An estimated 835 students showed up for last weekend’s 9th annual D-Now retreat.

Students from 22 churches around the county attended the discipleship event.

There were students who came from as far as Prattville, student minister of Carolina Baptist Church Garrett Davis said.

“It went really smoothly,” Davis said.

Davis said students participate in several activities, from listening to worship and messages by speaker Jason Gaston of The Summit Church in North Carolina, to better community involvement.

“A lot of churches got to get around and meet people in the area,” Davis said.

This year’s theme was the Gospel of God changes everything.

“We talked a lot about what it means to be a good friend to others and how you need good friends through God,” Davis said.

“We also talked about showing faith with other people. There are so many cheerleaders, standing on the sidelines while others are in the game. So many people worship but don’t share the message and that’s important.”

Davis said that the weekend kicked off Friday night at the Opp High School auditorium with worship led by Gaston.

Davis said that the speaker easily connected with the students, offering new perspectives that they all needed to hear.

“He really put things in way they understood. The band also did an amazing job, the students definitely loved it,” he said.

The guest band was the Summit Church Worship Team.

On Saturday morning the students had group time, to focus on building better relationships with each other, Davis said.

The students ate lunches at their host homes and dinner at the First Baptist Church of Opp.

As for next year, look for new and exciting things as the program celebrates its 10 year anniversary.