First time in BIC Church, Odisha was able to arrange a Youth Retreat in Cuttack in which 170 youths participated from different districts of Odisha and West Bengal. The Youth Meeting was held from May 4 th to 6 th , 2018 (Friday to Sunday).

One May 4th, when there was terrible hot and humid. The participants from different parts of Odisha and West Bengal started arriving in the BIC Church, Cuttack. They were from Kandhamal, Rayagada, Gajapati, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, Dhenkanal, Anugul, Cuttack and West Medinapur districts of Odisha and West Bengal. The boys stayed in the Boys Hostel and the girls stayed in our training center. All our meetings were held in the BIC Church from morning 9:00 A.M. to evening 9:00 P.M. It was a joyous occasion for the youth participants. First time, they were able to meet others and enjoyed the fellowship together.

The youth retreat topic was “Fear the Lord and Serve the Lord…” (1 Samuel 12:24). The classes were taken by Bishop Dr. Bijoy Kumar Roul, Rev. Nihar Kumar Bardhan, Bro. Tusharkant Behera, Bro. Sanjib Kumar Samantray and Rev. Rupesh Kumar Nayak.

The other activities were: Singing Songs in different languages, Bible Quiz, Testimony Sharing, Youth Board Formation, Cultural Programs and Group Discussion. Everyone participated with great enthusiasm. While going back to their respective places, each one said, the youth meeting has really blessed their hearts and gave a new vision in their lives.

The great highlights of the Youth Retreat was, everyone committed their lives to Christ in a new way and about 25 youths committed their lives for doing Lord’s service. Everyone paid Rs. 150/- and took care of their own travel. Many wanted to participate, but as we have limited space in the church and the hostel, we couldn’t allow bigger.