GO Retreat set for this weekend

The Center for Global Missions and Outreach is putting on its ninth annual GO Retreat this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6-7.

The GO Retreat is a two-day conference located at the Springs Church of Christ where full-time missionaries and people who have done mission work in the past come and speak. However, you do not have to have mission trip experience to attend, Director of the Center of Global Missions Ben Langford said.

“We put it [GO Retreat] on every fall, and it is designed for those who have gone on missions to come and tell us about what they saw God doing and how they got to participate,” Langford said. “It is also for those who are interested in going to hear about what God is doing in the world.”

The guest speaker for the second year in a row will be Seth Bouchelle, a missionary based in the Bronx, NY.

“He [Bouchelle] works with groups to start missional communities in the Bronx,” Langford said. “He had three interns this summer. One of those was Tyler Britton, a former OC student, who will also be at the retreat to talk about his experience. Tyler’s job this summer was working with mostly Muslim immigrants.”

The retreat will focus on a vast array of topics with speakers from all over the country coming to share their stories on why mission work is so important.

“We’re going to talk about evangelism, discipleship and what it means to follow God’s mission,” Langford said. “What we want to focus on is local. Most missions we think about are overseas, and we want people to learn how to get involved with missions overseas, but what is God doing here? How is he working here, and how can I get involved in that?”

In addition to sharing missionaries’ stories and experiences, the GO Retreat will also help participants get plugged in and get involved with mission work, Langford said.

“You are going to hear other people’s stories and think, ‘Hey, how do I get involved with that? You did what this summer? How do I get to do that?’” Langford said. “We don’t do a formal presentation, but through people sharing stories and experiences, it is more organic in that sense.”

In addition to the lectures and speaking, the GO Retreat offers other amenities to the people who attend.

“There’s a time of worship and fellowship with people who are interested in God’s mission,” Langford said. “We are going to be sharing and discovering what God is doing in the world. On Friday night, we have our dodgeball game that we do every year, and I’m super excited. It is going to be a lot of fun.”

The cost of the retreat is $20, and if you can only make one of the days, it is only $10. You can register for the retreat now until Friday morning in front of the caf at the GO table.

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