More Full Days of Life and Adventure!

Wednesday brought campfire night! Dancing, singing from each International community, roasting sausages over the fire, and powerful testimonies from SON Full time missionary to Ukraine, Pastor Scott Yount, and SON Ukrainian ministry partner, Pastor Aleksandr Gross, were incredibly powerful and impactful. Afterward, we sat in prayerful silence, for at least a half hour, contemplating God’s provision and grace in the midst of the unfathomable war that is just a 3 hour drive east from where we are having the retreat.

Thursday Hike Day and The Passion of the Christ Movie Night

Thursday morning, Pastor Wendy led the group through a review of the week, as preparation for viewing The Passion of the Christ, later that evening. Sam and Daniel (Slovak) also shared their testimonies for how God gave new meaning to their purpose in life and a hope for a life eternal in Christ.

Following lunch, the entire camp departed for either, a day at a local water park or a moderately challenging hike in the beautiful High Tatras mountains!

The evening focused on watching the brutally powerful and poignant movie, The Passion of the Christ. For many, it was their first time to encounter and contemplate the reality of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Following the movie, we departed in peace.

Friday Movie Wrap Up and Goodbyes

Friday morning provided the opportunity to dig deep into what we witnessed in the movie and to gain better understanding of the who, what, how, and why of Christ’s passion. Brian and Rachel led the discussion and Brian also shared his testimony in a way the reflected well on the concept of Exchanging our former life for a new life in Christ.

Our final worship and time to depart from the retreat soon followed. It was especially difficult to say “goodbye” to our friends and family returning to Ukraine. Ukrainian team members, Anna-Mariia and Marta are remaining with the team, as they will soon return to the States, with Pastor David and Angela, in order to resume their university studies.

A parting “gift” was found in reading the post-it note reflections from throughout the week. Each day participants were encouraged to express their thoughts and ideas through the non-digital postings. Some were silly, while others were quite profound. Not unlike what appears on our social media streams each day!

Ichthys Lutheran Youth Center at Velky Slavkov

The setting for the retreat was a huge blessing. This is the same center that housed and provided nurture and care for hundreds of Ukrainian refugees who fled the Russian invasion of their country. SON is profoundly grateful for the ministry partnership found in Ichthys Center directors, Pastor Vlado & Monika Mataš, and the countless staff of the center who make everyone feel welcomed and loved.

The team departed for the next Life & Adventure Retreat on Saturday morning.

Thank you for your continued support and prayer! There will be more photos to come and many stories to follow. Stay tuned!

Here’s how you can stay involved and what you can do!

Pray Continuously: Set aside time each day to pray for the mission trip. Pray for the team’s stamina and health – several team members are dealing with a stomach bug that we hope is short-lived so as not to distract nor detract from what God has planned for this week. Pray for the people we are serving, all of our international ministry partners, and for the work God is doing in, around, and through us in Slovakia. Pray especially for the teens and their families, who are joining us. We hope many will be positively impacted by the retreat. Pray for people to grow in curiosity toward Jesus and His Good News.

Stay Updated: Follow along on our ministry blog for more updates and inspiring stories from the camp. Your comments and encouragements are greatly appreciated and help us feel connected to our church family back home.

Get Involved: to learn more about the Spiritual Orphans Network, navigate to: https://sonetwork.org/learn/connect/ and fill out the form to request more information.