“this weekend had a huge impact on me..."
“I definitely needed some
encouragement to get me through the rest of the school year. I appreciated this weekend so incredibly much!”
“Encouraged and challenged”
“Amazing weekend!”
“I learned
that leadership is not a lonely road”
These were some comments we heard and received from tho
se who were at the Momentum Leadership Retreat. We have been so encouraged by the 37 people who came for the weekend. We have learned a lot and are thankful for this experience.
I’m excited to share with you all the events that took place
during the weekend and how God took this retreat and made it so much more. We put a lot of work and time in preparing for this weekend, and had some very frustrating moments too! It was great to see everything come together at last.
Ready to hear about the weekend adventure?
!
Friday January 21, 2011 – “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy…” (John 10:10a)
Anchored Warriors Team (not sure if I should speak for the whole team…but this is how I felt) - a little hesitant and nervous for the weekend. It’s our first time holdi
ng this retreat, we don’t really know how many to expect…10? 25? 70? Ah… all the “what if’s” started to flood my m
ind.
Picked up the Van (which can run on gas or propane - but if you use gas the fuel pump cuts out, so it was best to stay with propane) it’s a totally ghetto old van BUT it’s big and saves us money from renting J and we are THANKFUL for the Mayerle’s in letting us use it no matter how much we “hate” on it. haha.
Arrived at our house to load up- - Van got stuck in the snow
before we could even load up all our stuff. Already off to a late start – but we’re officially on the road.
We had to make a few stops to pick up people, fill up on propane (it runs out FAST!) and ended up getting in to Edmonton during rush hour traffic.
Had to feed everyone supper, and pick up extra food for the band who were already setting up at the camp. I’m pretty sure every minute that went by the stress level increased because we were getting more and more delayed and NEEDED to get to the camp by 6:30 (registration time).
As we left Edmonton it was dark outside, snow started to fall and roads were getting bad. We were on the final stretch, only 2 km from the ca
mp, and a deer runs on the road! Next thing I know, we missed the dee
r and hit the snowbanks in to the ditch …. And the time is officially 6:30 - - NOOOOO!! Haha.
Thankfully we called the camp and they came and rescued us in a mat
ter of minutes…the van was easy to pull out. We arrive late, some groups were already there and I felt horrible for not being there early to have everything set up and to be able to greet the groups arriving, rather then them greet us.
Now I’m REALLY nervous for the weekend because of the rough start.
As the night went on I started receiving calls and texts from different groups (almost all the groups) and the challenges they faced in trying to get to the camp. One group had someone that started having panic attacks – were planning on going to the hospital if it continued (prayerfully it stopped), a few groups were lost, one even considered turning around and going bac
k
home. One group got a flat tire and the road conditions were bad for everyone.
The enemy was out to attack and prevent the weekend from happening, prevent people from coming and putting a stop because he knew that God was going todo something big! I’m so thank
ful we serve a God that is greater and bigger then anyone or anything!!
The evening consisted of icebreaker games – putting them in small gr
oups (which they had for the whole weekend during discussion time) and main session where the Deeper Worship Band lead us in awesome singing time of worship and Amy spoke on how God calls the unexpected as leaders.
Saturday January 22, 2011
We opened the morning with breakfast, devotions and prayer time as a group.
Dan Woodard came and lead
2 sessions on Personality profiles. It was awesome seeing each person so interested and involved in D
an’s sessions. They learned about themselves and the personality strengths that they have. Each person came forward and wrote there name on a little sticky note placing it in the area of what there personality type was (there dominant and secon
dary.
<-- one by one each youth came and placed there sticky note on the chart... When we were done the chart was completely filled!
We heard great feedback from everyone. One youth was saying that she had recently been questioning who she really is – what kind of pers
on is she, do I even know who I am? Etc… And with the surprise in the t
iming of the conference and having Dan come and lead the session – she walked away with so much insight about herself and learned who she was. Very cool.
(Below is a team-building game. The group was divided in 2 groups and they had to see how high they could get on the wall...)
snowshoeing, fellowship and different games. There was the Main session in the eveni
ng with an time of worship through singing and a message from Tristan that spoke on what it means to be a believer on the rez and being a leader.
Saturday was a day of unity amongst everyone, encouragement and a great deal of fun and fellowship. Everyone has been challenged in stepping up as leaders and learning much about themselves.
I couldn’t have asked for a better day.
Sunday January 23, 2011
Last day already - the weekend flew by so fast!
Sunday was led in singing and I spoke on forgiveness and being the Church. Each person wrote a letter to thems
elves saying what they have learned, what goals they would like to set and the experienc
e they had from the wee
kend… we took each letter and will be sending it to them in 6 months as a
reminder for them.
We had communion together – It
was a cool thing seeing each native leader taking the stand in there communities, learning about being a leader and stepping up as a leader. We finished the weekend by standing in a circle, holding hands and praying (trust me – sounds so cheesy, but it was a pretty significant moment – we had become family during the weekend).
Each person received a Binder of resources, devotions, games, how to lead, bible reading plans and so much more - - this is to help them in there personal walk with Christ but also to be a leader in there community and ideas they can use. They also received two books, “Book of Hope” by Native American Fellowship and “Warrior Generatio
n” by Doug Hutchcraft.
Looking back we see how the enemy was out to ‘steal, kill and destroy’ and attempted various ways to stop it. He knew that God was going to do something big and God did… We have already scheduled dates for next year and are looking forward to it.
Thank you so much for your pr
ayers for this weekend, we couldn’t have done without!!
Below shows some of the small groups they had throughout the whole weekend.
