It's Retreat Time!!

About a week ago we went on our fall retreat to a wonderful resort called "Oaxtepec". This place had at least 5 different pools and oh yes there were diving boards. And not just your normal diving boards: they had spring boards from different heights and a 5 meter and 10 meter platform... talk about a day of fun (and of course lots of people were sore the following days, a few with some nice bruises. Who knew water could hurt that much)!!

So of course you always want a lot of people to come on retreats but there is something to be said about having a small number. We only ended up with 35 people going, but it was truly amazing. The community the entire weekend was unreal. These students created true friendships, there were great questions asked, and lots of good discussions. We even had 6 students come with us who had only come to the Casa Verde the week of the retreat AND they all came back the following week for all our events. They are now regulars and everyone knows who they are.

One student, Raul, told one of our staff members right after the retreat that he doesn't really know what he believes, but that's why he wants to come to the Casa Verde. He is searching for the truth and wants to learn and hear about Jesus. His roommate, who is a Christian, says that in the last 2 weeks he has seen a huge difference in Raul. Raul now wants to read his bible and is starting to change his attitude and behavior. God is truly working in Raul's life right now and it is such a joy to watch and be apart of.

And of course our retreat speaker was fantastic and it was fun to watch our students fall in love with Phil and Merran Tatum. El Pozo was blessed to have Phil and Merran hang out with us for a week before the retreat. This was great for our students because they were able to build friendships early in the week which enabled them to really opened up to these guys and develop respect for them. When we returned from the retreat on Sunday, a few of us were going out to eat and one of the guys on the retreat drove past on the street and yelled out Phil's name out of all of us. Phil, the guy who was only here for one week made a huge impact on the students of El Pozo.

God is doing some pretty amazing stuff right now at El Pozo. Please continue to pray for the ministry and all our 'new' students. Pray that we will be able to build relationships with them and share God's love in a way that makes these guys realize how powerful, mighty, and loving God truly is.

Much Love,

Karen