In April the whole family had the opportunity to go the CEF Regional Conference in Canada! Our region includes the U.S., Canada and the English speaking Caribbean countries. This was the first Regional Conference since 2012 so we were pretty excited to see everyone. There were over 120 people in attendance from 14 different countries! We were also VERY excited to have all three kids with us and even more excited that Sean’s mother offered to come and help us with the kids.
Family Time
This was the first time any of us had ever been to Canada so we went a few days early to do some sightseeing. We spent one day doing touristy things in Toronto. We went to the CN Tower that has a glass floor… everyone loved it except Sean! We ate lunch at the historic St. Lawrence Market, saw Casa Loma which is a beautiful and very big castle and then did Maddy and Riley-Grace’s favorite thing…. swim in the hotel pool haha!
The next day was all about Niagara Falls! First we visited a town called Niagara-On-The-Lake were we took a carriage ride through their historic, fully restored downtown. The girls LOVED it. And then we headed to Niagara Falls were we ate lunch, viewed the Falls and then went through tunnels BEHIND the Falls! It was such a wonderful experience. You couldn’t help but be in awe of God while mesmerized by Niagara Falls. If you are American, we highly suggest going across the border into Canada. The view is much better! Maddy and Riley-Grace said Niagara Falls was their favorite part of the trip! (These pictures below were where we ate lunch!)
The Conference
After our weekend of sightseeing it was time for the conference! Sean was helping to lead the conference so he was very busy for most of the week. Maddy and Riley-Grace were able to have their own classes during most of the main sessions so they made friends with some of the other kids. Between their new friends and their Mimi, they had lots of fun. By the end of the week Riley-Grace was tired and ready to be home but Maddy never wanted to leave! We were able to see so many friends we’ve had over the years and everyone really seemed to enjoy their time. I could go on and on but I think the pictures tell the story much better than I can.
(Above, the worship team for the week included people from across the region. St. Kitts was well represented!)
Kimberly Minors from The Bahamas leading a session
Dr. Melvin Bassett from Bermuda
In the center is Maggie (an Area Director like Sean) who lived in St. Kitts for a year before we moved there!
Mavis!! The Director of St. Kitts & Nevis!
The pictures below are a bunch of fun ice breaker games!
Above was Sean speaking after the ice breaker games about the importance of really getting to know each other.
The week was filled with general sessions and workshops all geared toward helping us grow personally as Christians and encouragement to continue reaching boys and girls across our region with the Gospel. What most people liked about this conference in particular was the ability to truly foster relationships with people we do not get to see on a regular basis. We are all different but we all share the same goal. Often times it can be hard to really “see” people and just hang out at a conference. So the conference leadership team made one of our evenings a “board game night” and it is was a lot of fun! The pictures below are from the game night!
There is still so much more to share but suffice it to say, the week was wonderful! We ended the conference with a powerful and moving night of prayer.
And just for fun… here are a few more pictures from the week!
We left with full hearts! Sean had to stay about 5 extra days for regional team meetings so we left him in Canada since Maddy had to get back to school. We were VERY grateful when he came home! And we are already thinking about the NEXT regional conference three years from now!
We feel so blessed to do what we do… to be missionaries to the Caribbean while living in the States. We get to serve alongside wonderful people!
And Canada was pretty cool too!
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