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Community - FAYA Retreat 2019

In this day and age, the meaning of a lot of words has changed and evolved. For example, the word "awesome" used to mean “bringing awe,” but now describes something cool. The word "cool" used to describe temperature, but now it's anything that's awesome (you see what I did there?).

“Community” is another word with an evolved meaning. A community used to denote a group of people in a physical location. But in this day and age of the internet, the meaning has expanded. Physical communities still exist, but now it also describes a group with a particular characteristic, such as a “scientific community.” A community can include a group with similar life experiences, such as a certain stage of life and also a group that can congregate not just in a physical space, but online.

So, how is Fellowship of Adventist Young Adults (FAYA) a community? Although our name says we are Adventist and young adults, we don't have all that much in common: no gender and racial specificity, difference of vocations, a spectrum of age ranges (don’t ask for specifics), both SDA and non-SDA attendees… Maybe you may think the particular characteristic is that we’re all single and ready to mingle. While that might be true for some, that’s still not true for all.

What is it then? The one particular characteristic that makes us a community is that we’re helping each other grow in Christ. “Isn’t that what a church is?” Yes, definitely! But you must have heard how our churches don’t have young adults anymore. While the numbers are not big, our community shows that we are here. Of course, we have differing and unique spiritual walks, but we only want to openly engage and discuss, without judgment.

While we mostly meet online (through a chat group and online video), we convene annually to discuss topics and ideas in person! Our third annual retreat was held at Mount Aetna Retreat Center in Maryland from March 15-18, 2019. This year’s topic was “Practical Christianity.” Our speaker, Ashwin Sukumaran, a Lifestyle Practitioner at Uchee Pines Lifestyle Center, revealed the origin of disease. He delved into the power of the mind and its unaddressed influence in the path of disease, and that being connected to the true source of God’s love is the cure. This requires not only a one-time action, but a daily surrender and seeking of a new heart in God. Finally, he provided practical instructions on how Christians can truly live for God in four simple steps:

Admit

Submit

Commit

Permit

First, admit. We have to admit we need Him. Second, submit. Submit our wills to Him. Third, we must commit. Once we submit our wills to God, we must commit to it. Finally, we must permit. Permit and allow God to use us according to His good will. Only then can we be truly healed. 

Other than Ashwin’s talks, we also learned how to work as a group through team-building activities and games. For example, how to work on our patience when someone slows you down in a group and also how to continue to encourage one another. Finally, we spent time, formally and informally, discussing all aspects of God, from His existence (whether He exists or not) down to the full plan of salvation. But our favorite moment was testimony time. You know how it goes. At first, everyone is hesitant to share but by the time we were wrapping up, there was a rush of people wanting to share their story of Jesus!

We have since returned home, some driving more than ten hours, others, less than one (11 states were represented at our retreat!). We continue to keep in contact through a Kakao group chat. Our current group chat hosts seventy members, with weekly online video Bible studies (through another app called “Zoom”) and random pop-up gatherings and fun events (exercise challenges, secret gift giving, raffles, etc.). We follow up with each other and have discussions and talks about various subjects, from “What we want to be if we woke up as an animal?” to “Why did Jesus have to die?” in a friendly environment (please let us know if you want to be a member! We would love to add you as well.).

In conclusion: All communities exist because people want to belong. No one is forced to be part of a community. God has blessed us with this opportunity to reach out to people and God has also blessed us with enough funding for this retreat, just like every other year. We continue to be amazed and inspired every year, but a little less surprised with each passing year (this is where we ask you to help us financially by donating to us). FAYA was started so that we could connect with each other and with our heavenly Father. Please pray for this community as we continue to guide each other in our spiritual walks with the hope of walking together into the original definition of community: being physically together in Heaven.

FAYA (Fellowship of Adventist Young Adults)

lightafaya@gmail.com

Webpage: http://www.fayaministry.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/fayaministry

Instagram: www.instagram.com/fayaministry

“For where two or three are assembled in My name, there I am in their midst.” Matthew 18:20