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Senior Retreat 2011

Posted on: 2011-10-25 by Vicken Kalamkarian

It's a unique opportunity to be able to visit Hye Camp during the autumn season. The fields never look greener, and the air never feels more crisp. The leaves haven't made up their minds on what new coat to sport, and the morning dew sits gently on the blades of grass until the later part of the afteroon.

What better environment could nearly fifty members of the Senior ACYO ask for?!?!

On the weekend of October 21-23, members of the Senior ACYO drove up to Camp Hye Sierra for a weekend long retreat that was directed by Fr. Yeghia Hairabedian. 

Friday evening kicked off with welcoming remarks from the Central Council and from Der Yeghia. After a masterfully crafted ravioli and lasagna dinner, the participants played a few icebreaker games, although from the vibes in the air, the warmth of everyone's personalities, and the eagerness to kick off a great weekend exhibited by everyone, an icebreaker was at best, unnecessary. Vicken's (my) job was rendered useless -_-

The "Mess Hall" was where everyone spent the majority of the evening playing card games, word games, singing Armenian folk songs, dancing, playing the piano, and of course, a giant game of "Mafia."

With a 9:30AM wake up call in mind, the participants made their way up the hill to get a decent night's rest. But you know us Armenians, we say goodnight, and then talk in front of the door for another 45 minutes....

Eggs, Potatoes, Sausages, Bagels, Jam, Cream Cheese, Croissants, etc....The list goes on! Saturday morning's agenda was kicked off with a delicious breakfast followed up by the first class session of the weekend. 

The classes were split into three sections that covered, Burnout, Symptons of Burnout/ Prevention, and then the third class session which Der Yeghia described as the "No Holds Barred" class session which was more of a Q&A on any topic we wished to talk about. 

Der Yeghia explained what we as Armenian Christians feel when we get burnt out, how to rejuvenate our passion for the Armenian Church, and how to prevent feeling down and out with our Christian lives. The participants studied verses from Psalms, and the Book of Matthew in which Jesus told us not to worry about our every day concerns, and how He is with us, always. 

The class sessions proved to be intellectually stimulating as after every class, I saw different groups formed throughout the campgrounds discussing what was covered in the previous class session. It was great to see everyone so engaged and interested in what was being discussed. I hadn't seen anything like it!

Saturday's class sessions were wrapped up and the rest of day saw an epic game of soccer...ON THE DECK! (Sorry Gary!), a 35 yard race between David Semerdjian and Mher Attarian, a campfire that was sponsered by Andrew Moltz, Abraham Tchaprasian, Mark Samoulian, and Vicken Kalamkarian, and a night of singing that was directed by Arpi Nakashian, Rafik & Gegham Mughnetsyan.

On Sunday morning, Daniel Hairabedian led our prayer service and delivered one final message about our time spent on doing God's work. He told us to remember that it isn't the number of years we work to do God's will that gets us to heaven, but it is our response to when He calls that determines our fate. 

On behalf of the Central Council, I would like to personally thank every member that attended this weekend. You are the future of the ACYO and what holds this great organization together. I would also like to thank Scott Davidson, Mark Boranian, Adam Donabedian, Shant Shahnazarian, and everyone else who contributed to preparing some of the best meals I have had at camp! You guys had by far the toughest jobs and I hope you guys know how thankful we are that you donate your time and for doing this for the past 6 retreats! 

 Thank you

 ALL

fOr a great weekend :)