ReThink315 is unique in that it’s not only the intellectual side of apologetics but also the emotional and relational side. There’s a real focus on building that emotional maturity in students, especially when we are trying to approach people who are really hurting… I just appreciated the emotional maturity along with the intellectual approach. -2022 Student
I’ve been to a lot of different youth camps and events and, being the son of a pastor, I’ve had a lot of different experiences. But the thing about ReThink315 that I like is the depth and seriousness here. There are a lot of different talks and topics that come to mind that you may not hear in other contexts. -2022 Student
Growing up we’re never told why the Bible is true or how we even got these books… Here I learned why we have different books in the Bible, how they were chosen, and why they were put into the Bible. I learned how they were copied and translated, and now I know that what’s in there is accurate. -2022 Volunteer
Even though all of the panelists here agree on the fundamentals, there are other topics Christians have different views on. That concept of “mere Christianity” that C.S. Lewis talks about, in terms of all the things all Christians should agree on, is a great start. But I feel like it is very important to hear different views. -2022 Student
What I found here isn’t something you experience in other places. It’s not just the concrete, evidenced based apologetics. It’s also all about the more emotional and relational… In terms of other camps or even church events, there aren’t a lot of other experiences I’ve had that compare to what I experienced here at ReThink315. -2022 Student
I always heard my older siblings talk about apologetics… Now that I’m here and seeing it, it’s amazing… Apologetics has a reputation for talking about stuff that nobody else understands. But that’s not the case. There’s so much more to it. -2022 Student
I’m not the kind of person who is going to get a Ph.D. in philosophy. Not many people are. This kind of training and these sorts of conversations are good for not just the super smart people out there, but for ordinary people like me in our everyday walks with Jesus. -2022 Volunteer
I thought the topics this year were definitely focused on the questions you’re going to encounter with your peers. I think it’s important to answer the little questions young people are asking… If I have little questions about something but I don’t feel comfortable asking a youth pastor or a parent, that can fester and boil into something bigger. -2022 Student
I’ve been hanging out with this group since I was a kid. I’ve participated in and even helped create so many different components of this ministry. It’s nice to be a young adult coming back, and continuing to come back, to grow with people and to grow in my faith. -2022 Volunteer
The panels moderated by Jeremy are absolutely excellent, but the Q&A time set aside for students are the moments that really shine. The environment they’ve created is not just a boring stuffy lecture. Rather it’s an open panel where at least half the time, if not more, students are asking questions and getting face to face time with these speakers. -2022 Student
These kids are going to have careers. I have a career now and I’m constantly surrounded by people who don’t believe… The more I’ve talked about it over the last 10 years, I’ve become more confident and more secure in Christ. Not only as I answer questions but as I live this all out. -2022 Volunteer
Usually, the only place I can find this information is online, but I don’t always know where to look or even what to look for. Being here, it’s like all this good information is being spoon fed to me. That’s important because now I feel like I can spoon feed it to other people in an easy to digest way. -2022 Student
2021 Student Testimonies:
One of the cool things about ReThink315 is that when it comes to the people on the panel, you don’t just learn from their degrees and expertise. You learn from the way they talk to students… They just radiate kindness and Christ’s love. They are a living example of everything they’re telling you. -2022 Volunteer
People in my close friend group are always asking me these deep questions about Christianity and I have no idea how to answer them. I feel like this event has really given me what I need… now I have better answers for my non-Christian friends. -2022 Student
I didn’t think I would enjoy this at first… I couldn’t really get through my college lectures without being bored out of my mind. But here I’m listening sometimes for two hours and I just want more of it. -2022 Volunteer
It’s not rare for a speaker here to really open up and be vulnerable. What we often see in conversations like these is a false sense of strength like we can’t be vulnerable. But that’s just not what we see from Jesus. This vulnerability I found here is rare and I haven’t found it anywhere else. -2022 Student
I went to a few different youth camps… There it was more fun and games with just a few talks or sermons. Here there’s still plenty of time for fun but there are more talks, deeper talks, and you get a lot more out of it. -2022 Volunteer
You should come here! Especially if you’re struggling to figure out what’s true… ReThink315 really helped me with this because they’re answering the questions that nobody else is answering. -2022 Student
Here you’re getting to know why you believe what you believe. Even though you already believed it and accepted it your whole life, it’s good to have historical proof and even proof outside of Christianity. -2022 Volunteer
When I heard my older brothers talking about this, I knew I wanted to go… I’ve been to a lot of different youth camps and it was good there, but we just never went deep into these topics. This place goes deeper for sure and there are more serious topics here. -2022 Student
The thing that makes ReThink315 different is the wide array of talks and even different opinions on different subjects. You can hear different opinions. So, while there are different opinions from different people here, everyone is a Bible believing Christian. -2022 Volunteer
I really do enjoy asking questions here because the answers are really good. I’ll continue to talk about all this with my friends and family. I want them to come to ReThink315 so they can have the experience that I did. -2022 Student
It was so nice to find out that there were people here, even leaders, coming from the same place as me. Your education or level of knowledge just doesn’t matter here. You come as you are… -2022 Volunteer
Here at ReThink315 it’s a very unique experience in terms of finding other people who enjoy deep thinking. I haven’t found anything like this anywhere else. It’s very important to know why we believe what we believe. -2022 Student
All of the opinions, views, and sides on these topics are all very Biblical. Some people had one view, some might have another view, and I might even agree with one person over the other… What was nice about having several people on the panel, instead of just one person, was that you got to hear several different sides… -2022 Student
