By Kaleb Eisele & Ashley Castro-Rodriguez
Over the weekend of August 22-24, more than 500 youth and young adults traveled to Washington Family Ranch in Antelope, Oregon, for the annual weekend retreat hosted by Oregon Conference Latino-Hispanic Ministries. The largest such event in recent years, the weekend was divided for the first time into earliteen and young adult programming, all under this year’s theme of “Authentic Intimacy.” With services offered in both English and Spanish, many of the weekend’s leaders were young adults themselves, including speakers from across the conference and worship teams from the ECHO and Hillsboro Spanish Adventist churches.
“I loved the opportunity to connect and grow with God in a place that made me appreciate community, nature, and worship,” shared Zoe Altamirano, a young leader from ECHO.
Pastor Fernando Chavez, who serves as vice president and spiritual life director for Portland Adventist Academy, spoke for the earliteen group and emphasized the importance of growing into an authentic relationship with God in an increasingly artificial world.
“You could tell that each message carried a lot of significance to the speaker’s personal story,” said Samuel Ramos, a young leader from the Hillsboro Spanish Adventist Church, ”and I think that allowed them to make the most of the time they were given.”
In addition to worship, those in attendance enjoyed Washington Family Ranch’s go-karts, gymnasium, swimming, the big swing, a zipline, and more. When Sabbath evening came, several young people made the decision to be baptized – surrounded by close friends, family, and trusted leaders – while others began preparing for their baptisms in the future.
