Teacher’s Retreat

This weekend was the teachers retreat. It was in a beautiful town called Vaoala, which is up a mountain overlooking the sea. Friday evening started off with meditation and prayer. It was such a great experience to come together as a family and pray together. I felt the Spirit joining us in prayer and knew that it was going to be an awesome weekend. Saturday was a day full of planned events. We started at 6 AM with a Mass and then breakfast. We had a talk from a priest, which was all in Samoan, so I didn’t get much from that. We then had reconciliation, which was very special to most of the staff. We were invited to write down the names of all the people that have hurt us and that we have hurt and then take our paper to the middle of the room and burn it. Afterwards, we washed our hands. It was a powerful way to forgive and be forgiven, and it ministered to many people. We were given three hours of “personal reflection” and while most people decided to sleep, I took the opportunity to spend some alone time with the Lord and enjoy the incredible scenery. I brought my music, sand worship songs and rejoiced in the Lord. I thanked Him for answering my prayers about giving me a heart of compassion for the lost among me. I sat at the foot of His cross and shed tears for my fellow co-workers that the Lord has prompted me to pray for their salvation. It was a much-needed, intimate time for fellowship between me and Him.

Saturday night we had a “social night” which included skits, songs, dancing and us singing national anthems from the US, Samoa, American Samoa, Philippines, Tonga, and Fiji. One of the staff members and I started talking about the Lord with one another and realized that we shared the same passion for Christ. It was such a blessing to spend time with her and get to know each other on a deeper level.