There were 21 students and 7 staff that loaded into vans and caravanned snowy roads to Allegan, MI, last weekend. Along with veteran CYIAers were a handful of teens interested in CYIA and fellowshipping with longtime friends.
Event planning is always a bit complex. Between planning out the camp facility usage, gathering sound equipment, instruments, and stage equipment, we have to coordinate each person’s paperwork and transportation. Activities to be planned, refrigerator boxes obtained for a sled-building competition, and schedules synced. One might ask why Chicago CEF takes the time and energy to plan a 3-day winter retreat for teens?
The short answer is that we are the body of Christ. We recognize that each one of us is a part of it. Ben Jorden said it best during the first session at Ignite 2019:
“The reason for having Ignite is two-fold. One: to thank the teens who dedicated and gave their summer last year to share the Gospel in Chicago by teaching 5-day clubs for 4-7 weeks. The second is to ignite a vision in news teens. A vision of how they can have an active hand in working as the body of Christ this summer with CYIA.”
In today’s Church, a lot of teens aren’t given the opportunity to serve. They are served themselves through sermons on Sunday mornings and at youth group on weekday nights, but their opportunities to minister and share God’s Word are limited. Ignite CYIA’s goal is to present teens with an exciting weekend where they not only fellowship with other believers on fire for ministry but walk away excited to take the Great Commission Mission upon themselves.
