Team Retreat to Bicaz

Before the start of each semester we try to take a little retreat to think and plan and pray about the next six or so months. This one was particularly nice because we have been together as THIS TEAM for a year now, and we haven't added anyone new (well, not exactly, as we have two new babies who are VERY much ministers in their own right), so we could reflect back upon the last year and see the faithfulness of God is so many ways. 

In the past we have gone to Voroneti and taken the train, but this time we decided to go a little crazy and try not only a new place but ROAD TRIP it. Oh man what a sight- 5 American adults and 4 American children off into the Romanian countryside in the Killer Whale!

We arrived to our "Cabana", and were pleased at what we saw. Most notably NO cars and NO people.

We didn't have too much of an agenda or a lot to "accomplish" on this particular retreat, so it was a lot of spending time together, spending time in prayer, thinking back upon the Lord's faithfulness, and looking forward to what He will do in the coming year! We went blackberry picking, hiking, explored the Bicaz Gorges and Lacu Rosu (red lake), and of course had some fun adventures courtesy of the kiddos. 

Massive leaves. Seriously. you could wrap Marit in one

The angle makes this look way cooler than it was, but we were up on a really large rock that was in the river

Oh my precious little wilderness adventurers

But of course we adults like to have fun too, so we decided to "hide" little Jeshurun amongst lawn gnomes (really a big thing here) and get THREE Kurtos (a delicious Hungarian dessert) to celebrate Eli's birthday. We got one each of cinnamon, coconut, and nuts. SO DELICIOUS.

We took several outdoor team shots on this trip, all of which turned out better than anything we've tried to take "indoors". Here are two, the first while hiking in the mountains, and the second next to Lacu Rosu. What a lovely and refreshing time away from the city!