UIC Spring Retreat 2025

2025 UIC Spring Student Retreat 

Falling in Love with Jesus 

March 22-24, 2025

Okemos, Michigan

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever we believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” – John 3:16

“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest” –  John 4:35

Report by UIC Shepherds/Coordinators

God Blessed this Retreat abundantly by the Power of His Holy Spirit.

This retreat was at Okemos, Michigan with 17 students, and 3 adults. We left Saturday morning and arrived safely on Monday. Most students were student leaders and had studied John’s gospel through the semester. God blessed Yue to debut his first message on John 3:16. The Holy Spirit helped him deliver with repentance and faith. Then we had a festival of born again testimonies. They were beautiful testimonies of how God gave new birth through faith in Jesus Christ personally. Everyone shared their own creative music album cover which summarized their born again testimony as their backdrop, and shared heartfelt testimony. For example, Theo cover album title was “Theo, one and only son, meets Jesus, God’s one and only son.” We saw the evidence of their life change in all of them. And especially in 3 students who indicated their desire to be baptized: Robyn, Sydney and Faith. We praise the Lord for His great work of salvation in each one of their lives.

On Sunday, we studied John 4b, and worshiped the Lord with P.David’s message on John 4b. We learned 5 points of “Jesus’ sanctifying love.” And afterwards God helped us to learn of God’s vision through Jesus’ words to his disciples that the fields are white and ready for the mighty harvest of the Samaritan people led by little Sarah. Through the evening prayer meeting, using the acronym P.R.A.Y. (praise-repentance-ask-yield), God moved in our hearts with overwhelming tears of praise, repentance, asking and yielding to the Lord. The Holy Spirit moved among us as students confessed sins and received His forgiveness. It was a powerful evening of praise, prayer and repentance. Students didn’t want to stop praying.

The next day, we all gathered with personal assessment based on the discipleship ladder, discipleship wheel and prayer topic to grow as disciples of Christ. We found that most of the students were converts, and growing Christians, and a few disciples. We prayed to move to the next step of growing as Jesus’ disciple based on ladder and wheel.

This retreat everyone contributed as a cooking team member, cleaning member and also sharing their personal testimonies. We thank and praise God for His blessing on this retreat. We all truly fell in love with Jesus and excited to get back to keep following Jesus at UIC with God’s vision. Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray for the raising of 12 lifelong committed disciples of Jesus at UIC.