Members of the Lighthouse Christian club attended a Christian Identity Retreat at Camp Cedar Crest, located west of Big Bear Lake from December 19 through 22. Camp Cedar Crest is an annual retreat held through 4 Christ Mission, where middle school, high school, and college students who belong to affiliated churches from across the West Coast gather to strengthen their identities as Christians. 

Erynn Lee (10), Isaac Lee (11) and Kyle Uyeda (11), founders of the Lighthouse Christian Club, had attended Identity Retreat in the past through their church, and wanted to extend an invitation to their club members. At Identity Retreat, club members had the opportunity to connect not only with each other, but with Christian youth from around the state. They bonded through games and activities, hearing pastors speak, and sharing their own testimonies about their relationships with God.

“I’ve definitely seen a lot of people who’ve come out to our club consistently grow through that retreat,” Erynn said. 

“It was a time where [many club members] became more comfortable,” Isaac added.

Becoming comfortable with expressing faith is a central mission of the Lighthouse Christian club. The club was founded to provide a space for Christian students to strengthen their faith and connect with each other while on campus.

“It’s a lot easier to walk with God and walk in faith when you have others around you that are supporting you,” Uyeda said.  “[People] want to fit in, and a lot of times that can really change  who you are. If you’re not hanging out with the right group, then you’re not really building that relationship with God. But if you can find that group, which for us, is the [Lighthouse] Christian Club, where we can all band together and support each other and our relationships with God; it’s just easier.”

Lighthouse, which was founded in November, has consistently had more than 20 students attend their Friday meetings, where they pray, invite members to speak about their faith, and read verses from the Bible. In the future, Lighthouse’s executive board hopes to branch out to other schools with their mission of providing a space for Christian students to gather  in a school setting.

“We’re trying to reach out to other schools who might be interested in starting their own Christian clubs,” Erynn said. “I feel like one vision that we’ve all had is to unite all of these Christian clubs and host revival nights, [and form] one community of Christians.”

Local church leaders have expressed their support for Lighthouse and, on several occasions, local pastors came in and spoke to the club.

“A lot of church leaders were surprised because this was originally just a plan, and it actually came true,” Isaac said. “They’re  surprised that us students have taken the initiative to create this club.”

According to Erynn, this is just the beginning. Given Lighthouse’s demonstrated momentum in its first few months, she said she hopes to continue reaching both Christians and non-Christians in the months and years to follow.

“Even in our Google Forms, I’ve seen people ask questions like, ‘What is Christianity?’ [or] ‘How do I start a relationship with God?’” Erynn said. “It’s been so encouraging to see people who want [to find] a deeper purpose in their lives, and try to find that connection with other people at our school.”