It has been a great weekend here in Austin. HMCC of Austin had their first ever congregational retreat. They decided to contextualize it for the many pre-Christians who came out (over half of the people were not believers) and called it the Winter Getaway. It was truly an awesome getaway – we were able to build relationships with one another and experience God together.
As we started off the retreat, we decided to go around and count the number of different nations that were represented in the room. By the time we went around the whole room we counted a total of 11 nations. It was just a breath of fresh air. Even in the beginning stages of this church, God is allowing us to plant the seeds of transculturalism.
The theme for this getaway was “Meet Us Here” and God was truly faithful and allowed us to encounter Him in a powerful way.
One of the highlights was the ropes course and team building activities that we did on Saturday afternoon. Through it we were able to strengthen our relationships with one another and build a greater unity within the group.
Then today, I spoke at HMCC of Austin’s Sunday Celebration. I shared about the importance of building God’s spiritual house. Seeing some of the recent believers who came to know the Lord through our church helped illustrate the important point of reaching out to people to build up this spiritual house.
We finished off the day with an incredible Texas style BBQ. I don’t think anything can beat it. Texans really know how to do their BBQ’s. It was good to just be around the table with good food, friends and fellowship.
Fueling up before the retreat with Torchy’s Tacos
We had to get our whole team on the platform
Chillin’ with one another
Dave trying to keep the fire going
The guys getting ready to pig out with the ribs
What more can I say
Great bunch of guys… it makes church planting so much fun