Fourteen peer-selected students from Auburn Adventist Academy spent a day away from campus as they sought God’s will in a new way.
Along with their Bible teachers, Karyle Barnes and Katelyn Campbell, the students spent a day of reflection at Sunset Lake Camp in Wilkeson preparing for their roles in student week of prayer.
The first questions the students grappled with were why they thought God had chosen them to speak and, of equal consequence, why they said yes to the call. For several students, it was an answered prayer. They had been asking God to give them the opportunity to serve Him and specifically praying that God would make them uncomfortable.
Next, the participants read Scripture passages relating the story of how the disciples were called to service, dissected each calling, and discussed how and why God calls people from all different walks.
To continue their introspection, students were sent outside to partake in a 20-minute discipline of silence with an exercise criterion to be alone with their Bible, notebook and pen out in nature. They were to take time for God to speak, take time to be quiet and listen to God. Students were told to stay alone and not talk or listen to music. The most common reaction to this activity was that the students did not realize how much impact just being still and quiet, alone and thoughtful can have on a person.
“I loved how we went out in nature to talk to God on our own," says Hayden Watson, a senior. "It really spoke to me a lot. I usually think of hearing God through the Bible, but it made me realize that nature is a new way to look at God.”
Various activities also helped students bond, like one activity where students had to line up in birthday order.
“We had to do it without talking,” says Madlyn Ellis, sophomore. “It took us some tries before putting ourselves correctly, but we learned to rely on each other and that all of us were there for support.”
Finally, prayer partners were randomly selected, and students were asked to write one thing they thought the school family most needed. After reading each paper spread over the floor, students stood on the piece of paper they felt most connected to and prayed.
Each student took their paper with them, their footprints a reminder of their commitment to be God’s feet, to seek His leading and watch what wonders He performs this year through them.
Before they step up to share personal and biblical stories of faith, 14 Auburn Adventist Academy students and their Bible teachers step away for a day of reflection and preparation.
