The Borough Retreat where God gave us enough

Over twenty years ago, a teenager from the church in Point Fortin that I grew up in was looking for an alternative to the revelry that is a part of Point Fortin Borough Day festivities and asked if she could spend the weekend at our home in Dow Village. The other young people from our church joined in and so began the first of many Borough retreats. That first Borough retreat was impromptu, but each year since then we have sessions and devotions that are in line with a theme, and an outing on the Saturday that takes the youths to a part of the country that they had never been to before. This year was no different.

With my good friend Candice, where it all began

Candice teaches the teens class at Sunday School, where the majority of the children who would be attending the retreat came from. This year I leaned heavily on her, as I was not able to be as involved as in previous years, and she did an excellent job! She communicated with the parents to confirm who was coming and organized transport and oversaw the schedule for each day and led devotions and ensured that the chores were done. Jonathan used to attend Borough retreat as a teenager, but is now a young adult and he kept the boys on task and led their devotions. Their help and support was invaluable in the success that this weekend was.

Jonathan leading devotions

This year God knew I could not handle a house full of 20 teenagers like I had in the past, so He only sent 6 of them, along with 2 adults and 2 children, which was just enough. They were also very obedient and co-operative, so there was no stress. They were put into two teams for chores, and these were done without complaining. At one point, they were actually competing over who should get to wash the wares! Everything flowed really well for the entire weekend, and for that I give God all the thanks and the praise, because that was all due to Him.

Washing wares without complaining

This year we decided to focus on the topic of Sexual Purity as we realized this is an area that many of our youths struggle with. Kerron and Nikita Edwards from my church at St. Augustine Evangelical Bible church agreed to facilitate this session; they chose the option to do it remotely, as to do it in person would have taken them hours in traffic. However when I tried to set up the equipment before Bible Club, nothing was working. Then the youths arrived and I got busy settling them in and before you knew it, it was time for Bible Club.

They enjoyed being a part of the discussions
in the book of James about wisdom

After Bible Club, I found out that one of the young men was studying Information Technology, so I told him that he was responsible for ensuring that everything worked for the remote session later that evening. He confessed that he had never set up a projector before, or connected a laptop to a smart TV but I told him that I believed he could do it. Within just a few minutes, the very things that I had struggled to do, he had working! It was a great boost to his confidence to have had that experience.

Getting support from the other guys

Just before the session began, Nikita shared that she had a migraine but she was prepared to do the session still. She did an excellent job sharing how sexual purity involves keeping hearts, minds and bodies holy as well as guidelines to help them maintain purity. She led them in a pledge to encourage them to wait until marriage, even as she shared her experience of keeping herself pure before her marriage. Her husband Kerron shared with the guys on the same topic, and we know both groups received the message clearly as they had to develop a skit the next day depicting what they learnt. Both groups included the principles they learnt during these sessions, as well as in the devotions based on Psalm 119:9-16

The girls giving their full attention

The next day we ventured into Gran Couva for our outing to Massa Nature Park. We had prayed for journeying mercies, and God truly protected us as we saw accidents on the road both on our way there and on our way back home. We had a wonderful time seeing all the animals at the park, bathing in the swimming pool, jumping on the trampoline, and eating a delicious pelau lunch that Mummy had prepared without forks because I forgot to pack them! There was an educational aspect as we went for a walk on the nature trail and our guide shared facts about some of the trees and plants that we saw. They even got to pick mandarin and West Indian cherries.

Being welcomed by the resident Mona monkey

Admiring the kois and baby duckling

Petting the exotic black chicken

There were two swimming pools for our use: the children's pool at 3' deep, and the adult pool which went up to 4.5' deep. There was no lifeguard on duty, so we were responsible for ensuring that only the youths who could swim were allowed in the adult pool. Those who couldn't swim looked on jealously at those who were in the adult pool, and begged incessantly for an opportunity to go in "just for a dip, to see what it feels like". When I got tired of the begging I said, "This is just like what Aunty Nikita was talking about last night with the people who will be pressuring you to compromise your sexual purity. I am not allowing you to go because it is for your own good." The one who was begging the most looked at her friend and said, "She's right you know" and from then on they figured out how to have fun in the children's pool.

The sun was blazing so we were happy to be in the water

After dinner that evening they did their presentations based on what they learnt in their sessions on Sexual Purity, and it was encouraging to see them sharing not just the principles but also scripture that was used in devotions. The night ended with them looking at an animated version of the Pilgrim's Progress, which showed the journey of a man called Christian out of the city of bondage in which he had been born, and into the Celestial City where God reigned as King. Principles from that movie were used in devotions the following morning, which focused on the forgiveness available to those who may stray from the path of godliness. They were encouraged to know that freedom from condemnation is available to all who would confess and repent from their sins.

Unopened lily from the Nature Park

We all journeyed to Mahaica Gospel Hall in Point Fortin to fellowship with the saints there on Sunday morning. Even though they attend Sunday School there on afternoons, for some it was their first time being at a Sunday morning service. We are grateful to those who gave: of their time, their energy, their resources, their prayers, to ensure that Borough Retreat 2024 was a great success. We had more than enough financial contributions to cover the cost of the retreat this year. We pray that the seeds of God's Word which were planted in the hearts of these youths would not just grow and bring forth fruit, but would spread to the others who didn't attend so they could benefit as well.

Photoshoot after church