Lutheran Valley Retreat Secret Sponsor Program

An opportunity to engage the youth
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What is LVR and why do we go?

Lutheran Valley Retreat (LVR) is a camp up in the Rocky Mountains near Woodland Park, Colorado. It is associated with LCMS through the National Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Association (NLOMA). For the past 44 years, churches from the Kansas City area have taken a group of high school students to LVR for a week of connecting with God, stepping out of their comfort zone, and worshiping together. KC area DCE’s plan a week where students are challenged to look at their lives with a faith lens and to see God, themselves, and each other in a new way. Students spend time in cabin groups, Bible study, worship, service projects, and fun mountain activities while they are there.

 

Trinity and LVR

Trinity is committed to the importance of the LVR experience, so much so that we offer to cover the cost of incoming freshman to attend. This means that students who are confirmed in April 2020 will be able to attend LVR without the financial worry. Through fundraising and our youth ministry budget, our goal is to limit the financial strain, so all students have the opportunity to join us! This year, we will be traveling to LVR June 14-20th and are expecting a group of 15-20 students along with 3 adults to attend from Trinity. If you have not had a youth attend LVR, you may be curious as to what it may cost to send one student to camp for a week:

  • $525…The total cost of one student to attend

  • $250…The total cost of one adult leader to attend

  • $170…The cost families pay to send a student

  • $70…The cost of one day of LVR per student

You may be wondering “how can I help?!” Through the Secret Sponsor Fundraiser!

Secret Sponsor Fundraiser

When you participate in the Secret Sponsor Fundraiser, you not only contribute to the youth who attend LVR, but connect- with them on a deeper level too! To sign up, fill out our online form by February 15th.

After we receive the commitments from sponsors in February, you will receive a note about the student you are sponsoring-BUT you must keep it a secret! On or before June 1st, sponsors will give Beth Stephens a picture of you/your family/group with a letter with written to the designated student. The student will open these while they are at camp. After camp, youth will share with you about their LVR experience at the congregational meeting in June. This will be a great time for students and their sponsors to meet! Our goal is that finances are never a barrier for a student to experience LVR. We are hoping to raise $10,000 from this fundraiser alone You might not be able to make the commitment to support the full cost of student on your own; perhaps a Bible study or group could work together to raise -$250 to $500. You do not have to give a certain amount to be a sponsor, those are just simply suggestions. Anything you can give will be a blessing to our youth!

Thank you for your contributions, I am excited for you to connect with our youth through this event! If you have any questions, please reach out to DCE Beth Stephens: beth@tlcms.org

Student Experiences

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Katie Burke

LVR was an incredible experience! It helped me grow my faith and my relationship with God further than I ever thought it could. My favorite part was the night hikes. We took time to reflect and it really felt like God was there with us. It was an amazing experience that I wish I could relive. It was the best week ever and I miss it more and more every day!

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Claire Hofstetter

LVR has been a place where I could go the past 4 years and just focus on my relationship with God and the church. I liked that we didn’t have our phones so we didn’t have any distractions or things to worry about. It is also a great time to form relationships with other high schoolers who have the same views about religion and who are going through the same things you are throughout the week. Also, it is my favorite place to have a church service and to worship God in different ways. Throughout the week you learn a lot about yourself and it is overall one of the best places to increase your faith, and to gain a different view point on a lot of things that go on in your normal life back at home.

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Damara Stevens

LVR was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The amount of love and support at this camp was absolutely stunning. I will admit I was a little worried before leaving, but the second I got on the bus, my worries vanished. I was immediately swept away by kindness and happiness. Everyone was constantly laughing together, worshipping together, and learning more about each other-all with a smile on their face. LVR is an amazing, eye-opening, experience and I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to go to this camp and can’t wait to go back again!

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Demitry Barker

The reason that I went to LVR the past 3 years is because the things that we talk about when we are up there. This year we talked about Walk This Way and how you have to walk with God and Jesus through all the tough times and never lose your faith in Him.

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