Patty Winters has served in a variety of offices in her years at Westminster: she’s been the school nurse, she’s organized chapels, she’s served as a guidance counselor—but until August, she had never experienced Warrior Week, the high school's annual kick-off retreat. Her first night at Camp Kulaqua in High Springs, Florida, found her testing the waters of the River Ranch, a massive water park on the camp grounds.

“I told my roommate, [art teacher] Donna Underwood, that we should get out and experience it,” she said later. And, along with 400-plus students, she did, rollicking down the multiple turns of the water slide, floating down the lazy river, and braving the wave pool.

The water park was a highlight of the trip, but it was by no means the only chance students had to get wet. Exploring the camp on Tuesday, students found the cold-spring-fed lake area, which gave them a chance to dive, or “blob” (jumping onto a large inflatable pillow to launch another person in the air), or Zorb (traversing the water inside a huge inflatable hamster ball), or (for those seeking more mellow pursuits), canoe.

Students had other slippery activities to enjoy, including an afternoon of Foodlympics. To win, classes had to navigate their relay baton (a carton of Ben & Jerry’s) through various food-related activities (cracking a series of eggs on one’s head, for example, trying to find a hard-boiled one, or launching tomatoes with the help of giant slingshots) until reaching the finish line. Once there, the remaining contents of the carton had to be downed by one of the students. Senior Aaron Agrasanchez gobbled down the remaining glop in the senior’s batch for the victory. Later that evening, students dressed in Christmas attire enjoyed sledding down a hillside covered in artificial snow.

On Wednesday, there was more water—but this time from the sky. A late-breaking thundershower threatened to derail a planned western-themed cook-out. But before dinner, the skies dried, and students enjoyed the picnic. Meanwhile, work staff alumni and parents had been stockpiling an arsenal of two thousand water balloons for that night’s late activity, a Capture the Flag contest pitting class against class in liquid warfare. Though the winner was unclear, all the ammunition—like the students themselves—was exhausted.

Thursday had its own share of water-soaked chaos in a massive slip-‘n-slide tarp with inflatable swimming pools at the corners. Classes faced off in highly comical football games, seeking a touchdown in the endzone or, even better, one of the pools. That night, a “Dance Through the Ages” and a talent show had students riding a wave of good times, good music, and good friends. There were numerous other activities throughout the week: visits to an on-campus zoo, a talent show, karaoke, video games, sports practices, trips to the snack shack, and more. And many of those involved water, as well. On Friday afternoon, for example, nearly the entire student body tubed down the Ichetucknee River. But by far the most significant water throughout this week was in a pitcher used by speaker Jimmy Kyzer.

Holding aloft a shattered cup which had been taped back together, Jimmy dumped the water from the pitcher into the cup. As the water poured through the cracks in the cup, Jimmy explained the brokenness sin brings in each of our lives. Watching the water leak out onto the floor, the audience of students, teachers, parents, and alums recognized the inability each of us has to “hold it all together,” as Jimmy said.  

“I thought the cup/pitcher metaphor he used was wonderful,” English teacher David Bishop said, “because it was easy to understand and remember.”

Before the buses headed back through a vicious rainstorm Friday for Miami, Jimmy asked students who had made important decisions for Christ that week to remain standing while others took their seats. A large number remained on their feet. And like a ripple turning into a wave, across the auditorium, students rose to stand next to them and pray for them, thankful to God for His living water.

Photos from Warrior Week