5 May 2023 at 2:00:00 pm
The Pentecostal Youth People's Association (PYPA) of IPC Shalom Church organized a one-day retreat on May 5th, 2023 at the Plaza Swimming Pool & Turfs, Budaiya. The retreat was attended by more than 50 people from the church and was a time of spiritual refreshment and physical enjoyment.
We met at New Horizon School, Seggaya, where a bus was arranged for us to take us to the Retreat Venue.
The Morning Section of the Retreat started with an opening prayer by Pr. Mathen K Samuel, followed by a worship session led by the congregation, followed by Psalms Reading. The PYPA secretary, Br. James Jacob, welcomed everyone and divided them into two teams: Shalom and Bethel. The teams competed in various outdoor games, such as Nutstacker, slow cycle, bitter gourd eating, musical chairs, and others. The games were fun and challenging and brought out the spirit of teamwork and sportsmanship among the participants.
After the games, the gents had their time in the swimming pool, where they played pool football and also conducted a swimming competition. The ladies also had their turn in the pool later. The swimming pool was a great place to cool off and relax after the outdoor activities.
The retreat also included a delicious lunch for everyone.
The afternoon session began with a prayer led by Elder Philip Jacob.
Then, a game called Malayalam Speaking was played, where the participants had to answer the questions posed by the Quizmaster in Malayalam without using any English words. Next, Br. Sam Chacko presented a program where he displayed a verse and a word, and the audience had to find something in the verse that was related to the word. After that, a family program was conducted by Sr. Emimah Johnson and Sr. Aksa Sam, in which three families were selected and the parents had to act out various biblical characters assigned to them, while the children had to look for five cards that were hidden around the retreat venue. Then, all the families had to arrange the cards in the correct order to form a verse. Following this was the Buzzer Beep game by Br. Jobin and Br. John, where the participants had to move a small metal through a metal line without touching it. Next, Antakshari was conducted by Sr. Jinu and Jemimah Tom. Then, Indian Whispers was played by Br. Rinu Abraham. In this game, Br. Rinu told a story to Participant A, who then told it to Participant B, and so on until the last participant. The story had many confusing elements such as names of places, colorful items, etc., and the final story was very different from the original one.
Finally, prizes were distributed for the games and activities. The team prize was won by the Bethel team with around 120 points.
Br. Abhilash Babu also said the vote of thanks and thanked everyone for attending the retreat and making it a grand success.
The retreat ended with closing prayer by Elder Thomas Mathew and the benediction by Pr. Mathen K Samuel, who thanked God for His blessings and protection throughout the day. He also thanked the PYPA members for their hard work and dedication in organizing the retreat. He encouraged everyone to continue to grow in their faith and love for God and one another.
The one-day retreat was a memorable event for the IPC Shalom PYPA members, who had a wonderful time of fun and fellowship. They returned to their homes with renewed joy and gratitude for God's goodness in their lives.
Among the participants was Hannah Sara, the daughter of Br. Jacob Varghese, who had come to Bahrain on a visit and was leaving for India the same day as the retreat. We prayed for her well-being and future, as well as for their family members in India.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the PYPA Committee for their hard work and dedication in organizing this event. The committee members, namely Pr. Mathen K Samuel, Br. James Jacob, Br. Stephan Rajan, Br. Sam Reji, and Br. Abhilash Babu, Br. Jeremiah Tom, Br. Ginzy Mathew, have shown great leadership and coordination skills in planning and executing this event. They also ensured that the event was enjoyable and beneficial for all the participants. We appreciate their efforts and commend them for their service to the Lord and His people.
