Divine Intervention

Our English Ministry was due to go to Loch Lomond Youth Hostel for our annual retreat, this year taking place between Friday 28th to Sunday 30th January.  A lot of work was put in place by a large team of people in order to prepare for this event.  We were expecting 105 attendees and this would make it the biggest retreat to date.

Around 10:40am of this Friday morning I received a phone call from Aaron saying the Loch Lomond Youth Hostel had just informed him that the boiler had broken down.  The hostel had been closed for twenty seven days and on the twenty eighth day when they turned on the heating etc, the boiler broke down and there is no more heating or water.  Aaron asked me to pray very hard and to tell others too.  The alternatives offered were way up passed Inverness or other hostels which were ten miles apart.  None of which were feasible options.  I sent a message on to a number of people but didn't start praying right away.  It was strange really, because I understood it was an urgent matter but for some reason I did not feel the urgency to pray.  I had some sort of peace inside my heart.

I got home and received a text message from Mel advising us of the situation and reminding us to pray for God's mercy and provision.  It was only then that I prayed and then I began my wee search for alternative places for the retreat.  I went online back to SYHA (Scottish Youth Hostel Association) who originally gave us the Loch Lomond hostel and started looking for alternatives there.  Totally forgot that they would have already looked through their list of hostels when offering the alternatives to Aaron, I actually called SYHA to ask about Aviemore.  Haha!  My phone call caused some confusion amongst the staff there to had to confirm to me a refund was already getting arranged as alternatives could not be found for us.  So I quickly searched elsewhere.  There was a hotel called Popingjay's in the Clyde Valley area which I called.  I asked for a conference room for around 100 and bedroom for 100 people.  They receptionist said they could give us a conference room but they only had 35 rooms in their wee hotel so we'd have to find alternative accommodation.  That wouldn't be any good to us of course, so I kindly declined.  Whilst on the phone to TC and / or Aaron (I can't remember exactly now) there was mention of the Bible Centre where the Mandarin Ministry had used for retreats on numerous occasions.  So I Googled their number and called.  Spoke to Bill McNeill who advised that somebody from GCCC had called up already asking for availability and he said he knew about the youth hostel's burst pipes etc but he could not help unfortunately.  I knew it was mighty difficult to find some place for 100 people at such short notice (only six hours notice!!).

I then had to sit and think back to previous retreats and the venues we used and it had to be somewhere outwith SYHA.  Suddenly Auchengillan came to mind.  It's a scout camp and definitely one that could accommodate at least 60 people in their main lodge but there were other lodges close by as well.  So I prayed and then gave them a call.  Scott picked up and told me Allander Chalet was already occupied this weekend.  That was the biggest lodge.  However, there were two other lodges available Providore Building (sleeps 30) and Kyle Cabin (sleeps 38).  So that would give 68 people beds and some can commute, I thought.  I could not make a decision yet, but I got costings and the total was substantially cheaper than the booking of Loch Lomond Youth Hostel.  I fed this back to TC, Chris and Aaron.  Talks were in place.  Emails and texts were flying around informing campers of the news.  In the end we decided to go for Auchengillan and told all campers to stick to original plan of meeting up for the bus at 6:15pm, and we had lots to sort out for Auchengillan.  I called Auchengillan to confirm we'd take the place and whilst on the phone had only realised I forgot to ask about bedding on the bunk beds.  Scott said they were only mattress protectors on the bunks and people should bring sleepings bags and / or their own bed sheets etc.  He said they were able to provide pillow, duvet and sheets etc for a charge of £3.50 each because that's what the laundry service charges them for it.  I had to take the bedding charge because it would have been too late to ask everyone to bring sleeping bags etc now.  However, I thank God for giving me the wisdom and courage to ask negotiate a discount to the total amount and rounded up the final figure :)  (I think being Chinese and watching episodes of The Apprentice came in useful, haha!).

So there was the Divine Intervention.  I felt so peaceful at heart that I didn't feel any urgency to pray immediately after I heard the shocking news.  And when I did get searching, though the clock was ticking away (we only had two hours to confirm our new plans!), God kept me in peace and revealed to me where we should go instead.  To rely on just human efforts things can fail.  Things can be done in vain.  But when God leads, things are made very clear.  Things are oh so easy.  =)

But that wasn't it all over.  That was only the first hurdle.  The rest of hard work was to come.  The rearranging of bedrooms and sleeping arrangments.  Changes to number of campers meant rearranging the small groups.  Timetable changes was also required.  The theme of the retreat was "Body of Christ" and it was based on the verse in the Bible:

1 Corinthians 12:12 "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ."

Throughout the whole weekend I could see this truly come to life.  Just like a body with it's many parts functioning together, I saw everyone muck in and play their part to make sure the retreat weekend ran smoother.  Drivers with cars offered to ferry people between cabins, people helped cook and clean up the kitchen, people moved furniture to set up for worship sessions and meal times, and the initial packing up of the campsite happened quite quickly as well as people stacked away chairs and threw away rubbish, tidied their rooms etc.  All in all, I could definitely see the many parts of the body doing their bit in making this retreat a success.  Praise be to God! :)