the third one about montreat (part 2): free day and dance party

Joey, Colleen, and Julia

CONGREGATIONNNNNN,

Today was awesome! After keynote and small group, we all had a free afternoon. We ate lunch and then split up to either go rock hopping, walk around the campus, or sleep. The rock hoppers hopped for a very, very long time and Colleen took a nappy nap. After this the group went into Black Mountain for a shopping spree. We all drank coffee instead at the Dripolater. It was the bomb-diggity. After our pizza from My Father’s Pizza, we journeyed to the castle of worship in a far away land, down the hill. “Love.” As it turns out, that is the shortest sermon ever given, we learned that in our much, much longer sermon. Also, we sang One Love by Bob Marley; it was the jam. “The Jesus in us loves the Jesus in you. It’s so easy.” (That’s another song we sang.) Next, the dance party with glow sticks and face paint. In order to gain entry, we were required to make a chant to earn glow sticks for the group and we used Jean Moore’s song about how long we had to wait to eat on the train from New York. “They want us to wait an hour to eat, and if you have to pee pee you better go now.” We learned to open the doors of our hearts today and to carry others while being carried ourselves.

Love,

Joey, Colleen, and Julia

the third one about montreat (part 1): free day and dance party

Hello folks…Montreat is continuing to go well. we had a rain-free free afternoon yesterday…last year it poured and poured…we had lots of fun yesterday in the dry weather! the theme has been getting better and better as the week goes on. the GOOTH are really connecting to the message, largely because a lot of it overlaps and connects to the experiences they had at NYC two weeks ago. it has really been special and transformative for them to hear the message in another context…thus reinforcing the message of love. Two more days!!!!

Bethany Ringer (10^th grader)

Dear mommy and church congregation,
Montreat has been wicked cool. We sing and laugh and cuddle! Tonight we went to a rave. (OK, it wasn’t a rave…but it was a glow-in-the-dark dance party with blacklights!) I got glow sticks and face paint. I have new friends Sarah and Jeremy. Sarah has pink hair and Jeremy wears girl jeans and is a cutiepie. Our church family is crazy like always. We sing the songs, and cuddle, and love each other up. It’s fun here. I love you mommy.
Peace out,
Bethany

Katie Morris (11^th grader)

Today was another wonderful day at Montreat! The sub-theme for today was “Open the Doors to Our Hearts.” In keynote the speakers and keynote team explored the story of when Jesus heals a paralyzed man. They focused on what the personalities of the man’s friends would have been – were they organizing & setting up things to help their friend, or were they the friends who are always there for one another? We continued that discussion in our small groups, and then it was our free afternoon! We had lunch and then a group of us went rock hopping in the creek. It was quite exciting. The other half of our group opted to stay at the house and nap or go around to the shops here at Montreat. After the strenuous rock hopping and restful naps we all went into Black Mountain. Colleen, Niki, Reva, Beth, Julia, Maggie and I went to a thrift store and then to a cute coffee shop called the Dripolator (aka the Drip). We all got our various coffee or smoothie drinks and then met up with some of the guys. At the end of our time in Black Mountain we picked up pizza for dinner. Back again at Montreat, we went to worship where the theme was love. Part of the back-home devotions talked about this further. Relationships are extremely important as well as loving one another. Our “re-creation” activity for tonight was a dance party with black lights, glow in the dark face paint, glow sticks, and strobe lights. I think we will all definitely sleep well tonight. : )
Love,
A Tired But Happy Montreat-er

Ronda Cooper (Adult)

Montreat is such a place of rejuvenation to begin with….add about 1000 youth and it is even more electric! Starting the morning activities with “energizers” is new…but, I actually like it. Ian told me that there are middle schoolers that are more uncoordinated that me. (Is that good?) Keynote, which for me is a cross between Sunday School, contemporary worship, and Bible study follows energizers and mixed into both of those is music. The music is by far one of my favorite things here. The music itself is both beautiful and fun praise music, but hearing such a large number of young people lifting voices in praise is very moving.

Small groups have smaller groups. How’s that for information? There are about 25 youth and back-home leaders in small groups, but none of the members of small group know each other from home. Our Youth know some of the small groups members they are with because they have met them in years past at Montreat. Every day has a sub-theme from the Keynote and Small Group time helps concentrate on that message and dissect it up a bit. Games and activities are very helpful and FUN! Small Group meets before and after lunch. After the evening meal, we walk to Anderson Auditorium for worship. Then back to our house for more “dissecting”.

I have witnessed pancakes being made, dishes being washed, and schedules being carried out by teenagers!! Believe it! There is, however, not much sleep to go around here…..no problem, we’ll sleep when we aren’t at Montreat…………
Looking forward to tomorrow
Ronda

the second one about montreat: peach cobbler

Good Morning! we’ve had a great second day at montreat, including good fun, good food, and good devo discussion. the morning keynote is about to start, but i wanted to post what the GOOTH blogged about yesterday. thanks for tuning in!

Erica Chatham (10th grader)

This year’s Montreat was probably better than last year. Sure I ended up in the emergency room on my first day because of rock hopping but I was still able to laugh. Today’s keynote was the best I have seen so far. There was a skit about Abel and Cain where they even danced to the music that was played. One of the songs they danced to was the song “Apologize” by Timberland. The small groups this year are amazing, too. I enjoy talking and laughing with new people. Monday night was so much fun. We played games and Julia drew all the Gooth that went to Montreat as stick figures on a blank door that was being used like a painting canvas. I am really having fun in Montreat and I am always waiting for the next day to come.

Reva Catherine Manikas (12th grader)

“Montreat… the best place in the world.” That is the truth! This is my fourth year at Montreat, and I look forward to it every single summer. This is the second day of Montreat and I have enjoyed every minute of it so far. My small groups haven’t been that great in the past year or two but I still enjoy the Montreat experience. This year has been different in that my small group is interactive with each other and we are just very involved with the lessons. Keynote, Worship and free time are wonderful too. Despite the HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT weather, I still think Montreat is the best place for meeting new friends and getting the chance to have new experiences. It is extremely disappointing to think that I only have one more year left, but I have had a blast the past three years and I am looking forward to this week.

Colleen (12th), Joey (12th), and Julia (11th)

Dear Congregation,
The disciples were teenagers…YAYUH. Davey L told us himself (David Lamotte); we’re personal friends, so it’s okay for us to call him that. He had a concert here tonight and he was phenomenal as always, as some of you might remember from when he came to our church not long ago. The theme for the day was all about “broken doors” in our lives and problems present in the world, also God’s presence in those situations. We make pancakes EVERY MORNING as a family, you know, the special kinds like booberry and choco-choco chip… even BANANARAMA! OOOOooOOooooHHhhh and some kickin’ peach cobbler. Everything is part of God’s plan, that’s what we learned today, especially cobbler. The worship messages each night so far are eye-opening and thought provoking, providing interesting conversations for our devo time as a family. Oh, and some of our group went hiking up Lookout Mountain, which is always a good idea. Others made us tasty dinner or caught up on some needed sleep. So now we’re all gathered at about 1 in the morning to bring you this update, as a family.
Love,
Colleen, Joey, and Julia