I just came back from a two-day-long road trip to search for the best retreat destination. We scourged the entire Tagaytay area to look for suitable retreat venues. We were looking for venues that could accommodate 60 people for two nights and two days with food. Part of our criteria is that the venue should allow team building activities (noise + large space), and a suitable conference hall wherein we could conduct our sessions.
Someone once commented why not make our retreat a camping style retreat with tents and the great outdoors as a venue. I have no problems about that, although some of my fellow youth may not agree. Some are not so comfortable with the lack of a suitable comfort room or the idea of sleeping under a tent with unfavorable weather conditions (you can't predict the rain!). It is also unfair for the facilitators if they would have to worry about cooking and food preparations. So to accommodate everyone, we had to find a good venue already with dormitory beds, enough comfort rooms to last several lifetimes and a food package that would cover all the meals during the stay. I had other personal criteria aside from those mentioned.
Hence we had to search for a venue. We made a quick (which is an overstatement) of our previous venue: Caleruega. Two years ago, we went there and had the best retreat so far. It became the benchmark (whatever that means) of any future retreat. Everyone was so hyped it, all facebook videos of the event became viral throughout the youth of our church. However, when we checked out the place, the venue has already been booked by a different organization. We were supposed to scout the surrounding venues but due to the heavy traffic that sunday (part of the four day long weekend) we had no choice but to take the fastest route home. Some of us had work early the next day (no holiday=me) and some of us had a flight to catch.
Due to the dire circumstance of not having a venue for the retreat a month before the supposed date, we had to reschedule another day for occular inspection. I had to sacrifice one day (no holiday=me) from work to be able to scout for other venues with others who were on holiday hence, available. We were able to scout 6 other venues. It was an amazing road trip. We practically drove around Tagaytay City and stopped at every place that had a "retreat" on its name. We were amazed by the view of some. Others we didn't enjoy so much due to certain reasons.
On our trip, we all noticed one thing in common with all the retreat venues: all were run by priests or nuns of the Catholic Church.
Now, I have nothing against that denomination. Most of my friends are Catholics. I was actually amazed at the number of their retreat centers that really offered a great view or a great ambiance suitable for meditation and prayer. It goes to show that they value constant meditation and communication with God. Some of the venues we checked also had Bibles at each corner or at each sitting area. While resting you could meditate upon God's word. Talk about convenience!
What really bothered me was the fact that we're not the only ones who conduct retreats on a regular basis. I'm talking about other SDA youth ministries from other churches or areas who also annually conduct retreats or hikes or camp meetings in various locations. They may have different program sets or themes, but one thing is certain, SDAs love retreats, hikings, campings and the like. We're people who love the outdoors and nature.
Because of this, I can't help but wonder how come we never had any SDA owned venue for a retreat? A campsite or a retreat center that would help any youth ministry with their venue problems. It doesn't have to be grand. A wide plot of grassland or forest could be enough. It has to be something that doesn't double as a school, and has the sole purpose of being a venue for retreats. It doesn't even have to be an exclusive venue, if we could accommodate other denominations, it would be better. Aside from being an income generating institution, it would also be another means of reaching out to other denominations so that you won't have to answer "What is an SDA?" every now and then. It could also have a free public access library which could be available to all who would rent as an additional amenity. That way, other denominations would also have access to our books which has the potential of drawing them closer to God.
If we could only find the idea to invest in a retreat venue on top or at the side of a mountain, we wouldn't have any problems.
