This year marks the 40th anniversary of Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) retreats in the Diocese of Wichita. Nearly 5,000 individuals have participated in these retreats held in various locations such as El Dorado, Wichita, St. Paul, Chanute, Pittsburg, Hutchinson, St. Mark, and Colwich.

Joel Arnold shares his personal experience with TEC retreats and how they impacted his life as a teenager. He returned to serve on the retreat several times throughout high school, college, and young adulthood but took a break while raising his children. A few years ago, Arnold felt compelled to return to TEC and was pleased that his nephew and niece would join him for their first time.

Arnold's godson John Simpson expressed interest in serving on a TEC retreat together someday. This summer, they both served on TEC 174 along with Arnold's nephew Benedict Woodburn. Arnold noted that serving alongside family made this one of the best experiences he had ever had at TEC.

Lay director Brian Suellentrop has also experienced multiple family connections at TEC retreats. "If you have ever experienced TEC you know the beauty of truly encountering Christ in an amazing way," he said. He looks forward to serving with more of his children in future retreats.

Brielle Suellentrop shared how meaningful it was having her father lead her candidate TEC retreat: “With him leading my TEC retreat helped me to fully enter into a deeper connection with him and the Lord.”

Carla Riopel also served alongside her son for the first time at a recent retreat. She appreciated witnessing her son's faith and leadership firsthand. Her son Dominic valued learning more about his mother's faith journey since becoming a parent.

The Diocese encourages adults who have previously participated in or served on a TEC retreat to consider returning from a new perspective to support youth by sharing their experiences.

The diocesan website now includes an online searchable database containing rosters from all 176 past TECs held by the diocese so far: wichitatec.org