In September, Monterey Bay Academy’s senior class was challenged spiritually and physically by Senior Survival, a five-day program geared toward learning trust, teamwork and leadership skills.
“The purpose of Senior Survival is to unify the class and strengthen them spiritually,” said David Lara, class sponsor and program coordinator. “The idea is to get the students into an environment where they can focus on God and learn to work together.”
It didn’t take long for the class of 69 students to get out of their comfort zones and into survival mode. As soon as the group arrived at Weimar College—which graciously allowed MBA to use their backwoods property—they had a mile-long hike to their campsite. With a tarp, some twine and a small post, their first task to set up their camp.
Split into groups of eight students and one counselor, the seniors soon realized that setting up their tents was only the first of many challenges. Counselors were academy staff and parents. “It was hard,” said Stuart Hollingsead, of Berrien Springs, Mich. “We cooked our own food, built shelters, dug latrines. We even had to bathe in a stream.”
During morning worship, they studied the final chapters of the Great Controversy. It was followed by a trio of courses that focused on dependence on God, learning teamwork and valuable survival skills: Initiatives—leadership and team building skills, which included challenges like getting groups of 20, some “handicapped,” safely over a 10-foot wall and a six-foot trust fall; survival skills – orienteering, how to build shelters and how to collect water in the wilderness, and edible plants, taught by biology teach Sheldon Shultz.
“The trust fall was really hard for some people,” said Kimily Gerking, from Groveland, Calif. “It taught us a lot about our relationship with God, because we have to trust God, even though we can’t see Him, just like we couldn’t see the people who were there to catch us.”
As the weekend progressed, the class began to shift again, moving from survival mode to a new comfort zone based on trust. “The first day we were still clinging to our little groups and were really worried about our living conditions,” Julie Chun, from Nipomo, Calif., said. “By the end of the trip, we had broken out of those groups and were getting to know everyone better.”
As trust in each other grew, so did meaningful worship times as seniors shared testimonies, encouraged each other and asked questions about God.
“Each morning was an opportunity to learn about last day events, and that stretched and challenged them,” said Sam Kaligithi, campus pastor. “The evening worships were very meaningful with students singing into the night and a lot of important sharing about their personal walks with God.”
The last night, worship was especially meaningful as students stood up and publicly acknowledged people who had impressed, surprised or reached out to them. According to Becca Raettig, from Tujunga, Calif., “When worship was over, no one wanted to leave, and that was a great feeling.”
