It's a Family Affair

For more than 6 months I have been working with a small team of Spanish staff to pull together the first-ever Staff Family Retreat for Agape Spain.

We had a couple of meetings beforehand, several phone calls and LOTS of prayer. Our team arrived a day early in order to prepare. We had a few tasks to complete, but mostly I wanted for us to pray together.

Finally the day had arrived. They came pouring in one or two cars at a time. We had over 100 people participate in this retreat. The work team worked together, stepping in to encourage and pick up the slack where necessary. The staff at the residence were so helpful and flexible! The hostal had a GREAT location: beachfront just outside of Valencia.

The main speaker, Ester Martinez, a renowned Christian psychologist in Spain, talked about finding the balance between ministry and our personal lives and challenged us with the phrase that Paul speaks to Timothy, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." 1 Timothy 4:16

The idea that a Christian worker should not only serve others but should be sure to take care of his own needs is not a widely-preached message among full-time Christian workers. The temptation to fill one's schedule with ministry activities can drag one away from important things like spending time with one's family, getting enough sleep, eating well, spending time alone with the Lord. She spoke of "piety," a term rarely-used in today's society. She challenged us to develop our personal piety or intimacy with the Lord because our piety is what defines our personal ministries and our entire organization.

There were other events: messages from various directors, family obstacle course on the beach, creative art activities, talent show, a night of praise and worship, holy communion.

A good time seemed to be had by all.

But the true test for me was going to be the comments that were given at the end when we passed out the evaluations. Would the staff benefit from these hours of labor? Would this retreat really meet the needs of the moment?

These are a few of the comments that we received:

In what way have you been challenged during this retreat?

To take risks and to fight
To take the initiative in relationship
to put my relationship with Him first
to continue trusting in God although I don't see solutions immediately
to throw off everything that hinders
to not be afraid, but rather, to believe that God will make a way and will do the impossible
to work on piety in my knowledge and in my relationship with God
to long for more of God
to discern the important from the urgent
to pray more
to realize the need I have for my brothers
to not look back but to fix my eyes ahead on the purpose that God has for me now
that my relationship with God needs to be consistent
to keep fighting and to take care of myself
piety
that I'm not alone and in addition to God I also have my team
to minister to myself and to throw off everything that hinders
that faith equals sacrifice
to let go of burdens
commitment
to forget the things from the past and to forgive

Thank you for your prayers for me and for our staff during this retreat. In light of so many positive comments from our staff, I think that the emphasis and the environment that we wanted to create, that of being part of a family and that of being cared for, was captured and well-received.