In a small guest house near Karlsborg in the heart of Sweden, surrounded by frosty forests and frozen lakes, twelve men involved in different Calvary ministries in Scandinavia gathered to pray, worship, and encourage each other this weekend. Invited to impart some outside inspiration, teaching, and perspective was pastor Rafael Manzanares from Calvary Chapel Mallorca in Spain.
Although he found himself visiting a Sweden still in winter's grip, pastor Rafael was kept warm by the unity in the group of Scandinavian ministry leaders."To see the willingness of the guys here to work together, to encourage one another, and to serve the Lord faithfully without personal interests, has left me deeply moved. Ministry in Scandinavia may be a slow work, but it's a beautiful work, and it was a special time for me to be here for this retreat," says Rafael Manzanares.
Stepping out to retreat
Scandinavia's first ever Calvary Chapel leadership retreat was planned and hosted by the Fuchs family - led by brothers Tim and Simeon while their parents and other siblings served as caring, gracious hosts for the participants all weekend. The idea for this retreat originated in Tim Fuchs' mind a while ago, but he was pleased to finally see it take place."We see a need for the leaders in Scandinavia to come together and be equipped for their ministries and lives, and a retreat can be a good way to do that. We've been praying about starting a retreat ministry for a while, and this retreat was sort of a step of faith for us to just see what the Lord would do with it, and it seemed to really bless everyone. God used it," says Tim Fuchs, who won't make any promises but is optimistic about possibly planning more retreats in the future - not just for leaders, but also for other groups.
You can hear more reactions and interviews from the retreat on the upcoming episode of the radio podcast Calvary Scandinavia Update.
