| Reflections on the A.R.C. One hundred twenty-five Middle High schoolers from around the conference attended the Middle High Retreat 2002, held Feb. 8-10, at the United Methodist West River Retreat Center in Churchton. The theme was Does your life A.R.C. (Always Reflect Jesus)? Here are a few reflections from three middle high UMs. Y. Medley By Jessica Ferrera, 13
and Liz Gamier, 12
Patapsco UMC, Westminster  It was a long way down to West River from Patapsco UMC. When we finally arrived, we found our way to the main building and checked in. The first night we had orientation, learned the rules of the camp and what was expected of us. Then  we watched Jumanji for devotional reasons.
The staff coordinator gave us two questions to ask our cabin mates. They were: What are some obstacles we face that keep us from connecting with God? and What can we do to better connect with God? Our first workshop was Lets Talk. We talked about music, Sept. 11 and how we could cut some of the things that pulled us away from God out of our lives. Our second workshop was Pressure Zones. We talked a lot about the pressure zones that we get pulled into sometimes, such as sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco and so on. Then we went to lunch, had free time, during which we watched a few basketball games, and took a hike along the river. Our last workshop was on materialism. We talked about how it can stop us from connecting to God. After dinner, we had a mini-concert. The group was awesome and we really enjoyed it. Then we had a mini-Olympics to win tickets for prizes. During the Sunday morning church service we were in the choir and sang, Lord, I Lift Your Name on High, Deep, Way Down Deep and Go Light Your World. It was really interesting how the theme of the whole weekend related to the A.R.C. (Always Reflect Christ). This experience was so much fun. We both would definitely do this again and maybe bring our whole youth group next time. Overall, we learned that we shouldnt be afraid to talk about God in front of our friends, or even bring them to church with us. We got the opportunity to meet people we never would have met and made some really great friends. In fact, we had a lock-in with another church on March 1, and we went to the conference confirmation celebration. We will also attend Acquire the Fire, another event we learned about at the retreat. You can have fun learning about how to get closer to God. By Brandan Sullivan, 11
Cresaptown UMC, Hagerstown  I attended the event with six friends from my church and our youth pastor, the Rev. Jonathan Moore.
Our first night got underway at the dining hall with an icebreaker where we met other people by asking them certain questions. This was a fun way to meet new friends. This was followed by the movie, Jumanji. After the movie, everyone went to their cabins and discussed the religious aspect of the movie. The conclusion that we came up with was that the characters in the film stayed together through rough times, even if things got in the way. We woke up at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday to get ready for the busy day ahead of us. By 8 a.m., we left for breakfast in the dining hall. I must say that the food for the whole weekend was good. After eating, we broke for our first workshop. Mine was Extreme Sports-Extreme Faith. I learned that we need to be devoted to our faith everyday. After lunch, it was time for our second workshop. My Best Buds talked about how you should choose your friends. I enjoyed that session very much, too. Then it was off to supper, another delicious meal. Next, it was time for our worship action group. I was in the clowning action group. Most of my friends attended the choir action group. We wore clown make up and I learned lots of neat stuff. One thing I didnt know was that Christian clowns dont speak. The last group of the day was an open discussion that dealt with various topics, from the Sept. 11 tragedy to peoples privacy on the Internet. Sunday mornings big event was the performance of the worship action groups. Everyone did a wonderful job and my fellow clowns and I performed our play. By 12:30 p.m. we were packed up and on the way home, taking with us a lot of great experiences and knowledge from A.R.C. It was a wonderful, fun experience that I hope others will be able to enjoy. | 
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