Welcome
Welcome to the EFC Winter Retreat 2011 website. Whether this is your first retreat with us or you've joined us for past events, this site should answer your questions and give you an understanding of what winter retreat is all about.
The EFC Winter Retreat is an annual gathering of EFC churches held at Pine Summit Camp in Big Bear, California. Comprised of four days and three nights of messages, workshops, worship, and small groups, we gather together to not simply retreat from the world, but to spend four days in pursuit of Christ.
This year, there will be three separate tracks for the campers. Everyone will meet together for joint worship and then break into three groups:
- High school, college, and adults
- Junior high
- Children
Small groups for junior high and up (typically anywhere from 4 to 10 campers) are assigned to all campers to help facilitate deeper discussions after each of the six messages.
Children have their own lesson, which is related to the theme in the adult program but on a kid level. Lesson activities include Bible memory verses, crafts, and games.
Retreat Theme: Sing a New Song
“And they sang a new song, saying:
You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.”
Date/Location
Wednesday, December 28 – Satday, December 31, 2011
Pine Summit Christian Camps
700 Wren Drive
Big Bear Lake, CA [map]
Registration
(1) Register here
(2) Print out and sign the Release of Liability Form
Charts
See who else is going! These charts and tables represent registrant data in real time.
Deadlines
Early: $175
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Regular: $190
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Late: $205
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Total Registered
Registration Details
- ALL individuals must fill out the form, regardless of age (a parent may fill out the form for those who are too young to use the internet, who do not have the necessary motor skills to operate a computer mouse, or who are not yet properly toilet trained). The question asking if you are registering as a family is for room assignments only. Family room requests can be made and will be honored by priority:
1) Parents with young children 11 and under (children ages 12+ are not eligible unless for medical or other special reasons)
2) Married couples (contingent upon space) - Age 3 and under: free
- Age 4 and up, to and including 5th grade: $75 (regardless of the date registered)
- Grades 6-12, college, graduate school, young adult, adult, mid-life crisis, old adult, geezer:
- Early: Sunday, October 16, 2011, 11:59 pm: $175
Regular: Sunday, November 20, 2011, 11:59 pm: $190
Late: Sunday, December 4, 2011, 11:59 pm: $205 - Refund: $140 for grades 6 and higher (regardless of the date registered). $75 for children's registration. Last day to request a refund is December 12, 2010.
- Fellowship with other EFC churches: pricele$$
- Absolutely NO SUBSTITUTIONS allowed. :/
- For part time registration considerations, you must contact the registrar for details. You MUST have a signed Pine Summit Consent and Release of Liability Form (121 kb PDF) in order to attend ANY portion of Winter Retreat.
Registrars
Your local church registrar has a wealth of information about winter retreat. They will collect two things from you:
- A signed check (payable to your local church) for the appropriate amount based on your registration date. If your church has no registrar, please contact us.
- A signed Pine Summit Christian Camps CONSENT AND RELEASE OF LIABILITY FORM.
Speakers
There are three separate tracks for campers based on age.
- Track 1 - High School, College, and Adults.
- Track 2 - Junior High
- Track 3 - Elementary
After a joint time in worship, individuals break into their separate tracks and later into small groups. Small groups for junior high and up (typically anywhere from 4 to 10 campers) are assigned to help facilitate deeper discussions after messages. Children elementary aged and below have their own lesson activites, which include Bible memory verses, crafts, and games.
Charles Yu
IVCF GFM
Track One: High School, College, Adult
Charles Yu grew up among the rice paddies in Taiwan. After his family immigrated to Southern California, he studied electrical engineering and met his wife Serena at UC Berkeley. Charles received his M.Div at Regent College, while working as a minister to Chinese-Canadian college students in Vancouver, British Columbia.
After that he and his wife moved to the Midwest to pursue his studies in Hebrew and Semitics (Old Testament/Hebrew Bible) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He completed his PhD and currently enjoys a teaching ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Graduate & Faculty Ministries (IVCF GFM) as a campus theologian; meanwhile, Serena teaches English in the Madison public schools.
They have two girls, Kirstin (11) and Nikki (8). Charles likes to play basketball, read about the Civil War, and is an expert guitarist... on Rock Band.
