This year’s Young Adults Ministry (YAM) retreat marked many firsts, revealing God’s fingerprints and his unceasing work in our young adults community. 

From 12-14 July 2024, 194 young adults (and 9 children) gathered for our second post-COVID YAM annual retreat. It was the first time signups hit around 200 — a marked increase from pre-pandemic retreatant numbers which hovered between 100 and 120, as well as a significant jump from 157 in 2023.

We saw a wider age range of attendees. In previous years, non-working young adults usually outnumbered working adults by a significant margin. This year, the ratio of working adults to university students hit around 50:50 for the first time demonstrating greater retention of young adults deeper into the early years of work.

We also saw a record number of around 17 married couples and 9 young children.

We were also blessed, for the second time, by 13 attendees from Oasis BRMC Mission @Bukit Batok joining the retreat and hope Oasis’ participation will continue to be a norm for the years to come. 

Themed “Crossroads”, the retreat was an opportunity to take a step back from the busyness of life and to realign our hearts with His.

“Crossroads” was intended to have dual meaning, referring first to the transitions young adults have to face and learning what it means to seek God’s guidance and follow Him; and second, to bearing our cross daily on the road of life. Through Pastor Gilbert’s messages, hearing the various testimonies from group mates and panellists, as well as times of personal reflection during devotions and encounter stations, we explored what obedience and surrender look like, both in seasons of discernment and in the everyday. 

In our collective search for direction, a significant takeaway was Pastor Gilbert’s encouragement to us to first pursue the Caller, not the calling, that at each crossroad, we should remember the ultimate destination is a person, in the form of Christ himself. That it’s only with open palms, allowing Him to take our hands, that we can navigate through life’s twists and turns in the way we were created to. 

The retreat provided a truly blessed space for rich, deep reflection and discovery as a YAM community. Indeed, even as we seek Him and discern His will for our lives, we do so in the midst of community. As such, we are thankful to see many relationships deepened and lives being shared during this time. Even as the YAM community grows both in depth and number, we look back and give thanks for His faithfulness to us in the years past, and for the work that He is still doing in us as individuals and as a community. 

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