Asbury’s Set Apart Retreats have become incredibly impactful in the lives of students and staff. The first retreat was held in February of 2022 and has continued to grow ever since. The Set Apart Retreats are specifically designed for Freshmen and Sophomores to go deeper in their faith and experience an encounter with God in a beautiful off-campus retreat location.
This Spring Break, students embarked on a journey to the Doe River Gorge Retreat Center in Tennessee for a life-changing few days. “Each day followed the same rhythm of every Set Apart,” said Jeannie Banter. “Day 1 – The Story of God, Day 2 – Finding Your Story in God’s Story, and Day 3 – Living out God’s Story in Your Life”.
Lo Alaman, a spoken word poet, and Jessica LaGrone, the Dean of Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary, were some of the speakers during the retreat. The students also got the privilege of hearing from Asbury University’s own Dr. Sam Kim, Assistant Professor of Intercultural Studies.
When students were not hearing from the speakers and spending time in the Word, they were spending time in God’s creation. The students rappelled, did low ropes team building exercises, high ropes courses and hiking.
“The first day, two students professed faith in Jesus Christ and were baptized,” Banter said. “It never gets old– seeing people step into faith for the first time! Other students found freedom, healing and the gift of being known by God and in community!”
These days spent in the Lord’s beautiful creation, exploring and deepening faith with fellow students and hearing wise words from speakers, will be forever remembered as a favorite memory among those who attended.
Friendships were formed and strengthened, testimonies were shared, worship was lifted up to Jesus, lives were committed to Christ and students learned what it truly means to be set apart for the Kingdom of God.