Future Missionaries Retreat

This past Wednesday through Saturday, Jim and I spent time right out of town at the Quaker Ridge Camp and Conference Center for a Future Missionaries Retreat that was put on by the Evangelical Friends Mission. Jim grew up in the relatively small denomination of the Evangelical Friends Church, and has very strong family ties amongst its members. We heard of this retreat not too long ago, and decided on a whim since it was close and wasn't too expensive, that we might as well check it out.

WOW. We were so BLESSED these last four days. There were 28 "future missionaries" in attendance, from all over the country. They ranged from just having graduated from high school to "second career" types. Some knew missions was three, four or five years away, and a few are headed to the field in just a few months. Church leaders from all over the country came to support us, as well as retired missionaries representing over 200 years in service all over the world.

The Friends are a small, lesser known church denomination, but their heart for missions and their generosity of time and resources is to be admired. It is just incredible what the Church has done in the past 80 years all over the world. The people I was privileged to meet this weekend are some of the most humble, loving, and fun I have ever met. Even though Jim and I will not be going with EFM, they were interested, supportive and excited about our work just the same.

The information that we received is somewhat similar to the preparatory teaching that we were given during our candidate week with AIM in November, but what a blessing it was to hear it again and let it sink in a little further. We are excited to share insights and teachings with you that struck chords within us during this time...we won't be short on blogging material for a little while!