Retreats bring mission trip teams together

(cont’d from pg. 1)

As for some of the specefics of the retreat, teams will depart for their retreat locations from Wesleyan around 1 pm on Saturday, January 28. They will return to Wesleyan on the morning of Sunday, January 29 around 11 am which is when the worship service will take place. Everyone will be dismissed to go home following the worship service around noon.

At their retreat location, teams will partipcate in several team-bonding activities so that their team can grow closer together ahead of their mission trip. They will share meals together, holding menaingful conversations with each other while doing so, as well as talk with one another during their free time throughout the day. Additonally, teams will listen to devotions from each other and the telling of each other’s faith journeys, both of which will further relationships amongst the team.

The Dominican Republic Kids Alive mission trip team, which is led by Middle School Bible and English teacher Brittany Coxhead as well as Director of Christian Life Greg Lisson, will be staying at junior Reagan Beaty’s lake house at Lake Lanier for their team’s retreat. Lisson hopes that through this week- end and the conversations that will take place throughout this weekend will cause the team to grow closer as a team and understand each other’s story better.

The Italy mission trip team, led by Bible Department Chair Glenn Archer and Assistant Director of Admissions Meredith Jamieson, will be staying at Archer’s mountain cabin in Fairmount, Georgia. With the retreat, Archer is most looking forward to the sharing of each other’s faith journeys because of how special it is. He hopes that everyone will be honest and feel free enough to share where they are in their journey and then be willing to take that next step in their journey.

The New Mexico mission trip team, which is led by High School English teacher Brooks Hanrahan and Middle School English teacher Ashley Kuehne, will be staying at junior Will Brammer’s property “outside of town.” Hanrahan is hoping that with this retreat, his team, especially those who are not close to one another, will grow closer together and develop a sense of camraderie amongst themselves ahead of their mission trip. Hanrahan remmebers that with the last retreat he went on, the team grew a sense of togetherness and new relationships were formed as a result of the retreat. His hope is that that is what his team gets out of this upcoming retreat.

The Spain mission trip team, led by Advancement Associate Will Kimberlin and 10th Grade Girls Chair

Emily Zavitz, will be staying at senior Nick Schaller’s house in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. As random as it sounds, Zavitz’s favorite part of the mission trip retreat is making breakfast for her team on Sunday morning. “You have this really intense evening where everyone shares their faith story and then you go to bed. Waking up that next morning, making breakfast, and sharing that meal together with your team brings it all together.

Other teams will be staying at a variety of different places for their retreat, including senior Kendall Bowen’s house (Dominican Republic Jarabacoa), sophomore Lauren Tucker’s lake house on Lake Burton (Dominican Republic Score), senior Hannah Bennison’s river house on the Soque River (Ec- uador), and even Wesleyan (Appalachia, Kentucky).

While most students who will be going on mission trips this year are going on one for the first time, some students were blessed with the opportunity of going on one last year. Among the favorite parts of the mission trip experience of those who have been on one, the mission trip retreat sits towards the top.

Senior Sophia Shaffer, who went on a mission trip to Nashville, Tennessee last year, loved her mission trip retreat and spending a weekend with her team. Her favorite memory from the retreat was, simply, sharing meals with her team and bonding with them over barbeque. As for senior Hannah Fears, who went on a mission trip to New Mexico last year, her favorite memory from the retreat was making it to the finals of a rock, paper, scissors challenge and ultimately losing to Head of School Chris Cleveland. Fears is going on a mission trip this year to Rome, Italy and is looking forward to potentially making a finals run in a rock, paper, scissors challenge yet again.

The hope with the mission trip retreats is that teams grow as close together as possible as they prepare to serve communites and other people around the world in just a little over a month. Developing such togetherness ahead of the trip is neccessary so that teams can best serve thos who they are going to be working with.