Blackstone 2011 was... WHATEVER.

Blaze returned on Sunday, January 30th, from a great weekend at the Norfolk District's Blackstone youth retreat. This year's theme was "Whatever" and refers to the Philippians 4:8 passage "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right...". This year the weather was just perfect and our group stayed in the cottages outside the main building. The keynote speakers were Clarence and Jordan Brown who connected wonderfully with everyone who came to Blackstone. "This is Luke" was the band that performed and everyone really enjoy them. It was universally agreed that the weekend ended too quickly. Once again, Doug and Debbie and the youth council did a superb job making Blackstone a great experience. On the way home we stopped off at the Virginia Diner and had some great food. There has been some talk recently about moving the retreat from VUMAC in Blackstone. I know that the District and Conference realize how much the youth love the Virginia United Methodist Assembly Center and I hope they find a way to keep our retreat in Blackstone.

2010 BLACKSTONE YOUTH RETREAT TIMELY RENEWS ONCE AGAIN

YMCA?

Blaze - Getting Ready to Leave

Rachel and baby

Lots of talented kids

Football During Free Time

Sean and Nick perform an 80s classic

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Every year the Blackstone Youth Retreat seems to come around just when we need it and it certainly did this year. Despite a rough start for some of our group (one of our youth was riding in a car that hit a deer on Route 460 Friday evening), I think everyone was spiritually energized and had a great time at the retreat. We had several first-timers make the trip this year (Tyler, Catherine, Tucker, and Garrett) and they seem to have particularly enjoyed themselves as well. Rachel and Brandon Gilmore were our keynote speakers and seemed to connect well with our youth. Doug and Debi from Courthouse UMC and the Norfolk District Youth Council once again did a great great job putting the weekend together. On the way back to Norfolk we made our traditional stop at the Virginia Diner and had dinner. Thank you so much Tammy, Nick and Richard for looking out for our youth all weekend. I always hear the same thing every year on the ride home: "When can we go back?"

2009 BLACKSTONE YOUTH RETREAT LIFTS SPIRITS HIGH

I will remember the 2009 Blackstone Youth Retreat for a very long time. This one really touched me and raised the bar for future youth retreats. Mark Price, this year's keynote speaker, was wonderfully entertaining and connected so well with our youth. I heard only superlative comments about him throughout the weekend. Stand Still once again rocked the house and provided exceptional musical entertainment for everyone in attendance. Both Mark and Stand Still shared with our young people the powerful influence Christ has had on their lives and were actively involved with the events throughout the weekend. The plannng and execution of the entire retreat was superb.
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The attention to detail that went into putting on this year's talent show was very apparent. The audio-visual support and the lighting effects were great and really helped showcase the performances. The 17 youth performances this year, from beginning to end, highlighted how amazingly creative and gifted our kids are and how blessed we are as youth leaders to be able to serve them. I could go on and on about the talent show.
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I loved the 'rules' video that was shown Friday evening. It was really clever and funny, and must have taking a lot of time to prepare.
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Sunday's worship service was really surprising. A lot of creative effort went into putting it all together. The stapling to the cross of pictures and everybody's name at the end of the service provided a moving way to end this year's retreat and everyone departed Blackstone with the feeling that they had witnessed something special.
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Well done to Courthouse Community's Doug and Debi Nichols and everyone involved with the Norfolk District Youth Council for orchestrating such a beautiful weekend.