Andre Chan, far left, said his time at the men’s retreat was marked by authenticity, vulnerability, and openness as he strengthened relationships with others.
After graduating with his master’s degree in forestry from Duke this summer, Andre Chan decided to stay in Durham as an act of discipleship, wanting to stay close to Blacknall and the community where he’s grown as a Christian. The choice hasn’t come without doubts as he’s begun his career.
So, when a question came up at the recent men’s retreat — "Where do you need God to meet you?" — Andre’s response came in the form of the honest questions he’s been asking himself: "Where is my career going and will God meet me in it?" Then Mark Paulson told him he’d made the same decision nearly 40 years ago to stay local after feeling led by the Holy Spirit and the community his family found at Blacknall.
“That helped to affirm that I made the right decision,” Andre said.
It was one of many special moments from this year’s getaway, in which about 80 men traveled to the North Carolina mountains for a time of fellowship. For Andre and others, a common theme emerged in the honesty and connection they encountered throughout the weekend. Men they might otherwise speak with only briefly on a Sunday or at an event were eager to go deep and share about God’s work in their lives.
It was an expectation of that kind of openness that made Andre excited to sign up for the third year in a row. He was the first person to register last year and among the first in 2026, too. The retreat was another way to invest in his community, with time to ask questions, listen to other men, and build relationships through intentional steps like sitting with different people at each meal.
“It felt like the conversations I was having showed me that God was challenging me a little bit, particularly in terms of how I need to think about my own relationship with my dad and to have courageous conversations with him,” Andre said. “The biggest thing I felt wasn’t taught but embodied by the culture of the men’s retreat: values of authenticity, vulnerability, and openness.”
Andre spent time during and after the retreat reflecting on how God brings healing to so many, and what it would be like to embody that kind of reconciliation.
“A lot of the guys were not afraid to cry while sharing real stories and feelings, and that was a very special space,” he said. “The way men at Blacknall are so authentic is a mark of the Spirit at work.”
Arturo was among the newcomers to this year’s event, having moved to Durham with his wife this summer, and saw the retreat as an important way to connect. He’d led retreats in college ministry and knew how “beautiful and intense and awesome and fun” they can be. Montreat offered a valley full of fall color, plus hiking, running, and pickleball. “In that loose fun, you’re able to meet a different side of everybody,” he said.
James Van Farowe leads a discussion at the Chapel of the Prodigal, which features a large painting that depicts the parable of the prodigal son.
The weekend went deeper from there, through testimonies and one-on-one conversations where men shared stories of their past, challenges in their present, and hopes for their future. “This time is most valuable when you see what it can be like to pursue Christ so fervently among people in different stages of life,” Arturo said.
Nowhere was that clearer than in Montreat College’s Chapel of the Prodigal, where Arturo felt the Holy Spirit was at work. He sat with about 20 other men beneath “Return of the Prodigal,” a 17-foot-tall fresco of a father embracing his son, as James Van Farowe led a discussion and one man after another responded to Jesus’ parable from the book of Luke.
“All of us were the prodigal son in some ways, returning to our Father’s arms,” Arturo said, reflecting on the moment and its place among his days experiencing God's presence on the retreat. “That fresco summarized the weekend.”
Arturo’s last name is withheld at his request.