Days 63-65: The Small Retreats

This retreat was already gonna be a weird one, but it only got weirder right before we even began. The School of the Incarnate, or SOTI, is too small to put on a retreat, hence it was gonna be outside at a campground. Only problem: it was pouring rain. So they relocated to a church about 45 minutes east and right on the coast in Pasadena, MD. Since it was so far away, the kids rode the bus as if it was a field trip, leaving us with only 4 hours of true retreat time rather than a full school day. But there were many great things to come out this retreat. For one, I rode the bus with the kids to and from the church since they needed a chaperone, and I had a blast hanging with the guys in the back of the bus. Plus the kids energy was great, and it made our jobs that much easier! That evening, Brian took us to his family friend’s house, the O’Donnell’s, for dinner. One of the main highlights was definitely meeting the son-in-law, who was a NET missionary the same year as my supervisor Jaime! It was fun just connecting with a NET alum, and overall the family was so caring. Plus we had these cookies that are only sold in Baltimore, and it makes me wanna stay here longer. Overall, another special night with more special people. . . Next stop: St. Michael’s Parish in Mt. Airy, MD. We arrived at the parish at around noon, and hung in the youth room that included an air hockey table, Wii, billiards, and foosball until the retreat at 4pm. We kept ourselves with ministry obligations and team bonding activities such as Avocado Smash, a really fun card game I recommend. If you read this Aimee, thank you for sharing this with us. As for the retreat, there were only 12 youth. Yes, we nearly out numbered the youth for this retreat. Thankfully they were not a shy bunch, and I personally like it more because it made it easier to be more personal with the retreatants. I gave my 2nd talk about friendship, and it was a grand ol’ time. Sadly, we had no time to hang with our host home, since we had an early morning and got home late. So they threw all the guys in the basement, with your typical movie theater with reclining chairs and a few Xbox’s. To go from a cozy condo to this massive basement threw me off no doubt, but goes to show the different people we meet: settled and unsettled, and everything in between. Truly fascinating. . . 4:30am wakeup, 5:15 leave, 6:00am breakfast at IHOP. Enough said, moving on. Despite this early morning, Sarah motivated us and reminded us that the word “tired” is not in our vocabulary. Done. We arrived at St. John the Evangelist Church in Columbia, MD, a Catholic and Protestant Church, and put on a retreat for only 20 youth, making the past two retreats the smallest so far. We only had 5 guys overall, so Adam and I got to do small group together with the guys. Our dynamic was seamless, and the youth were vulnerable with us, which is a rarity for male small groups. On top of this, we tried a new team intro, plus a new drama, both were done to perfection, making this one the most rewarding retreats yet. Speaking of rewards, the parish youth leaders took us out to Shake Shack, making it my first time. Definitely a solid place, and a must-have at least once in your life. We stayed the night with the Murphy Family, since the daughter helped with the retreat today. To give you perspective on where we were, their house was down the street from Moreen and Jim Osborn, who we stayed with while at St. Louis a couple weeks ago, and were 15 minutes away from the school. Everything is pretty close in Maryland, and its definitely gonna be easier to get familiar with the longer I’m here.