Spring Retreat Summary!

This past weekend was simply awesome! The Lord truly gave us much for the little that we had to offer! We headed out with 35 students, 14 of those being seniors that were ready to own the retreat. When we arrived they had already segregated themselves from everyone else, expecting us to let them stay in their class group. We didn't. And they didn't mind! (much)

We got to the camp earlier than usual. So we had to have a few games right away. Capture the Flag ended up being a real hit, and no injuries! After that Ivan Franck took over with a game from Canada that he called 'Caesar'. It was a bit complicated at first, but the students got to dress up and wack people with pool noodles...always a good time!

The main focus of the weekend was faith. We had 'Take the Plunge' as our motto - complete with a plunger for every team. Here is a small crunch group praying. The first night Kevin had a powerful message that kept the students focused and made them think about their situation with Christ. Get this! He went to Zambia for two years! What are the odds that I meet someone in Honduras that went to Zambia?! High? I think not! It brought back a lot of old memories! :)

After speaking about faith we played Underground Church...talk about a culminating event. The kids did great and had a blast. By the end of the game the rest of the teachers had finally shown up. Their car had overheated on the side of the road causing them to take 7 hours to get to their destination (Brian Swanson was a bit wonky from the frustration...he unwound in very interesting ways! Like running all over the field yelling). We played night frisbee for a while then did an activity where the students learned about early Roman Christians and their hardships. It was very...thought provoking.

Saturday started way too early. But the kids began their craziness right away with a team challenge that required them to shoot Q-Tip darts through straws at a team member with peanut butter all over their front. Needless to say, they woke up fast! We learnt more about faith with Kevin, did some trust exercises – with the end result of team members falling backwards from a 4 foot height into the arms of their teammates. If that doesn't build trust, I don't know what does! In the afternoon we went to the water park which was a riot! The students had a lot of entertainment, what with me being thrown in the water and Heidi making incredible dives! Oh the memories! ;)

The Talent Show was great in that it didn't take 3 hours! :D Elisabeth Laparra wowed us with a song she wrote, I think that was a highlight. Heidi and I did the "Prince From Far Far Away" skit one last time...we're retiring it now! We had a bonfire afterwards where the kids were able to express what they had learned or were feeling at the retreat. The Seniors got seniority on it (ha) and we prayed for the whole group. The students did feel challenged from what they had heard and hopefully we'll be seeing them be accountable to each other back in the 'real world'.

Sunday we packed up and headed home. I'm tired, but it's a good sort of tired. The Lord gave every one of us energy as we needed it. Now that we're starting a new week I know that He will give me what I need when I need it! The picture is showing Heidi and I taking a rest on the way home.

Photo of the day: Our whole group.















In Him,
-Amy-