SAMS Missionaries and home office staff gathered last week at the Casa San Carlos Retreat Center in Delray Beach, Florida, for a time of refreshment and rejuvenation. The four day retreat provided the Missionaries time to connect with each other and to share what the Lord is doing in their lives. We were led in worship by Hunter Van Wagenen, a SAMS Associate Missionary. Hunter led the group through a series of reflections from his time over the last fifteen years on the Camino de Santiago. Hunter compared and contrasted his experience walking the 500-mile pilgrim’s path in northern Spain to the various stages of missionary service: Preparing to Go, Starting Out, Lost in the Middle, and Finishing Well.
Mike and Kim Miller, SAMS Associate Missionaries who live in St. Petersburg, led the group through the TCK (Third Culture Kids) Care Program that has launched this month to provide resources for Missionary Parents whose children are in the field with them. Mike Miller also led the group through a time of listening to God and thinking about Spiritual Discernment while helping the group apply those disciplines to their current ministries.
His reflections were received very well and were interspersed with break-out groups for times of sharing, listening and prayer. There was plenty of time to walk around the Retreat Center, play games, take group walks at nearby wetlands, soak in the jacuzzi, and talk over meals. On the last day some of the missionaries headed to the beach. Most importantly, God was present and active in the conversations, in the times of prayerful discernment, and in the one-on-one time that each missionary had with the Lord.