“Be aware, not wary. As I reflect and contemplate on what each speaker shared at the retreat, I find nourishment for my life as a follower of Christ and a theologian in training. The presentations of a life lived in awareness and not wariness is rooted in the depths of orthodoxy and the breadth of orthopraxy concerning the way of Christ. I’ve come away from this retreat with a refreshed vigor to participate in God’s Gospel justice, energized by awareness and not wearied by wariness.”
–Tony Huynh, Student, Multnomah Biblical Seminary
“This year’s retreat positively affected and undoubtedly infected the values and worldviews of many. Watching the applicability of the Gospel reach participants at a paradigmatic level was inspiring. Enormous growth potential was readily apparent and available for many of the students and aspiring leaders in attendance. Current and former NWNW members shared a memorable weekend with newcomers and veterans alike.”
–Will Haag, Captain (ret.), US Marine Corps.
“The New Wine retreat offers a rare opportunity to not only learn about people and perspectives that may be foreign to us, but to process them in conversation with individuals from many different backgrounds. It’s a beautiful way to engage difficult topics while engaging relationally with others, which makes the time so important to and consistent with the mission of New Wine.”
–Jazmin Miller, Student, Multnomah Biblical Seminary
“The NWNW retreat, on meditating on the theme ‘Be Aware, not Wary,’ created space for us to share in the work, in life together at the table around issues affecting the marginalized. The retreat housed conversations that were both messy and profoundly necessary for any Christian leader to pursue justice in community.”
–Beatrix Li, Student, Multnomah University
“For me, the New Wine retreat represents a rare moment to pause from the daily work I am doing, often in isolation, to gather with those doing similar work and facing similar challenges. In short, it reminds me I am not alone.”
–Ross Halbach, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Divinity, History and Philosophy King’s College, Aberdeen, Scotland
“This year’s NWNW Retreat was very impactful as we were able to hear from so many voices. It was a time for me to awaken awareness for the coming year as a pastor and person trying to develop community connections and impact. It was also exciting to share, listen, and connect with students.”
–Trudi Sang, Care Pastor, Tigard Christian Church
“The New Wine, New Wineskins Retreat at Twin Rocks was exceptional because it stretched me to consider how I am actually building relationships across cultural divides through Jesus. I met others who are looking for a spiritually safe place to discuss their questions regarding faith and culture. I was challenged to be more consistent in having a humble attitude toward others who are typically marginalized.”
–Randy Grove, Attorney at Law, Landerholm, Vancouver, WA
“The recently completed New Wine retreat was a time for participants to integrate their learning about different aspects of diversity such as race, gender and disability in relationship to what it means to be followers of Christ both inside and outside our institutions.”
–Steve Hanamura, President, Hanamura Consulting, Inc.
“The NWNW Fall Retreat was a beautiful gathering of people from all walks of life gathered to engage biblically the difficult conversations in our culture. It was a space of understanding and love, honesty and transparency, tears and laughter. I appreciated the time to dig in and process through some difficult topics with people who were willing to share their stories, hear the stories of others, and humbly engage the topics through their convictions.”
–CJ Young, Pastor of Adult and Family Ministries, Adventure of Faith Church, Port Orchard, Washington
“As a leader and teacher, I often feel inadequate for the task and these feelings were magnified when I was asked to teach at the New Wine, New Wineskins Retreat. However, through these teaching opportunities, I experienced growth as a leader by being encouraged to live out my theology through rooting my identity and adequacy in Christ, rather than my abilities, and to trust the Spirit to work through me, rather than worrying about the results of my teaching.”
–Sara Mannen, Student, Multnomah Biblical Seminary
“The New Wine, New Wineskins retreat was the perfect blend of challenge and encouragement to grow in greater Christ-awareness and self-awareness, while also subsequently increasing our awareness of the needs of the world around us. It provided excellent opportunities for several of Multnomah’s undergraduate student leaders to broaden their views of leadership and return to campus with fresh perspectives to share with peers.”
–Kim Stave, Dean of Students, Multnomah University
“The New Wine retreat was an amazing weekend for our student leaders to sit with, discuss and engage in topics that are essential to our student community. This weekend will help us to continue these very important conversations that were started this past weekend as we become aware and not wary. I was so blessed to watch our students be so thoughtful and also challenged in new ways of thinking. Looking forward to more and more ways our undergraduate students can be more engaged in New Wine.”
–Rich Ward, Associate Dean of Spiritual Life and Calling, Multnomah University
“The New Wine New Wineskins Fall Retreat did not disappoint, but was powerful, challenging, thought provoking and educational/informative. I strongly recommend attendance at future New Wine, New Wineskins events.”
–Cliff Chappell, Senior Pastor, St. Johns All Nations Church of God in Christ, Portland, Oregon
“The New Wine retreat allowed me to experience a diverse group of Christian view points while being united in the love of Christ.”
–Kyle Reynolds, Program Coordinator, Serve Seattle, Seattle Washington
“I highly valued the interaction and participation in the discussions of each presentation at the NWNW retreat. I especially valued hearing what the students had to say. They were able to hear from their faculty and older colleagues while freely sharing their insights and ideas as young leaders. That kind of peer learning is so necessary as we shepherd the next generation of leaders.”
–Insil Kang, Director of Community Connections & Communications, Village Baptist Church
“At the New Wine Fall retreat I was able to dialogue with like minded people but also receive healthy push-back from people who did not see things as I do. This was a wonderful opportunity to sharpen my tools, practice the strength to love and meet people where they are at regardless if we agreed. I loved the topics; such as race, gender and multi faith dialogue. These are not just hot topics to me. For me, engaging these topics are a reflection of God’s heart, and His love for all humanity. I also got to spend personal time on the beach lamenting grief I was holding on to for many years. It was truly God inspired and an added bonus to a wonderful weekend. Thanks New Wine! “
–Sara Rose Barger, Student, Multnomah University