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Yeovil Church's Annual Spiritual Retreat

"Dare to Becoming What You Were Created to Be" Spiritual Retreat

Yeovil Church's Annual Spiritual Retreat

Report on the church's yearly retreat for adults and children at Cornwall

SomersetMathew Thomas

The Yeovil Seventh-Day Adventist Church held its Yearly Spiritual Retreat from July 8-11, 2022, at Cornwall.

Pr. Rio Espulgar, the Retreat Speaker, entitled the Retreat Theme as ‘Dare to Becoming What You Were Created to Be’, with the Theme song, ‘Living for Jesus’.

The Retreat Co-ordinators were Mr Sekhar Thananki and Miss. Alina Kolluri.

Forty-five members, including children, attended the Bible Retreat. Children had separate services led by Mrs Rizah Bearneza.

We were blessed to have a bunch of young talented musicians for our Retreat - Miss. Ryanne Espulgar, Mast. Hansel Madhu, Mr Sam Thananki and Miss. Sandra Thananki.

The overall Worship Leaders were Mr Stephen Joel and Mr Mathew Thomas. On Friday night, we were spiritually enlightened by Pr. Rio on ‘Called to Resemble,

Reflect And Reveal the Character of Christ.’ On Sabbath morning, we had Discovery Bible Reading on 1 Corinthians 13, which Mr Sekhar Thananki and Miss led. Priya Christian.

We had an interactive Adults’ Sabbath School Program and Lesson Study by Mr Stephen Joel. Mrs Rizah Bearneza innovatively carried out the Children’s Sabbath School.

The Divine Service program was organized by Mrs Sonali Sudhimalla and Mrs Leeba Mathew. The sermon was captioned ‘Faith of Jesus and Our Pioneers’, based on 2 Peter 1:5-8. The message was spiritually rejuvenating. After lunch, we had an enjoyable Nature Walk, which was led by Mr Joseph Thananki and Mr Arun Kolluri.

During the sundown worship, Pr. Rio spoke on ‘Perseverance to Attain Character of Christ’, after which we had a Camp Fire, which Mr Madhu Chintagunta organized.

Sunday morning’s Discovery Bible Reading was led by Mr Joseph Thananki on Luke 14.

During Sunday’s mid-day devotion, Pr. Rio spoke on ‘Agape Love’, followed by a dedicatory prayer. The entire group were excited to go for a site seeing St. Ives beach, after which we had a sliding game at the Campsite.

The Cooking Overseers were Mrs Himani Madhu and Miss Pretty Lamu. To involve every Retreat member, we decided to make a cooking participants’ schedule for each meal to ensure that we get a variety of delicious and healthy meals. Mr Madhu Chintagunta and Mr Kris Germain were the Security & Maintenance Team to ensure all were safe and that we had no maintenance issues.

The Social Committee, consisting of Mr Harsh John, Mr Sudhakar Puli, and Mr Francis Bearneza, were very innovative in involving everyone (including the kids) in the indoor and outdoor games. Our Retreat Nurse was Mrs Sandhya Puli, and by God’s grace, there were no casualties.

At the end of the Spiritual Retreat, everyone wished the Retreat would never end. We thank our Pastor for his dedicatory service to the Lord. All were spiritually, physically, and mentally blessed. We are already looking forward to the upcoming Spiritual Retreat.