A great retreat!
I got back late last evening from our three-day university retreat at a nearby beach. We had a total of 18 participants (including Colleen’s parents) and the weekend went really well. God certainly answered our prayers for His presence and guidance and we were all encouraged by our time together. There were 6 Chinese students, 5 Americans, 4 Thais, 2 Nicaraguans, and one Laotian – quite a mixture of cultures and languages! Several of the students are believers, some are actively seeking, and others have had very little exposure to Jesus. We spent time each day worshiping and studying 1 Corinthians 13, talking about how God’s love can improve our relationships with others. By the end of the weekend almost everyone was sharing openly about their experiences and problems. Some of the people had never met each other before the weekend but I heard several of them talk about how amazed they were that they could bond with each other so quickly. This was another good reminder for me of the power of God’s love as expressed through Christian fellowship.
Another aspect of the weekend that was very encouraging was reconnecting with Pon and Piak, two young men who I had the privilege of studying the Bible with before they moved away to study in their home areas. Both of them are doing really well and it was exciting to see them taking leadership in our meetings and talking openly about their relationship with God with the other students. Piak told me that he now loves to talk about God and that he was very excited to have a chance to share about his faith with some of the other students.
In addition to the Bible studies and prayer times we also enjoyed eating a lot of good food, taking a trip to an island, swimming, telling ghost stories, and taking thousands of pictures. It was interesting to notice some of the cultural differences as well. As we’ve mentioned before, the Thai beach experience (sitting and eating under umbrellas) is considerably different from what Americans prefer. A couple of the students noticed some other foreigners sunbathing and were curious to know if I had ever done that. Then they wanted to know “What does it feel like?” Later they tried it out for themselves, but only for a few minutes.
I didn’t take our camera along, but here are some pictures that others sent to me or posted on Facebook...
Group picture with Colleen's parents before they left early.
When on vacation Thais (and apparently the Chinese as well) like nothing better than taking pictures of every person in every possible combination.
Half of the guys slept on this huge bed.
Pon and Colleen leading the group in worship.
One of our delicious seafood meals...We were usually so hungry from the other activities that the first 15 minutes of mealtimes were very quiet as everyone dug in.
Some of the group stayed under the umbrellas all day. Others risked tanning by going swimming.
And finally, no trip to the beach is complete without the leaping-into-the-air picture.
Thanks a lot to all of you who prayed for this weekend. It was a significant event for our team and for our friends. You can continue to pray that this experience will have an ongoing impact and that all of us would go forward with an increased sense of God's love for us.
-Tom