Every year the Grace Meridian Hill (Washington DC) has a Fall Retreat to which they invite our visitors and members to come together for three days and two nights in a beautiful and relaxing environment in order to have fellowship and learn together about a certain topic. Families are encouraged to come and in the past childcare has been provided partially by paid childcare providers and partially by rotating volunteers out of the Retreat activities.
This year Grace wants to have structured activities and lessons provided by a short term missions team throughout the Retreat so that the children can be engaged in a more structured and guided experience through play and bible learning, and so that parents and visitors can focus on learning and relaxing in community. Last year we had a diverse group of approximately 25 young people including infants, toddlers,
children from 4-8 years old and youth aged 9-20 years from our church and from our neighbors in the local community. Lessons and activities would need to incorporate different age groups and encompass a full day from 9am-12pm, 1pm-5:45pm and 7-9pm. The short term missions team would be invited to plan and structure their own lessons and activities, in collaboration with our Children’s Ministry Director. They would be able to use the Retreat facilities which include some classrooms, outdoor spaces, basketball courts and a zip line.
Many families with children were unable to attend the Retreat last year because of the limited amount of supervision for children while adults are in the worship service. If we can provide camp activities for the children and youth, we anticipate that more families will be able to come, which will increase the number of anticipated children.
The retreat is October 25-27 and will be held at the Capital Retreat Center in Pennsylvania, on the border of Maryland. If you might be interested in helping please contact Joanna Giddens, the Community Life Coordinator, or Amy Roebke, the Children's Ministry Director: joanna@gracemeridianhill.org, amy@gracemeridianhill.org
For more information CLICK HERE