Kalahari, the annual winter retreat for students in Ohio and Indiana, will kick off for its 12th year on January 6-8, 2017.
Zach Pinkerton, pastor of Student Ministries at Grace Community Church, a Grace Brethren church in Fremont, Ohio (Kevin Pinkerton, senior pastor), who leads the event, says that they anticipate this year to be their largest ever. “We are expecting around 2,600 students and adult leaders,” he says.
More than 2,200 of the attendees will come from Grace Brethren churches, including congregations in Akron, Pataskala, Marysville, Columbus, Canton, Pickerington, Powell, Wooster, Dublin, Delaware, Mansfield, Macadonia, Maumee, and Paulding, Ohio, in addition to his own students from the Fremont church.
“We have overgrown the Kalahari Waterpark Resort (America’s Largest Waterpark) and now use a second indoor waterpark resort (Maui Sands Resort and Indoor Waterpark) located one mile down the road,” he adds. Both parks are on the south side of Sandusky, Ohio.
David Nasser is the speaker for the weekend. He is a popular speaker, author, former pastor, and currently the senior vice president for spiritual formation at Liberty University. Liberty Worship Collective from Liberty University will be leading worship. Late night entertainment will be SOAR Dunk, a high-flying dunk basketball team that uses acrobatic maneuvers off of trampolines and are from Liberty University.