Dear LifeSpring Family,
I am writing this letter to you from our Wildfire Retreat. If you are reading this we have either arrived safely from our Wildfire retreat or something has gone terribly wrong and these are my last words. Tell Jen and Maya I love them!
Just kidding, we arrived safely and things went as God had intended. We had a great time! We learned together, played together and cooked/cleaned together. It was a family affair!
Our theme for this year’s retreat was the Father’s heart. We went through the scripture in Luke 15:11-32 NIV (Prodigal Son Parable) together, getting them to listen to it and visualize the story, followed by breaking them into teams to role play and reenact the parable with their own spin on it. Sam and I got to spend the next two sessions going through the different perspectives of the youngest son, oldest son and the father. We also shared our own testimonies and experiences with regard to the Father’s heart.
We had some fun and intentional team building and bonding outdoor activities, where they got a chance to work together and learn about each other through different activities. Each team got a chance to come up with their own team name and slogan. Just in case you hear it from the kids, “Team: Andrew and the chipmunks” was not my idea. Squeak, Squeak…if you know, you know.
We were also blessed with ideal weather conditions (26-27 degrees) as well as no rain. Praise the Lord!
We also placed each team in the roles of cooking and cleaning for different meals. This is where the kids “locked in” as they say. One team even turned burnt rice into fried rice. Creativity was at an all time high this year. My favourite comment from a member of my group was “I don’t clean at home but I’ll clean here. It’s different here.”
Most importantly, the message of the Father’s heart wasn’t just preached to them but it was demonstrated to each one of them through small, yet significant moments throughout the weekend. The Wildfire leaders were instrumental in being the hands and feet of the messages we shared. They displayed the Father’s heart to these kids throughout the retreat.
We got to see some of the fruit from seeds we had planted back in September. Our worship team went from 2 to 5 people, children were helping out without being told. I repeat, CHILDREN WERE HELPING OUT WITHOUT BEING TOLD!? And many more. The beautiful part was seeing these kids make this retreat their own.
Our prayer and hope that the seeds that were planted and the love that was experienced at this retreat, will bear much fruit in their lives.
If you have a moment, please take some time to pray for our Wildfire leaders and Youth.