Pastor Rich Katakawa
Generations Bible Church
Track Two: Junior High
Being in love with a Christian girl, Rich accepted Christ at the age 19. He was left only to have his heart broken. Rich was born in L.A. but grew up in Monterey Park since 1976. He graduated from Schurr High School (’87), UCLA (’92) and The Master’s Seminary in ’95.
At age of 19, he converted to Christ because he fell in love with a Christian girl. She broke his heart, and he gave what was left to Christ. As Rich puts it - “I discovered an insatiable hunger and interest in Scripture. My doubts disappeared and my faith solidified as I read God’s Word.”
He was called to ministry one year after converting where he oversaw the Jr. High group on Friday nights. He was been serving Christ ever since. “There is nothing I would rather do than study and teach Scripture for the rest of my life.”
He has served as an intern at First Fundamental Bible Church in Monterey Park (1992-2001), as English Pastor at Truth Chinese Alliance Church (2001), as instructor at BILD - Anza Baptist Church in Torrance (2002-present), at Hope Chapel Ministry Institute (2008-present), and as a missionary church planter of Generations under Bible Church Mission (2002- present).
His hobbies includes Starbucks, Bible studies, chess, Dodgers baseball, Lakers basketball, and watching Survivor, Lost, and The Office.
Workshops
The Story of the Bible (Charles Yu)
You’ve heard sermons on David and Goliath, Joseph and his Technicolor dream coat. You’ve had Bible studies on Adam and Eve, Moses and the Red Sea, Samson and his awesomeness. You’ve even participated in skits on Cain and Abel, Daniel and the lions, Elijah and Elisha. But have you wondered how all these stories and characters fit together? What does Jesus have to do with any of this? Is there a single story that makes sense of the whole Bible? Come and join this workshop where we figure out the big story of the Bible and make i
The Whole Gospel (Charles Yu)
“Is the Christian life just about getting into Heaven?” “Now that I’m saved, what else is there?” If you have questions like these, come and learn about “The Whole Gospel,” the gospel that Jesus and his disciples preached. You will be surprised, challenged, inspired. And you will never ever wonder again, “Is this all these is to being a Christian?”
Cross Cultural Ministry & Missions (Danielle Mailloux)
Have you ever thought what it would be like to cross cultures for missions or ministry? Or do you have a passion for another language or culture? Or perhaps you are praying for God to show you a culture to reach out to? Jesus was the best teacher when it came to crossing cultures, and the Bible also has some great examples of people who crossed cultures in sharing the gospel to all nations. Come learn how to worship our Savior through crossing cultures.
Practical Purity: Rules of Engagement (Danielle Mailloux)
Do you want to seek sexual purity in your life but you just don’t know where to begin? Have you ever thought that seeking purity is just too hard? This workshop will give you practical tools for proactively living out sexual purity in your life. This year’s workshop will be co-educational to allow teaching and open discussion on how each gender struggles with being sexually pure. Together as brothers and sisters in Christ we will learn how to avoid the top stumbling blocks for the opposite sex and how to help each other seek purity.
Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. 1 Timothy 5:2b
Love, Dating, & Relationships (Mike Kim)
All that you’ve ever wanted to know about love, dating, and relationships… in one hour… or simply how our love life, dating experiences, and relationships can be acts of worship. Hopefully, afterwards, your love life will be singing a new song.
Psalms: Echoes of the Heart (Mike Kim)
What kind of songs is your heart singing? The book of Psalms is one of the most relatable books of the Bible. Unless you don’t have a heart, we can all relate to Psalms because they reflect the conditions of the heart. Before you sing a new song, do you know what song you are singing now? Let’s journey together to see how the psalms can help our hearts sing a new song.
Becoming a Contagious Christian (Rich Katekawa)
Evangelism does not need to be a scary burden, but it can be a delightful adventure! Learn how to share the gospel with love and truth. Go and become a Christian who is contagious in your faith!
A Walk Through the Bible (Rich Katekawa)
Unsure what the Bible is about? Wondering if the Bible has an over-arching story? Yes! It does! Come learn the message of from Genesis to Revelation in one hour!
Worship Workshop, Part 1 (Will Chen)
Worship Workshop, Part 2 (Will Chen)
Post-Retreat Media
2011 Winter Retreat Slide Show
Courtesy Ted Kau (EFC East Valley)
Post Retreat Survey
We hope you had a wonderful time at Winter Retreat, and we hope you were blessed in your time there. We would really like to know how to make Winter Retreat better! Please fill out our survey and let us know how we did!