Stirring Hope: Ray of Hope Staff Retreat

After pulling off a powerful Stand for Life in Taipei last October as well as a successful fundraising banquet this March, Juanita felt all of the Ray of Hope staff were well-deserving of a get-away retreat. Not only was this an opportunity to organize this year's events but she also purposed for the team to spend more time together outside of work and to a have a relaxing and spiritually refreshing time away from the city. And what a great time it was! Shi-Mu, our Social Worker had a connection through her in-laws with a retreat center in Nantou County, which is in the mountainous region of Taiwan. Being a nature girl at heart I was so happy to be spend time in the great outdoors again - surrounded by a wide variety of flowers, trees, plants, clear starry nights and mountain fresh air!

Our rustic cabins at the retreat center in Nantou county

The kitchen and meeting room

Can't beat this kind of scenery!!!

Our "backyard" for a week

Colourful flowers line our front yard

The first two days of our retreat were packed full with planning and organizing Ray of Hope's schedule for the year as well as our annual Walk for Life event, which will be taking place in October this year. Even though I've only been helping the organization for a short time the one thing about ROH that really stands out is just how much it functions as a family, where everyone cares about each other and helps each other out. What strikes me even more is how much they've embraced me into their "family" as one of their own. I don't think they'll ever really know how grateful I truly am for this because without them I wouldn't have adjusted so easily to Taiwan.

Work aside, Juanita ensured that we also fit in a lot of play time. Our evenings were filled with fun things like making 水餃 "shui jiao" (Chinese dumplings) together, playing Dutch Blitz, watching The Hobbit, giving manicures (somehow Samuel and Tim weren't so keen on getting one lol), team building activities, and just hanging out (which, in Taiwan, always involves eating snacks!).

A favourite Taiwanese past-time
Samuel, Joanne and Jocelyn having fun bagging dumplings

Juanita and Leah love See's lollipops and Sudoku

It's amazing the things you learn about other people after you spend extended periods of time with them. Some are interesting things, such as what they like and dislike. Some are funny things, like discovering their bad habits, their quirks, whether they're a morning person or if they snore. But my favourite are those ever so precious moments when a person opens up and shares a piece of themselves, maybe painful or regretful events from their past, or maybe the hopes and dreams that they cherish in their heart. This is what strong relationships are all about and it was so wonderful to have these kind of moments with all of the ROH staff.

For me, the most special time at the retreat was Friday night because God did some amazing things! It was a night where we all took communion together and then had a wonderful time of worship, where His presence was so tangible. Afterwards, I had the honour of sharing about one of my favourite topics - the Holy Spirit. I shared a little bit about my testimony and how Jesus radically changed my life and then I talked how Holy Spirit has taught, guided and comforted me throughout my Christian journey. We then had a time of ministry where we saw the Holy Spirit at work - it was so touching to see people experience God and to have their hearts healed and lives changed in such a powerful way. God is so good!

We spent the last couple of days sight-seeing around the local area. A group of us wanted to hike up part of Yushan mountain which, at 3952 meters, is the highest mountain in Taiwan. Unfortunately, the road to the trail head was closed so we were unable to go so we opted for another hike nearby which supposedly had amazing scenery and waterfalls at the end of the trail. However once we started our hike the fog was so thick that there wasn't much scenery to see. And if there were waterfalls at the end of the trail, we sure couldn't see them! It was still a fun hike though and we found an 愛玉 “ai yu" (a popular kind of fig jelly that is served chilled, often with a lemon flavour) along the way, which was refreshing treat!

Just a little foggy

The team on our hiking adventure
This is definitely my kind of trip!

We also did a day-trip to Sun Moon Lake, a beautiful scenic spot in the middle of Taiwan. Since it's so beautiful it also happens to be a popular tourist destination which in Taiwan means that loads of buses fill the streets, loud crowds pack into small spaces and line ups get ridiculously long. That being said, it was still a fun day of learning a bit about the Bunun Tribe culture, eating the local black sugar ice cream, riding on the ferry, and walking around the town. I did spot bikes for rent as well as some bike trails off the main road so I think if I get another opportunity to come back, I definitely want to try the quieter, scenic tour around the lake.

Taiwan's famous Sun Moon Lake
Many, many, many tourists but beautiful nonetheless

Taiwanese-style bannock
Sweet, salty, and on a stick - what's not to love?

For our last night in Nantou, we were invited to a lovely BBQ at our Shi-Mu's husband's family's house. The Taiwanese love to BBQ and the Aboriginal Taiwanese even moreso. So a Taiwanese BBQ is basically an extended edition of a western BBQ. What I mean by that is they start by BBQ-ing beef and chicken. Nothing too different about that. But then they add in BBQ pork. Then BBQ fish. And then shrimp. And then squid. And then other seafood. And then bread. And just about anything else they can think of. Basically it's one delicious BBQ buffet so you better come hungry and you better be ready to eat! The Taiwanese are always wonderful hosts and one thing they will always make sure of is that you leave their home with a satisfied stomach. In Chinese culture, feeding people really is a love language. Since I love to eat, I have absolutely no problem with that :)

Shi-Mu's family at her mother-in-law's house
Aboriginal hospitality always involves a good BBQ!

Our last stop was the Sunday morning service at the Nantou Aboriginal Bunun Tribe church. Years ago both foreign and aboriginal missionaries spent their lives preaching the gospel in the small tribal villages throughout Taiwan and translating the Bible into their native language. As a result, most of these villages continue to build their community in and through the local church. It was so cool to see the majority of the village walking down the street with us in the morning to attend church. We also happened to attend a special service where they planned for all of the children to minister for most of the service. Children of all ages, from the toddlers up to the teenagers, lead worship, performed songs and dances for us, read Scripture, and prayed over the congregation. It blessed me so much to have these little ones engaged in their faith - what an awesome way to end our retreat.