TEC

Teens Encounter Christ

I made my first TEC retreat when I was 17 as a junior in high school.

12 years later, I was asked to lead as an adult on this retreat for teens, even though my patients and co-workers often point out that I look like a teenager myself. Since hearing it in college, I have often passed along the Dorothy Day quote, "Comfort the afflicted; afflict the comfortable." Being 29 and rarely interacting with teens these days, I was asked to step out of my comfort zone as I became part of the TEC retreat team. I felt a slight discomfort at each of the planning meetings beforehand. There was a woman whom the others refer to as Mama Beth. Beth and I had worked together on the wheat team on a previous TEC. She always greeted me with a hug and made me feel comfortable. It is clear why they call her mama. To me, she personifies Christ.

Prior to the arrival of the candidates, the directors of this TEC retreat reminded us that this retreat was about the teenagers. We were encouraged to show and speak of the love God has for each one of them, each one of us. It was no mistake that they were present on the TEC weekend. It was somehow all a part of God's plan.

Reflecting back to my first TEC as a teen, I recall being most touched by the wheat letter my mother wrote to me. Being raised by filipino parents, the words "I love you" weren't often spoken so much as shown in action versus literal word. My mom wrote that she loved me very much, even though she didn't verbalize it frankly. The tears poured upon reading her letter.

But I digress.

While the TEC retreat this time around wasn't about me, I couldn't help but be touched by the talks shared by the team. In our brokenness and in our joys, God is so apparently alive and with us. I found myself tearful more than a few times, as I listened to the hopes, the hurts, the honesty, the desire to return to God, the fears, the failures, the faith, the love. We share Christ in our human stories. It is quite the beautiful thing.

I forget what a powerful weekend TEC can be, as long as one enters with an open mind and heart.