If a student has no campus ministry, NELSM is happy to cover the other half of the cost. Scholarships are also available for interested students, please just contact me for more informaiton.

At this retreat, we were be led by Rev. Johanna Kiefner (campus minister at MIT) and Brandon Sabbag (NELSM member and Youth Ministry major at Gordon College). They lead us in Bible study and discussions with the guiding question: "why do bad things happen?". We looked at this question from an individual perspective--reflecting on our own experiences and the role of our personal faith, as well as a more global perspective -- thinking about larger issues such as the genocide in Darfur.

Fall 2006
Faith101: Walking with the Lord Across Campus

When: 7:00 PM Friday, Sept. 29th - Saturday, Sept. 30th
Where: Bement Camp and Conference Center, Charlton, MA
Theme: "Faith 101: Walking with the Lord Across Campus"

Reflections from Caitlin Saunders
This was Caitlin's First NELSM retreat!
Fall 2006

On the way to the NELSM retreat at Bement Camp in Massachusetts, I was excited and a little nervous of who I would meet and what would be happening. Being one of three people in a car driving from Plattsburgh, New York, the drive was long, but certainly not uneventful(not in the bad sense). For me, most of it was nervous energy. This was the first retreat I had ever been to. I am truly glad I went.

When we arrived at Bement Camp, we met up with Amanda, who briefly explained a few of the things we would be doing while we were sitting in the gathering room on the bottom floor. Once the group from MIT arrived, we moved to the second floor. The main room was beautiful, with a high ceiling, fire place and a wonderful large wooden cross on the wall above the fire place. After the fire was lit and everyone settled in, we got the chance to get to know one another through one-on-one interviews and writing a question on a piece of paper and then tossing the ball to someone in the circle. It was great getting to know people this way. This was followed up with a Taize service, and a sort of hymn sing. This reminded me of something the Pastor at my home church in Plattsburgh says, "Lutherans love to sing." After Taize, the last member of our group arrived. We stayed up into the wee hours of the next morning. To my knowledge, no one "peached" (hehe a bit of inside humor).

The next morning, after most of us got up, we went to breakfast in the dining hall, and then went back to the lodge for a morning service talking about how Jesus fits in on our respective campuses and in our daily lives. This had me remembering a Sunday not so long ago, sitting in my pastor's office talking about the same thing. While in college, and in certain instances in life, sometimes you have to check yourself at the door and adopt the ideas and personality of the professor or the career you are training for. You have to forget about what you feel or how you normally think, and sadly, that usually means the Lord gets left behind. In participating in this retreat, I felt better in knowing that it was okay to bring Jesus with me to class and have him help guide me through the stresses of campus life. He is always there.

If I did not get to thank you all then, let me take the time to do it now. Thank you very much Johanna, Ben, Tony, Lori, Amanda and of course Alli and Pastor Steve for the wonderful time and the great memories. I would also like to thank the staff for the wonderful breakfast and lunch. I cannot think of a better way to share fellowship with one another and in the presence of our Lord. Peace and God bless.

Reflection from Amanda Nelson
Amanda helped plan the retreat!
Fall 2006

We had a really nice time. There were eight of us total, including 2 campus pastors and Lori from the national council. We began the weekend with a few ice breakers and getting to know you games and then had a nice Taize service. The rest of the night we spent really getting to know one another. I haven't laughed so hard in a while.

The next morning, we had a wonderful breakfast prepared by the staff at Bement. Then we had our morning Bible study. Conversation was good and thoughtful. We had a brief business meeting. I handed out the description of all the different positions for the NELSM council (which we will elect at the next retreat) and talked about getting a planning committee together for the next retreat. We then had a second Bible study session and then it was time for lunch. After lunch, the people who came from Plattsburgh had to head out because of their long ride, but the rest of us hung around: we did the Labirynth and just enjoyed the peacfulness of the camp. Then, we all headed out around 4:30. It was just really nice and I think a great start to getting NELSM going again. I think there will be enthusiasm for another retreat which is great.

The ball keeps rolling. I'm working on getting people to work on the next retreat, and then I will continue to do some outreach and work on funding. So, we keep going!