Church Retreat!

The Church Retreat was fantastic...other than I am now sick because of something I ate???
For pictures from the retreat click here! Some you have already seen, go to the end!

The theme of the weekend was "Building Tomorrow's Church, Today." Fortunately and unfortunately I was not able to attend the sessions because Jesse and I had our own youth program to run. We carried on the same theme with the youth. We talked about their role in the church (universal church). We explored spiritual gifts and the purpose of such.

I left the weekend extremely encouraged! One, I love the Westlake kids! They are a great bunch that have a deep love and understanding for God's word. Two, I love working for Jesse and spending time with his family! They are a great encouragement and great friends to me! But three, I love the universal church that in this case, locally, has grouped itself as an organization of Westlake Church of Nyon, Switzerland.

I have always had a good experience with the organized church. I have seen things go wrong and I do understand that no church is perfect. BUT...I think that the creation of organized churches is a beautiful thing. I love the community it brings about when one decides to fully engage and give of themselves. I love the healing that can take place. I love the encouragement and growth. I even appreciate the rough and ugly times because it sharpens character and brings about growth. I hope that in someway I am able to continue my work within a church.