Cambio de Rumbo--Saturday afternoon, evening

Saturday after lunch, we boarded the bus to go to the highest point on the resort property.  It was an unbelievably beautiful spot to see the mountains all around us. 

 It also served as a great backdrop for tons of pictures.

We had our second small group study on Chapter 2 of Jonah before dinner.  After dinner we were supposed to meet at the conference center for the photo booth and fellowship, but it was raining so hard, we canceled the evening event.  Instead, we had fellowship in our small groups.

Cambio de Rumbo--Saturday morning

Early Saturday morning, nearly 125 women arrived at Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva to pick up their registration packet for our annual women's ministry retreat.  It took more than two hours to get everyone through the line, give general instructions and find our small groups 

We boarded the buses with our small group. (Thankfully, a team of able-bodied men loaded all of the suitcases!)  Once on the bus the "crazy" began.  Unlike in the states, no one stays in their seats--instead the bus leaders formed two teams (left side and right side) and challenged the teams to decorate their side of the bus, with the crepe paper, balloons, stickers and tape they handed out.  No one seated during that time--and yes, the bus is driving through the city.  

The decorating contest was just the first of three challenges; the second was making up new actions to a children's song about Jonah and the third was making up words/phrases with the letters they passed out to us.  The best part is that the two-hour trip seemed to fly by.

We arrived at Entre Pinos Resort about 11:30 a.m. and trekked up the hill to the conference center.  The same able-bodied men mentioned earlier, unloaded all the luggage and delivered it to the rooms.  

We sat with our groups and the music team lead us in a sweet time of worship, introducing the theme song, Oceans, by Hillsong.  You can find a video of this amazing song, by clicking here.

Unlike previous years, there wasn't any whole-group teaching.  All four of the teaching times, each one focusing on one of the four chapters of the book of Jonah, were done within our small group.  (Earlier in the month, 40+ group leaders were trained by the women's ministry team.)  At the retreat there were 27 groups, each with a leader and 3-5 women.  This allowed plenty of time to learn, discuss and share our insights and struggles.

Getting Ready

Vida Nueva's women's retreat is this weekend.  There's been so much preparation for this weekend and we're praying that the 140 women who attend will be richly blessed.  The theme of the weekend is "Cambio de Rumbo," which is translated, "Change Direction."

  

We will be completing a study on the life of Jonah--God asked Jonah to change direction and go to Nineveh.  However, Jonah made the decision to change his direction and go toward Tarsus--miles away in the opposite direction of where God wanted him to go.  Jonah's bad decision had consequences for him and for his shipmates.  I'll save the rest of the teaching for after the retreat.

The ladies of Hilo, Aguja y Biblia started preparing the craft for the retreat about six weeks ago.  We thought we were finished, but the women just kept enrolling.  I made 10 more whales this week and then yesterday, Maria Elena and I assembled 110 bags (have 30 more to do today) with the whale, buttons, needle, instructions, etc.  I'll be helping her during craft time on Sunday.

We weren't the only ones working on the retreat, Ena and her leadership team worked all day yesterday and are still working today to be sure everything is ready.   

Pray that all goes smoothly and God is glorified!