I’m only 13 so technically I’m not supposed to be here… I got to sneak in with my older siblings. I’m glad they can be flexible here because I had an amazing experience! What I like about ReThink315 is just how deep every conversation goes. -2022 Student
There was never a time when a panel finished, and I felt like none of my questions were answered. Every question got answered. All the people up there on the panel were extremely qualified and very smart. 2022 Student
I think learning about different views, especially in our panel discussions, it helps us to think critically about what we believe… It’s like that “iron sharpens iron” scripture… Instead of giving us one answer and saying we should believe it, I feel like being able to listen to different views helps us to sharpen our thinking… -2022 Student
Mostly what I’m taking away from this event is the ability to defend my faith. I’m all about preaching it but I want to defend it too. I think reThink315 really helped me with this… -2022 Student
It’s a small group here. I like this because of the student teacher ratio. It’s like a family feeling. You can talk about anything and no student leaves with a question unanswered. -2022 Student
I can’t blindly trust Jesus. I don’t think that’s faith. I think that’s just following directions… I think reThink315 really helped me with this because they’re answering the questions that nobody else is answering. -2022 Student
I feel like a lot of Christians in my age group just have blind faith. They’re just following their parents or their friends because they don’t know anything else. For someone like me, I want to understand why I should trust this. -2022 Student
I’m really glad I attended because at other Christian events or camps you really don’t get the same responses to your questions. At other places it seems like all you get is a halfhearted, “Just trust Jesus.” I want to trust Jesus but to do that I want to know what the answers are. -2022 Student
One of the things I love most about ReThink315 is when I first walked through the door people were making friends right off the bat.. This was my first time here and not one person was sitting by themselves and everyone was talking to everyone… Which is great for people like me who are new. -2022 Student
I just like to see people of all different backgrounds coming together. I don’t see a lot of other Christian camps or retreats like these with so many people speaking and teaching with such different backgrounds… When it comes to nonbelievers this is a great thing to model. -2022 Student
ReThink315 is different in that they have so many speakers and panelists who are experts and, as smart as they are, they’re not judgmental of different ideas. I like that they all share the same principals and the main doctrines of Christianity, but they leave space for disagreement on the small things. They keep the main ideas the main ideas and don’t divide over the small stuff. -2022 Student
Here at ReThink315, we know we’re welcome to ask questions so now we’re not afraid to ask questions. I was really surprised coming here by all the students having this shared desire to ask questions and learn… It’s such an encouragement. -2022 Student
The questions I usually ask are about how I can apply these answers in real life. How can I actually help someone…? Especially in evangelism, I want to know how to talk about the gospel in a way that really reaches the lost. -2022 Studentv
What makes ReThink315 different is the panel discussions… I like being presented with different views and I like learning why Christians have different views. It helps to reinforce the beliefs I chose and makes me more confident when defending my view. -2022 Student
When we first came here on Friday, there was such a strong sense of family. We’re just now joining in, but you can feel it every time we meet together as a group. All of our mealtimes, our panel discussions, the hang outs, it’s just great! -2022 Student
The panel format really brought a different perspective and answered questions that I never even thought of. To be able to get answers from people who are literally professionals, people who have studied this stuff for 30+ years, it’s just such great information. -2022 Student
My experience here was unexpected. I was expecting to come here and be preached at. But instead, it was an interactive experience… I got to hang out with students with the same mindset as me and were asking all the same questions that I ask. -2022 Student
Even when our pastors have good answers, they won’t have all the answers for everything. Here there’s a really diverse group of people to learn from with the experience and the qualifications to talk about these things… This helps me to understand a topic better and helps me figure out what I think for myself. -2022 Volunteer
Regarding my non-Christian friends, I think the biggest takeaway for me from this event is that I think I’m now able to be more gracious. I can accept the fact that people have different views. I think that going forward I’ll be able to articulate the things that I believe better and if my friends want to learn more we can have a good conversation, even if they don’t agree with me. -2022 Student
There are different perspectives here… That’s important because if you’re constantly hearing the same thing, even the right thing, over and over and you’re not being challenged. You’re just being affirmed. That’s fine and even appropriate to an extent, but when everything you already believe is just echoing back to you there’s no real development in your faith. -2022 Student
I think I’m more confident in talking about my faith with people who don’t believe the same things I do. Not necessarily trying to win them over, but I can help them along if they are open to learning more about the Christian faith. -2022 Student
What I love the most is all the returning speakers and panelists. It’s not just this history I have with the volunteers and staff, it’s the speakers themselves. When you show up and they see your face, they light up the same way you do. -2022 Volunteer
If you come, you’re going to learn a lot more than you think you will because you don’t know as much as you think you know. Whenever I came, I thought I was pretty smart, but I learned, and I listened. -2022 Student
I didn’t grow up talking about apologetics. We talked a lot at home and at church about the basics of Christianity, but we didn’t talk a lot about the questions that come up… But the more that I listened and participated, the more it all stuck with me. -2022 Volunteer
I feel like any time you get into a community of people that have different opinions but are still Bible believing Christians, just by being around those people, you’ll build up your faith and knowledge. With the notes I’ve taken I feel like I can carry all this into conversations with coworkers, classmates, or struggling believers. -2022 Student