A time of Retreat

This past week I missed a blog post.  I realize this is pretty unusual for me. I feel it is imperative to communicate with supporters. I think you want to know what is "going on" in our lives.

Zephaniah, Zion, Selah and Abigail rest from our short hike we took at a national park along our drive


The reason for the absence was our time in Guatemala.  Eastern Mennonite Missions firmly believes in the need for a yearly retreat.  The missionaries go on retreat per the area they are in. We joined with 9 other units (families and singles) in Chiquimula Guatemala.  Before you go thinking we were in the lap of luxury for the week, let me assure you that we weren't. The main meeting area has AC, but everywhere else wasn't.  The air was more dry, (actually much around us appeared dead) but hotter by about 3-5 degrees.

Selah and Phyllis Groff pose for a photo at Western Dairies in Spanish Lookout. The only (food) drive through in the country


The children over 10 stayed in a dorm style building with students from the Vida220 program. What a blessing for them and us. I am ever thankful for people who come into our lives valuing our children. Abigail and Selah enjoyed the freedom they had, hanging out with young adults and other TCK's their age.

Spring got a ladies day out during the retreat. These are the other EMM women serving in Central America


I really appreciated the balance in the retreat. We had a session a day, prayer time in the evenings, and hours of freedom in the afternoon.  It was a time to enjoy the company of others we can relate to. It also helps us know how to pray for each other.

The kids had so much fun with other TCK's

Some of our interesting moments involved having a van full!  Mostly of Davis/Groff families as we traveled to Guatemala.  We added two Vida people for the Guatemala leg. No seat was empty!  We again are thankful for the blessing of our van!

We had an unexpected stop when after checking the air in the tire, the service attendant busted our stem. We are thankful that there were no injuries due to the flat tire. We also happen to stop where there was a restaurant, and the kids got to jump on a trampoline. 



Of course there's always border crossing. Sometimes Nathanael and I stand back in wonder at the stark difference in our childhoods and that of our children.  Both crossing into and out of Guatemala went without an incident. I even accidentally brought in some contraband (Peppers from Guatemala).

the line at the Belizean border on our way out of Belize

Thank you for joining with us on this journey. We hope and pray you have a great week celebrating Christ's finished work in our lives.  If you're interested in what we did as a church, you'll have to wait till next week :) (too much to cover in one blog post)

 one of our times of worship