SW Team Prayer Retreat 2011

This year's team prayer retreat came at the perfect time. Doug and Nathan were ready for a little break from language school and the Robert's family was heading down for their first trip to Tulear! We have anxiously been waiting their arrival for about 2 years now...so you can imagine our excitement when they finally got here! We have spent a little time with the Robert's in person before this trip, but the time here allowed us to get a glimpse of what life will look like living and working alongside each other on a daily basis. They are such an amazing family, and we are so blessed to have them. I just hope that we don't drive them too crazy :) Who knows? Maybe one day we will end up in-laws! They have the sweetest little baby girl, Ryleigh (10 months) - who Eli and Titus both adore. I have a feeling that little girl is going to be very loved and protected as she grows up!

The prayer retreat provided a great opportunity to get to know each other better, and to grow and pray together as a team. It was really fun to have enough teammates to actually do some fun activities! Each person (minus me) was paired up in teams of two for the weekend. Throughout the retreat they competed in various activities, gaining points which contributed to an overall score. They competed in everything from blindfolded races, sandcastle building, word puzzles, scavenger hunts, shell collecting, etc. I learned a lot about everyone and how they work together. Doug and Nickolee are incredibly thought out and intelligent. They proved to be by far the most resourceful team. Nathan and Grant have soo much energy and passion...putting them together was somewhat dangerous. I am surprised there were not more injuries after it was all said and done. And Tessa and Steve were the quiet, persistent ones. No one really thought they were a threat until they ended up coming in first place! I'm so proud of my team for being such good sports :)

Aside from all of the team building activities, we also had a lot of team meeting time where we were able to share testimonies, pray for each other and our people groups, talk about strategic use of partners, work through some random ministry issues, and talk about how to better mobilize our stateside partners. It was fun to actually have other people to talk through these topics with! Our team will be constantly evolving and this trip was the first taste of things to come. Can't wait for the Hailes to get here!!