The Youth Retreat That Wasn't

Last weekend's youth retreat did not go at all as planned: multiple date adjustments, a last-minute location change, fewer participants than anticipated, and no concrete schedule (believe me, it wasn't for lack of trying). Nonetheless, I feel that I can say it turned out okay...

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

and your plans will succeed."

~Proverbs 16:3

We were supposed to go to the mountain home of a family from church, as we did for the youth weekend in September, but a meter of snow on the road leading up to the house precluded the possibility of arrival. Thus our sessions took place at the church building, leaving time for the teens to also get together with friends in town. The theme of our studies was marriage, and I was delighted at how much the teens participated in the discussions, asking questions and offering their observations. We also watched and discussed two movies demonstrating Christian faith and love, threw together some meals, and played intense rounds of UNO. Our five participants came from three different cities, and six young adult tag-team teachers and chaperones lent a hand. Due to the small turnout and laid-back nature of events, at the end we joked that we had been involved in the youth retreat that never happened :)

Wednesday was the annual December 8 convegno in Conegliano! Certain churches have staked out holidays to have youth retreats or one-day convegni, since everybody is off work on these days, and Conegliano's is always on the Immaculate Conception holiday. About 100 attendees, mostly from the Veneto region, gathered for a morning of speakers, lunch in a nearby restaurant, and an afternoon discussion session regarding the theme verses, Romans 12:1-2. Everything was translated into Twi for the large Ghanaian contingent; generally the congregations in the North have more Ghanaians than Italians. Overall the day was a wonderful time of fellowship: seeing friends and kids from camp, meeting new people, and traveling with my Vicenza family (we took the long way home and saw a couple castles and WWI monuments)!

Sunday in Vicenza we took a church picture: Our average attendance is less than the square root of that of my home church in Oklahoma, which also probably has more Christians than all the congregations in Italy combined...