God's Gifts
BCU students serve diocesan youth through confirmation retreats

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
April 21, 2005

Students of the Diocese of Sioux City have been able to experience confirmation retreats in a new way this year.

Briar Cliff University students have given seven confirmation retreats over the course of this school year to help high school students before they make the choice to for sure be confirmed into the Catholic faith.

The theme of the retreat is Crossroads to tie in with the concept that high school students are at a point where they are making a lot of decisions about their life.

"We really talk to them about the fact that confirmation is a time where they make a choice to be confirmed," said Sister Janet May, campus minister at Briar Cliff. "They are at an old enough age where they know what they are doing. It is a time when they reaffirm their faith and really pray for a deeper living out of the Holy Spirit in their life."

Throughout the retreat, the students get an overview of confirmation and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

"I really wanted to be able to help in their faith decisions and journeys," said Mara Dekat, a junior writing and theology major at Briar Cliff. "I have a story, and I want to be able to share it. I want them to know that there are going to be hard times, but you can get through it. There is a hope that they are going to take in what you are trying to give them."

The college students witness to their struggles with faith and how they came through and made a choice for Christ. They also talk about how they dealt with the temptations out there - drugs, alcohol - that try to trap them and pull them away from living as a Christian. The final talk is about the role of service and what that does in a person's life.

Mike Jensen, a sophomore at BC who has helped at all of the retreats, gives the talk about service. He noted that a student at one of the retreats came up to him, told him his story meant a lot to her and asked how she could become more involved in her faith life and her community.

"I was asked to be on the core committee to help design the retreat," said Jensen. "I wanted to give kids a chance to look deeper into their confirmation and deeper into their faith."

During the year, BC students have reached out to parishes and schools throughout the diocese. They have given retreats to about 630 students. Students from Madrid, Boone, Ogden, Sheldon, Hospers, Sibley, Granville, Royal, Manilla, Sioux City, Salix, Rock Rapids, Cherokee, Hawarden, Pocahontas, Early, Le Mars, Neptune, Merrill, Hinton, Struble and Elk Point, S.D. experienced the Crossroads retreat.

"I think it is a good service to the area," said Heidi Pickhinke, a junior at BCU originally from Early. "For confirmation, all of the students are required to do a retreat. I thought that having someone so close to Sioux City would be a good way to provide that for them. I think that the students kind of get a different perspective when it is college students talking to them."

Four of the seven retreats were held on the Briar Cliff campus and the other three were held in the parish or school that was requesting the retreat.

Jennifer Nussbaum, a sophomore at Gehlen Catholic in Le Mars, noted that through the retreat she learned "that as you get older and go through more things in your life, faith can become a lot stronger. From the speakers and the way they talk, it can really help you a lot through life."

"Other people have problems in their life and God has helped them in many different ways," said Tyler Holton, also a Gehlen sophomore. He learned that people can always trust God to help them through their problems in life and that they should always ask God for help first.

"I hope they begin to realize the deeper meaning of confirmation," said Sister Janet. "I hope through the witness of the college students that they, too, will look more seriously at their faith and make a choice to become more active because they see what these college students are doing."

There were about 20 Briar Cliff students on each team for the different retreats. There was a pool of over 50 students who help with the retreats, so not all of the students have helped with every retreat.

Sister Janet noted that the Briar Cliff students have told her how they have grown by being a part of the retreats.

"I think it deepens their own faith life and desire to go out and witness. They get excited about being able to share," said Sister Janet. "They see the impact of what they are doing. For some of them, they would say they are sharing very personal things about their life, but if it helps another high school student who may be struggling, they are willing to do that."

Alan Pick, a sophomore BC student who has helped with four of the retreats, explained that he decided to participate to do something with his faith. He wanted to be more involved in helping students get something out of confirmation.

"The thing for me is being able to see the students grow in their faith throughout the day," said Ashley Hittle, a junior BC student from Ida Grove. "Sometimes you have someone in your group that you can see develop throughout the day. They open up more to you and because of that they open up more to their faith. Just being able to see them open up to that and start to accept a lot of the things that are part of confirmation and becoming an adult in the church is rewarding."

She added that having college students facilitate the retreats helps because the college students are able to relate to the high school students because they are close in age yet they have had more experience in their faith to offer something to the younger students.

"When you reaffirm your confirmation, you really say you are going to be more active in the church - you make a choice for it," said Sister Janet. "You hear college students talking about how they moved from maybe the rejection piece or the struggle piece to a deeper commitment now in their life."

According to Sister Janet, the team does not know if they are going to keep the exact same retreat next year. They have talked about shifting or changing it.

"I am very proud of our students and their generosity in willing to give up their weekends to do this," said Sister Janet. "I am truly amazed. From the time we started last fall to this spring, I have seen tremendous growth in leadership and confidence on the part of our students as small group leaders, as speakers and as taking responsibility for the format of the day."