Church Retreat

Learning, Laughing and Relaxing Together

This past weekend I had the unique opportunity to attend a church-wide retreat in the Jeseník mountains.  Friday was a national holiday so pretty much everyone had off from work and all the children had off from school.  Having spent most of my life at CEFC I have never experienced a retreat for the entire church.  I've been on many youth retreats and men's retreats but never any church retreats.  This was a great chance to get to know the people of the church in a different way than I might on a Sunday afternoon during the service or being invited over someone's home for lunch.  

Since I don't have a car here I needed to catch a ride with one of the families from church.  I was able to ride with Karel and Marcela and their two young children.  Karel likes to stop along the way on long drives and check out the different sights.  As we traveled we came across some military bunkers built and used during WWII.  We really don't come across those in the states.

Kristýnka checking out the sights.

One of the many bunkers scattered across the Czech countryside.

We also stopped along the way in an area known for their spas.  Karlova Studánka is an area designed in an older German style as parts of the Czech Republic were at one time or another controlled by Germany, Austria, and the Soviet Union their different architectural styles can be seen.  This part of the country was controlled by Germany on several occasions and the the influence can be seen in the architecture of the building across this area.

Once we arrived at the pension, the adults enjoyed talking, hiking, relaxation, a few lectures and the Czech hockey team as they competed in the World Hockey Championship.  The children enjoyed hiking, playing on the monkey bars and playing in the sandbox.  It was great to watch them interacting with one another in a way that I usually don't get a chance to see.  Of course I couldn't understand many of the conversations as I walked around but I still had many great conversations with people in English of course.  The youth were also well represented as the youth band handled worship over the weekend.  Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

 

The LORD was so gracious this weekend.  The weather surrounding us was poor but the mountains that surrounded us shielded us for the storms.  As I write this I am reminded of the LORD hiding Moses in the cleft as he walked by shielding him from His full glory.  Our God is amazing and it was great to see it in not only nature but in His people here in the Czech Republic.