Westchester Retreat
F3! Food, fellowship and fun were in order at the Westchester Korean SDA church’s retreat in the Catskill Mountains, in upstate New York in November, 2014.
The English Ministry members gathered in Athens, New York in a bright and spacious house overlooking a lake. We were fed physically by delicious meals prepared by the members themselves. Further, we were fed heavenly food from our own EM Pastor, Kevin Kim.
In one of the learning sessions, Pastor Kim led us through a magic carpet ride. In fact, we had many trips on this magic carpet. This carpet led us through journeys that taught us lessons on cooperation, leadership, and self-reflection. In the magic carpet’s previous life, it was an ordinary bath towel. But in this exercise, the towel was transformed into a great object lesson. Teams of six people were to “ride” the carpet to different places in the room. This required teamwork, strategy, and collaborative thinking. While we were having fun, it taught us invaluable lessons on how we should work together to journey through ministries in our church and community.
As a special outing, we took a trip to the Kaaterskill Water falls, the tallest double-tiered waterfall in New York. The excursion was made even more of an adventure by the necessity of passing through a narrow walkway through a busy road to arrive at the entrance. The half-mile hike was the perfect distance to reach the falls and a small price to pay to view the beautiful falls. The arrival of snowflakes necessitated a quick exit out of the waterfalls, but a fine time was had by all.
After another fabulous meal, we were treated to s’mores via the warm and toasty fire place in the house. All through the house, laughter and conversation was heard as people played Blokus (now the official board game for Westchester church), Jenga and ate warm brownies a la mode.
Sunday morning, Pastor Kevin Kim led us through another important spiritual lesson on casting out fear and greed with perfect love. After packing for home, we had closing prayer by the lake. The memorable retreat was concluded by a trip to the Hudson Athens Lighthouse. The cold blustery wind did not deter the group from having a great time viewing the beautiful lighthouse.
All in all, it was the perfect time of food, fellowship and fun. The members cooked, laughed, cleaned, played, walked, and bonded in a very special way. This was the perfect vehicle for bringing us together so that we could be equipped and emboldened to work for Christ as a body.