Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Refuel Retreat



I have been in youth ministry for 23 years.  In those 23 years I have attended many different training events, national conferences, etc.  I can say that Refuel Retreat by LeaderTreks was by far the best training I've been to, and exactly what I needed at this point in my life and ministry.  Thanks to Nags Head Church for being the church that sees the value in sending staff off to get refreshed and challenged.  Churches who don't pay the way for their staff to go to conferences and events like this are only hurting the church in the long run.  Thanks to LeaderTreks for and awesome retreat, Doug and Dan did an awesome job leading the retreat.  Thanks to Download Youth Ministry, I was watching their podcast when I first heard of Refuel.

So what did I learn?  I'm glad you asked . . . .

In Leading Myself I learned:
  • God has called me into ministry and because of that He's given me everything I need to serve in the position I am in.
  • Everything rises and falls on leadership (I've heard this throughout my life).   My influence is determined by my leadership.
  • I have a unique leadership contribution to make.
I learned about Leading Mission.  Assessed my core values and found how they fit into the mission of the church I serve.  My core values are: Unity, Purpose, Faith, Love, Family.

I learned about Leading Up.  Confidence, knowing myself, teamwork, strategy.  Communication, I'm good at giving out information but how good am I at listening?  Working on that one.

We did some life mapping and some assessments.  Super helpful tools for looking at where I'm at and where I'm heading.

I loved the small setting.  Only ten youth ministers in the room.  Some great discussion and learning from each other as well as more one on one with the "pros".

I give Refuel two thumbs up and highly recommend this retreat to anyone who works with and leads students.  Much of the leadership principles we learned apply to anyone in ministry and for that matter in business.  Great stuff!

PLUS we ate some great meals.  You have got to check out BisQits in Pawleys Island, SC. 

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