Camp Bellevue

Thank you to Andrea Muirhead from Let's Start Talking Canada for bringing two young men down to Ecuador on their Easter break for a week-long project! We've never had a team come this time of year, and since schools in Ecuador don't give any time off for Easter (other than Good Friday), we had to think creatively about how to put this enthusiastic team to work. They ended up visiting a local school in the morning to help teach English / Science lessons. Then, in the afternoons, they filled in for Kendall, who was away for the week, teaching her English classes at the After School Program. In the evenings, they ran a "mini-English camp" for teens which included dinner, games, and a short bilingual Bible study. We focused on "questions Jesus asked" and had some good discussions around those. Thank you to Andrea, Morris, and Kipton for spending your Easter vacation with us at Camp Bellevue!

In early February, we hosted our annual Women's Spiritual Retreat with nearly 50 participants. This weekend has become one of the highlights of my year as we "serve the servants," creating a space for women in ministry to come away, be fed spiritually, and hopefully return feeling renewed and refreshed. Our theme this year was "God is our Refuge" from Psalm 62. Julie and I tag-teamed the speaking, delivering 4 lessons on communing with God through the Psalms. There were also beautiful times of worship all together, time interacting with the material in small groups, and most importantly, times of silence and solitude. God always meets with us powerfully during these weekends -- it's truly a privilege to bear witness how he is working in the lives and hearts of these women.