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Springfield & IIT UBF chapters held a joint Easter retreat March 30th to April 1st. We praise and thank God for his abundant blessing upon our retreat and the privilege to witness all that Jesus did for us. We held our retreat at Dickson Valley camp with the title “Witness Jesus.” We had 53 total number of attendants with many new people and the majority of them were students. The opening message was given by Orlando Ocasio with the title “Witness the life of Jesus,” based on Luke 7. It was his first message and he delivered it with a thankful heart towards God’s grace. Through his message we could witness the life of Jesus. We saw how he healed the centurion’s servant and how he had compassion upon the widow and raised her dead son. Ultimately we witnessed that God came to be with his people.

On Saturday we had group Bible study and then a message by Zhen Jimmy Mei with the title “Witnessing Jesus’ Death gives us Hope,” based upon Luke 23. Through his thoughtful, heart moving message we could see how much Jesus suffered before he died. Zhen, a first year med student, described in detail how Jesus was tortured through the crucifixion. However Jesus’ death gives us hope because he willingly gave his life for us so that we could be set free from death and have eternal life. After lunch we had reflection writing and free time where we enjoyed rock climbing, archery, volleyball, basketball, hiking and God’s peace in the beautiful Illinois countryside. After dinner we enjoyed heart moving life testimonies by Monica Ocasio, Miriam Kim, Dr. John Lee and Minah Park as well as “How I met Jesus” testimonies by Jenny Huh, Jason Du and Soo Hyun. So many people opened their hearts because of their testimonies. After that we had an extended time of worship and praise followed by deep prayer time and then a moon lit hay ride at night. We finished the night with snacks and fellowship by a camp fire. We could see the Holy Spirit impacting people throughout the night.

On Sunday after breakfast, we shared our retreat reflections in small groups. Afterward we heard a message by Alex Foster titled “Witness the Savior,” based upon Luke 24. Through his message we witnessed Jesus’ resurrection and how it impacted the disciples. We could see how they were changed through Jesus’ resurrection and how they were compelled to tell others about Jesus. When we really witness Jesus, we are compelled to become a witness for him. After the message we took communion and lined up for a group picture. We thank God for his provision that we could offer about two thousand dollars for the Uganda medical mission. May he accept this as our prayer to serve world mission.

In all, I was humbled by God’s amazing grace to see how he worked personally in so many people’s hearts. Indeed, Jesus is alive because he has risen!!!!

If you want to see more pictures please visit:

IIT UBF
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.367930136585747.90381.158359047...

Springfield UBF
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.404482489562088.103767.2580731...

Reported by  Bob Henkins