Paraclete Retreat

As people in the US were preparing to return to work after the Labor Day Weekend, we were working!  Our Paraclete board members arrived for their annual face-to-face meeting which took place Sunday, September 4.  Associates from all over began to gather at the Navigator's beautiful Glen Eyrie Conference grounds on the west side of Colorado Springs on the 5th while the board were still in meetings.  Board meetings ended and our conference began with a banquet Labor Day evening.

Leading up to the conference was very busy for us. Several people who were helping with myriad conference details had unpreventable emergencies. That included our specially assigned Glen Eyrie conference coordinator! Glen and I took up the slack.  Glen was preparing his CEO "State of the Mission" address, while preparing board materials, booklets etc., along with all the other conference prep! We are so grateful for our Operations Manager, John Millstead and his wife Anna, who "paracleted" us in the process.

We only meet every 18 months and many had joined our ranks since Spring of 2015. The conference was a time of deep connection with God and each other in the mornings.  In the afternoons, we enjoyed seminars designed to help us with tools for everything from computer workshops to navigate the Paraclete Intranet, to How to ask Powerful Questions, to Understanding the Generations, to a work shop on Facilitating Groups--all led by our own people.  I had the privilege of leading an optional session on Praying in Color.

In the evenings we had more opportunities to connect through discussions, reports and one evening we gathered around a bonfire where we sang old youth group songs and told missionary stories.  Glen Eyrie rang with laughter, prayer, sharing and fellowship. 

One afternoon was set aside for people to enjoy some of the beauty of Colorado Springs.  I took a group of 8 women on a laughter filled Thrift Store excursion.  Everybody came away with a "deal" or two!

Paraclete has an amazing group of wise, dedicated and gifted associates working around the world!  We count it a privilege to serve them, thereby facilitating their ministries of training, evangelizing, teaching, and paracleteing people all around the globe!