Retreat, Take Me Away

Raise your hand if you’re old enough to remember those classic Calgon bubble bath commercials. You know the ones—an overwhelmed mom juggling dinner, noise, chaos, and one last nerve… until she finally cries out, “Calgon, take me away!” and suddenly she’s transported to a peaceful bubble bath, far from the madness.

In the world of missionaries, retreats can feel a little like that.

Retreat, take me away!

Over the past few weeks, most of the Sowers4Pastors staff has had the opportunity to do just that — step away from the constant motion of ministry and spend intentional time being refreshed.

“As Christians, especially as missionaries, it is important to stay close to God,” Brandy shared. “We try to take the chance to attend retreats whenever possible.”

There is an organization that hosts retreats for foreign missionaries twice a year, and S4P’s American staff members usually attend one of them. Mary Faith recently participated in one of these retreats, and another will be held in the coming months for Rachel and Brandy to attend.

At the same time, local churches organize retreats as well. This past weekend, Alejandro, Secia, Brandy, and Rachel traveled to Tegucigalpa for a church retreat, while other Honduran staff members attended one closer to home in Gracias.

Different locations. Same purpose. To pause. To rest. To be filled.

Brandy took a moment to reflect on why that matters so much. “We are always pouring into other people,” he said. “We help more than 2,000 kids. We pour into pastors. We just keep pouring and pouring throughout the year. It’s important for us to also take time to be filled spiritually.”

And this season? It’s been a full one.

Backpack distributions. Coffee harvest. Launching a new program. Starting the Sunday school teacher training. Good work. Meaningful work. But still — work that requires energy, focus, and heart.

Which is exactly why stepping away matters.

After his recent retreat, Brandy summed it up simply: “It was refreshing. I feel like I can keep going now. And I encourage others to remember to take time for God. Take the time to seek the Lord, and He will renew you. He will refresh everything.”

There’s something powerful about that reminder.

We don’t have to wait until we’re completely drained to pause. We don’t have to earn rest by running ourselves into the ground first.

Sometimes, the most faithful thing we can do is step away long enough to be refilled.

As Psalm 51:10 reminds us:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Because unlike a bubble bath commercial, real renewal doesn’t come from escaping life. It comes from returning to the One who sustains it. And if you’re wondering whether it’s worth the time? Go ahead — try it. It’s even better than Calgon.

- posted by Christi

Retreat!

Close your eyes and picture a beachside retreat.

Wait!  On second thought, don’t close your eyes because you’re supposed to be reading this. So keep your eyes open and picture a beachside retreat. Are you imagining a tranquil scene? 

Last weekend, Rachel and Brandy attended a retreat at the beach. Was it tranquil? Perhaps, if your tranquility bar is set very low. Maybe tranquil is the wrong word, but it was spiritually uplifting. 

The Honduran Fellowship of Missionaries and Ministries generally puts on two retreats per year and Brandy and Rachel try to attend at least one of those. This year, that meant loading up Nathan, Michael, and Levi into their vehicle and driving 4-5 hours to San Pedro Sula one day, in order to break up the travel time. The family checked into an Airbnb for a night. 

Unfortunately, the evening of relaxation didn’t go exactly as planned. Nathan had an accidental encounter with the glass shower door and it broke on top of him. Startled and scared by the sight of broken glass, he ran through all of the broken pieces! A trip to the hospital was in order. Thankfully, the family is on Brandy’s military health insurance. After Google Maps pointed them in the right direction, they arrived at the nearest military hospital. Nathan’s injury was clean and the deep cut on top of his foot only required a single stitch! His run across the broken glass hadn’t sliced the soles of his feet. The worst part of this as far as Nathan was concerned was that he wasn’t able to go into the swimming pool or into the water at the beach. Rachel says he was a trooper, though!

The following day, the family piled back into their vehicle and drove another 4-5 hours to the beach. More than 100 adult missionaries were in attendance and around 60 missionary kids. Rachel and Brandy are very appreciative of the volunteers that traveled to lead worship, speak at workshops, and… drumroll, please!... provide childcare so the parents could enjoy participating in worship, workshops and sessions!

As usual, there were a lot of new faces in attendance. If your main exposure to missionaries is the Sowers family, you may not realize that most missionaries don’t stay on the mission field for decades! While it’s difficult to know the exact number, it is estimated that 50% of missionaries leave by the end of their first two years. Most people make a commitment to stay for two years, but some don’t make it that long. There were also a lot of “old timers” in attendance–people who have been there for 10, 15, or 20 years. 

For Rachel, Brandy, and the other missionaries in attendance, the retreat was a time to get away, disconnect, and focus on spiritual health. Rachel and Brandy made the long drive home in a single day. When asked if she came back feeling refreshed or exhausted, Rachel’s response was, “Yes! Let’s just say that I came back feeling physically exhausted but spiritually uplifted.”

 - posted by Christi