EuroRetreat 2019

What happens when you get a bunch of cross cultural workers who happen to be Americans working in Europe together for staff meetings and teaching in southern France?  Well, a whole lot of fun and silliness and seriousness….and the list goes on!

This local graffiti, "Where is Steve?" greeted us on our morning walks.

Being reminded that we, too, as Christian ministers, we are also disciples and need to renew our decision to follow Jesus....this was a very insightful discussion!

 

Our European staff met on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea in southern France at the end of October for our staff meeting and annual retreat.  Our retreat location was a Christian camp that we have used for many years, and in many ways it feels a bit like going home.

It's a safe place for the kids to run around on the camp grounds, and having access to the beach is a great thing....especially for those of us who work in northern Europe and by the end of October/early November, fall is in full swing which often means a lot of rain and grey skies.  Having access to the sun is a most welcome change! 

We went a couple days early to enjoy the sun and celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.  And our vitamin D levels went through the ceiling!!

Having some fun in the sun.  Barb was able to get some tan lines from her sandals on her feet in just two days.  It was hard to put on boots again when it was time to go home!

The retreat center is a safe place for kids, but we did manage to squeeze in one trip to the ER....loved the French health care system!  It all worked so smoothly ~

It’s always a good time to get together with folks, get updated on each others ministries, our joys and frustrations, how God is working…and the list goes on! 

It’s also a chance to hang out, pray together, play together, and have some fun.

Ice cream wonders....we did go for a long walk to the café before we treated ourselves!

Evidence that we really did work.  We tagged on an extra day to work on learning more about mission finances.  The post it notes represent all the questions we had and topics we discussed.  We were really busy little beavers....or missionaries!

Our team works hard on reminding ourselves how important self-care is to make sure we're able to thrive in ministry for the long term.  Barb's version of self care:  starting a new cross stitch project.  You can be assured it won't be ready for Advent 2019!

And this year was no different.

Hope the pictures gave you a glimpse of the good times that were had and how important these meetings are for our team.  We were so blessed!