The Return is the theme this year. As we Return EL RETO, we also focus on The Return of Christ. So, our teaching this year will be focused around Christ's second coming.
Nearly 60 students came out as we started with four teams:
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The Raptured Captain: Angel |
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The Believers Captain Luis |
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The Chosen Captain Emma |
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The Set Apart Captain Aidé |
After each captain presented what their team's name was and the design they made on their flag, they immediately left the church and ran to the Mission Base where some staff had hidden 50 really small jars with a numbered piece of paper inside that indicated how many points they received.
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| Leaving the church... |
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| Searching at the base... |
There was a variety of different numbers and the results were:
The Raptured 3,250
The Believers 1,700
The Chosen 1,600
The Set Apart 300
From there, they had to RETURN to the church where the rest of the staff were waiting to serve them a meal. Not a normal meal, but the traditional RETO BANQUET! This was the first time we had the Banquet the first week, no one was expecting it.
On the menu was:
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| "The Beginning" (Gerber baby food) |
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| "The Following Dish" (Cauliflower bathed in Mayonnaise) |
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| "The Flag" (Jalapeño Pepper filled with cream cheese and hot Takis chips covered in hot sauce--The Mexican flag's colors are Green, White, Red) |
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| "Together" (Two cucumbers with two team members) |
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| "Tangled Up" (Pesto cooked in olive oil and basil) |
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| "Dessert" (A real Cupcake with sour cream frosting) |
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| "The Dawning of the Day" (Black Coffee disguised in a small bottle of coke) |
Upon finishing the Banquet, we all went up to THE REFUGE. The Refuge is upstairs in the youth room where we all come together as one team. This past year, your donations have allowed us to purchase a Foosball table, Ping Pong table, and a Basketball game.
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| Ping Pong! |
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| Foosball |
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| Basketball! |
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| Getting ready for Worship! |
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| Caleb and band leading |
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| Pastor Chuy speaking |
Caleb led worship, Pastor Chuy preached, and then each team made their way one by one to the voting room where they voted for another team to do chores (setting up chairs for Sunday's service and cleaning up the Youth room after the service).
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EL RETO is filled with unreached youth in our town and region. Over ten cities and towns are represented in this event. At minimum, 90% of these kids won't go to church. This is our privileged opportunity to share the gospel with them. During the voting time, I took the opportunity to share with each team, on a more intimate level, a simple message of the gospel. Most of the kids shared a desire to make Jesus their Lord! Praise Jesus!
These are seeds we're planting. Please pray the seeds will fall on good soil. Please pray that seeds will grow. Please pray we will have wisdom on how to love and follow-up on these students.
We do not charge any of the students to come to this event. It is an event that costs us $2,000 US Dollars which goes towards all materials and props, gas and transportation, shirts for staff and captains, drinks and snacks for the students. Please pray about being a partner with EL RETO and help us get the gospel out to these unchurched students! Thank you so much!!
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