News & Events

Rev. Samit Mishra gives this report of the Presbyterian Free Church Youth Retreat, which was held in Lakhnadon Mission School from 26th to 29th September.

Lots of thought and endless effort had been put into the preparation of the event. Prior to the Retreat, nervousness was overpowering us, but as soon as the Retreat commenced, all our anxiety and tiredness turned into a refreshing breeze…because the attendance of youth was crossing the limit we had set before. We expected 80-85 young people - and 90 young people came. Much to our surprise, almost half of the youth came from villages. Among them, many were new to faith and were trying to find opportunity to get rooted in their understanding of Christ and His work.

The theme of this year was taken from Ephesians 5:14 - “Awake…and Christ shall give you light”. In the inauguration session, Mrs P. Kumar and Mrs L. Y. Lal shed some light on the history of the Chhapara and Lakhnadon churches. Thereafter, flowers of different colours were tied together to signify our unity and the beauty of our unity. Then began a series of 10 sessions, each dealing with a particular concern of contemporary youth.

The end arrived much sooner than we hoped. The final day of the Retreat, 29th September, brought a timeless encouragement to all who were involved. During those three days, we all experienced God’s grace in abundance and the result was - before coming to an end, a desire to plan the next retreat was already on discussion.

Finally, we thank our God, who makes impossible things possible. Our vision was enlarged for this year, and God, like the year 2008, helped us achieve our aim. Though the Retreat began with some discouragements, its end brought a great encouragement to continue such happening with another expanded vision. Thanks for your prayer support; your prayer support are a kind of boost for all of us.