When 18-year-old Hudson Hall visited an Alabama church after touring Auburn University, he was told that he needed to attend the Oaks Retreat, a Christian-based experience for incoming freshmen.
Even though he wasn’t exactly sure what he was getting into, Hall registered for the Oaks Retreat and made his roommate sign up too.
“I didn’t really have any expectations,” Hall said, but he was happily surprised to quickly connect with Auburn University’s Christian community in late July.
During the three-day event by All Things Ministries, freshmen attend multiple sessions taught by pastors in the local community and enjoy meeting their future classmates and peers.
In one session, Hall was particularly impacted by the message. A pastor talked about how people can’t deal with sin on their own or live up to God’s standards.
“[You have to] hand it over to God and lay it at the feet of the cross,” Hall said. “Jesus already paid the debt for us. That really stuck with me.”
After growing up in a Christian home in Memphis, Tennessee, Hall said he strayed in his relationship with God during his first few years of high school. However, God got ahold of his heart, and he started reading his Bible daily and began a growing Bible study.
Heading into college, Hall said, “I knew I wanted to grow spiritually; I just didn’t know how to.”
Values
During the student-led retreat, freshmen are assigned to a counselor for small group discussions.
Hall was assigned to 22-year-old counselor Ethan Jones, who had attended the retreat himself as a freshman and decided to be a counselor his sophomore, junior and senior years — and even following graduation.
After Jones realized “the value of discipleship and the importance of getting someone who’s more mature spiritually and older than you to help you follow Jesus,” he decided to pay it forward to others.
For Hall, Jones has been much more than a short-term counselor. He’s an answer to prayer.
“I had been praying for the past six months that the Lord would bring someone in my life to disciple me,” Hall said.
Now, the two friends meet biweekly for discipleship.
Discipleship
“[Ethan and I] talk about what’s going on in my life. He’ll give me some encouragement, and we’ll open up some Scripture and [spend time] in prayer,” said Hall.
After his experience with All Things Ministries, Hall is interested in becoming an Oaks Retreat counselor to future freshmen at Auburn University.
“I would say what stood out most was the Oaks Retreat really put an emphasis on making one-on-one connections between each of the counselors and students,” Hall said.
Not only is he grateful for Jones’ mentorship, but he also said it was nice to know other incoming freshmen before the first day of classes.
Just a few months into his freshman year, Hall said, “I’ve had the chance to really grow spiritually.”
“For me,” he added, “the Oaks Retreat was really a turning point in the way that [I see] Jesus’ grace and conquering sin.”
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