Every year our WGM Kenya field has a retreat. It's a wonderful time of fun, fellowship, worship, and renewing our hearts and minds.
I have been in charge of planning Retreat for the past three years. It's a lot of work to plan a multiple-day event for a hundred people or so, but it's also a task that suits my personality and skillsets well. I'm good at pulling all the details together and I'm good at emceeing and I'm good at making things fun. Event-planning is something that uses a variety of my skills - the super organized part of me, the strong communicator side of me, and the camp counselor and youth worker side of me. In another life I might have had a future in event-planning.
But I do not have another life and this is definitely not something I have the margin for most of the time. I actually don't really have the margin for it even now, which is why there were so many late nights working on it because there was no other time to fit it in except to sacrifice sleep in order to do it. But alas, all the hard work and lost sleep paid off because Retreat was fabulous this year and everyone had a great time.
We stayed at a place along the Kenyan coast, with amazing views of the Indian Ocean. It is hot and humid, however, so everyone just sweats their way around the resort and gets in the water or A/C whenever possible. But if you can handle the heat and humidity, the scenery can't be beat.
I don't have as many photos as usual because I was too busy running around. I actually never even made it to the beach the entire time, literally. But we did spend time at the family pool where our boys happily practiced their swimming skills. Asa is a good and confident swimmer by now, Kai is almost to the point where he can be trusted alone, and Caleb has room to grow but is well on his way. It's taken so long for these boys to learn to swim because they simply haven't had much opportunity to practice swimming. We don't have easy access to a pool in rural Kenya, so they only get to swim once or twice a year and it's belabored the project of learning how to swim. But the light is at the end of the tunnel and they are finally almost there!
I ended up in charge of the Fun Night on the first day. Finding activities for a large group of adults and kids alike is no easy feat, but it turned out well and memories were made!
The speaker and worship team who led our sessions were amazing. Dr. Matthew Sleeth is a physician-turned-author-and-speaker who happens to be the father of one of our colleagues, and it was great to have him join us and meet the whole WGM Kenya family that his kids and grandkids are a part of, as well as to learn from his wisdom and insight. He spoke a lot about Sabbath, sharing stories and pointing us back to Scripture, and it was a meaningful time.
The worship team came from a church in Nairobi and they blessed us beyond belief! They did a lot of familiar songs and somehow they were particularly meaningful and impactful. Many people commented on how much they appreciated the worship. It was mostly in English, with a few Swahili songs thrown in, and it was just wonderful. Also, I never knew I could enjoy singing "This Little Light of Mine" so much! That must be a sign of a truly talented worship team!
This year we celebrated a colleague, Robyn, who is retiring after living and serving in Kenya for 42 years. Yes, 42 years! It's incredibly rare to hear of people staying on the mission field for that long anymore, and we were humbled and inspired to hear many of her stories over the years as she shared reflections during her retirement party. It was also fascinating to think about how much Kenya has changed in the past 42 years - what the infrastructure was like then compared to now. We certainly arrived at a different place than Robyn did four decades ago. We showed up with the ability to call our family in an instant, and even video chat with them. Robyn had to travel hours and pay an arm and a leg for a 3-minute phone call to say hello to her family on her birthday. There were many other examples, but the sacrifices she has made over the years was indeed humbling and inspiring, and we were so grateful to celebrate with her as she prepares to leave her adopted home and return to America and transition to the next chapter of her life.
This picture shows Robyn receiving one of her retirement gifts - her original work permit that was granted in 1982!
Another celebratory night was the graduation banquet for our high school graduates who are preparing to leave Kenya and return to the States for university. There were two graduates this year, both of whom have grown up in Kenya since they were 2 and 3 years old. Kenya is home, and they're about to embark on a major life transition. Retuning to their passport country is always a major transition for TCKs, but it also represents a huge accomplishment of growing up cross-culturally and becoming wise and mature young men and women with a broader understanding of the world and God's kingdom at work within it. These kids have carefully cultivated worldviews, which our world needs more of, and they have incredible potential for positive and meaningful impact in the corner of the world God leads them to. I have a special place in my heart for missionary kids, having learned intimately what unique challenges they face, as well as unique blessings they experience and bestow. Celebrating them and their lives - past, present, and future - is something we take seriously and is one of the most cherished times of Retreat every year.
This year Eli had the honor of being asked to speak over and pray for one of the graduates, Isaac, who has been a friend to our family ever since we moved to Kenya. His parents were our on-field mentors during our first year on the mission field, and the three boys in that family have been role models to our own three boys and have displayed an intentionality with our kids that has been an ongoing gift to us. What a joy to be able to bless Isaac in return and pray for him as he looks toward leaving Kenya and going on to university in the States!
Eli's prayer moved me (and others!) to tears. I'll share a part of it here, because I want to remember the words that express Eli's heart over these missionary kids.
"I pray for his future to be bright, and not bright in the ways of the world but bright in the ways of You and Your kingdom, which will shine anywhere. And I know that we stand together when we pray these things for Isaac. When he is struggling, may he be reminded of the community that is behind him. We're not always going to be in touch with him, and that's okay, because You always will be. I pray that he would feel that, and when he doesn't feel that, I pray that he would know that, and when he doesn't know that, I pray that he would still believe it. And in this way You will carry him."
The other graduate is someone we adore as well. Bella's family were our neighbors when we lived at Tenwek, and her dad and Eli still work together for the Family Medicine residency program and we have a great love and appreciation for their family as a whole. So the entire evening was one of joy and pride. I love how well our WGM family loves our missionary kids! Our hearts go with them wherever they are in the world.
So, Retreat was a great success and I thank God for His provision and protection and blessing over it all.
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