The Lord himself set the pattern for Sabbath rest when he created the world and rested on the seventh day. Not only did he do so himself, but he then commands that humans take sabbath breaks weekly. It’s also wise to do so daily and seasonally! 

In Cru we make sure our students understand the value of sabbath rest not just weekly and seasonally but as a Kingdom community. Every fall our staff team in Jersey organizes and hosts a retreat over a weekend. This year we did so on October 1-3. It was such a great time for students to rest in a beautiful retreat center, hear awesome Bible teachings, connect with their own and other campuses and be equipped in evangelism! I asked students from a few campuses to share some feedback and here is what they said:

Ella Bergman from Seton Hall University shared: 

“The designated quiet time was my favorite, and we had the perfect weather for it. Just being able to sit by the lake, surrounded by God’s creation, and sit with God and spend time with Him was amazing. It reminded me of the verse that talks about how God dresses the flowers of the field so beautifully, and they are here today and gone tomorrow, so think of how much more He loves you and how beautiful He says you are. Fall retreat also taught me a lot about how to share the gospel, with the two evangelism booklets we were given, and it really encouraged me to be bolder in my faith and try to share with more people.”

Elissa Bonilla from New Jersey City University shared:

“My favorite part of the Fall Retreat was how welcoming the environment was. Everyone there was friendly and open to getting to know one another. As a new face in the community, the kindness and openness stood out to me. It made me feel welcomed and included. I feel like my relationship with the Lord was rejuvenated and I found a community that can keep me accountable and help me grow closer to Christ. I am excited to get more involved with Cru on my campus and continue to get to know people in the greater Cru community. I also hope that God can use me as a vessel for this ministry on campus.”

It really was an amazing experience for our students. As staff it was the first retreat we were able to organize and plan together since before the pandemic. This really built up the community on our own team, which was wonderful! Thank you so much for YOUR partnership in the gospel to make Christ-centered and god-glorifying experiences like this possible!