Submitted by Helen… I had a really good time at the interns retreat this past weekend. I was so thankful that I was able to go last minute. I was personally really blessed and challenged by the retreat (even though it wasn’t for me). The theme of the retreat was ‘Growing’. I was encouraged to keep doing the hard work of ministering to people, to love, mold and shape the people that God has entrusted to me and to not give up in ‘growing’ not only in my own character but helping in that growing process for my staff.
It was like going down memory lane being at this retreat. For one of the sessions, the older ones who were there formed a panel and got to share different ministry stories, lessons learned from our years of ministry, words of advice and encouragement. It was special for me because Ben and I were the younger ones amongst the leads who were there…and as we were sharing our mistakes and stories, I had to give God all the glory and praise for the transforming work that he has done in my life for the past 12 years since I’ve been here at Gracepoint Fellowship. I know that I am the person that I am today because of the sacrifice, love, obedience and perseverance of the leaders who were sitting up there with me. I was really encouraged to see so many interns at this retreat and all so eager to learn and grow. As I saw how eager and excited the interns were to grow in their heart and character, I realized that I need to be all the more fervent about growing myself, willing to take risks and steps of obedience for God, clinging to God’s Word and prayer in the process as I be that example to the interns.
I had such a good time being with our homegroup interns and with my team (Class of ’08 sisters)…and it turned out that a lot of my team members were in my van on our drive back home, so I got to share more of my ministry experiences, personal growth stories, answer some of their questions, give them words of advice knowing full well how they are feeling now as 1st and 2nd year interns, and now being on the other side where I am leading interns…
I just had a good time this weekend; it really fed my soul being with Pastor Ed and Kelly, my older sister leaders, as well as all the interns 
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Submitted by Jeannie… I had the privilege to attend Gracepoint Fellowship Church’s annual intern’s retreat this past weekend. Yes, this picture is just a sampling of the fun we had in the packed three days together. 
We heard messages from Pastor Ed and Kelly, were inspired and challenged to personally grow in our relationship with God and with each other and in our character, to become a person of integrity and wholeness so that God can indeed “reign in us,” and so much much more. I felt personally so challenged to steward well the trust we’ve been given as a church to spread this amazing Gospel to others.
And in between the sharing and the discussions and the Bible studies, we did good hard work on the land, did a night hike and had a 100+ person bonfire, went kayaking and rafting, sang songs together, had an all-out king kong shower tournament (in which the brothers dominated yes…), played ninja, and had some tri-fold mat gladiator-like fun.
It was a soul-searching, heart-warming, relationship-strengthening, vision-casting, memory-making time, all in the short three days we were there!
I had such a great time at the retreat!
I am so encouraged by the sharings! I will miss this so much and commit to build the same kind of community in our church in Taiwan. My prayer is that I will grow in my relationship with God and with the team there too! It’s inspiring to see so many younger ones committing to grow!
Thank you Helen and Jeannie for sharing from the intern retreat. For me, it was such a privilege to be there, to have a full three days and three nights to spend with Pastor Ed & Kelly, along with all the team leads and interns. The biggest lesson I learned from the retreat is that my desire to grow is a conscious decision that I make every day and is not something that just naturally happens.
The retreat was awesome. Thank you so much, Pastor Ed and Kelly, and all the other leaders who went and made this retreat possible. I have really been challenged a lot through this retreat.
The retreat was such a great time. Thank you so much Pastor Ed and Kelly for teaching us what the Bible says about growing Christlike character.
Sounds like it was an incredible time! Can’t wait for the retreat this weekend!
I think this was easily my favorite retreat ever. There are many gems of wisdom that I’ll take away and I got to know a lot of leaders that I wouldn’t normally get to interact with like Esther, Alice, and Sarah. Thank you so much Pastor Ed and Kelly for the timely and fitting messages. I could tell that you must have really thought and prayed hard about where we are and what we needed to hear. I loved Joni Eareckson Tada’s testimony, which I had heard so much about before. It was really challenging to hear from her, and remembering her story will help me stay motivated to deny myself daily and push hard to grow. Thank you all the leads and directors who came up to share your stories to encourage us! Thanks, Paul, for coming up just to play keyboard for our worship service! It was so much fun bonding with all the sisters, and I was thankful for the chance to get to know all the first year and Davis intern sisters (who I miss already!).
I just came back from the youth retreat, and after experiencing behind the scenes what goes into a retreat–the preparations, the prayers, the pounds of bulgogi–I am so so thankful that our leaders would tire themselves to create a time and place where we can re-calibrate our attitudes toward suffering, refine our character, and refresh our faith by learning to lean on God for strength. Thank you for every little detail to make this retreat happen for our benefit.
It was indeed a soul-searching, heart-warming, relationship-strengthening, vision-casting, and memory-making time like Jeannie said. It was awesome!! Thank you Pastor Ed, Kelly, and all the leaders and helpers that took the time to be there with us!
This retreat was so awesome! From the challenging messages on growing in our character for the kingdom of God, to the honest and hilarious sharing from the directors & slt about how God has transformed them through the years, I was refreshed with a renewed sense of calling from God to grow in my character through suffering and to band together in this body of Christ to make the love of God known. Thank you Pastor Ed, Kelly, directors, and the SLT who joined us for making such a wonderful experience possible!
THANK YOU P.Ed and Kelly and team leads for organizing and leading this memorable and challenging retreat!
Thank you P. Ed and Kelly SMN and all the other leaders for taking so much care to see us grow. I really saw how much I need to grow in my character. I definitely enjoyed the time with all the brothers and sisters from all the different ministries, especially when we went boating out on the lake.
I got to hear about the interns retreat from different people and it seems like such a wonderful time of bonding as well as being challenged towards growing and maturing. I am so excited for the retreat this weekend. Thank you to all the leaders to help to make these times happen!
Thank you P. Ed and Kelly for leading the retreat, and all the leaders who where there to guide us! Not only was it encouraging to hear so many stories of our leaders walking the same paths that we are on just a “few” years back, but also a defining time where I learned just how importance to responsiblity of my spirital growth.