Convocation 2012 in Estes Park, Colorado

The classic YMCA statue on the main campus.

We arrived in Colorado at the YMCA camp in Estes Park after a two day drive from Phoenix, AZ this past Sunday. It was an uneventful drive (which is always good) and we were able to see some interesting country through Arizona, Utah and Colorado. The YMCA camp is above 8,000 on the edge of the Rockies National Park. It's very beautiful, but all of us have been suffering a bit from altitude sickness. The air is very dry and we feel dizzy and a little lathargic all day. But despite our lack of energy at this altitude, we are having a very filling time meeting people who it seems we have known all our lives. It's like a family reunion and we were just adopted in!

This "Convocation" only happens once every decade with Camino/CAM International. The main purpose of it is to realign the mission family with direction for the future. We're halfway through our time here and it's tough to describe the atmosphere. There is a level of unity of the Spirit here that we have felt once before at our training in North Carolina last fall. It is truly awesome and humbling to know that we are part of this global family of missionaries who are taking the life saving message of Jesus Christ to the world.

So what are we doing here all week? Let us give a run-down of the typical day so far:

• 6am: get ready to head to breakfast together as one large family (250+ missionaries and family members) in the large dining hall.
• 8am: drop off Gavin and Garret at their day camp. They love this as they have activities planned for them through the day and are making new friends with other MK's.
• 8:15: Begin our conference time with worship and prayer and then a challenging message from our guest speaker. The focus of his messages have been on the heart of the missionary. This is a similar message we were given during our 3 month training in North Carolina.
• 11:30: attend one of the many workshops Camino has made available to us for training and building us up.
• 12:30: lunch with our Camino family.
• Most afternoons we have spent together with our team or one-on-one with each other. 
• 3:15: pick up our boys and spend the rest of the afternoon together as a family. 
• 5:30: dinner and then spend the evening with our team and doing various group activities.

That's a lot of missionaries!

We've also been talking with our team about logistics of shipping and setting up once we arrive there to begin our new life in Honduras. We have made connections with many people here that will help our longterm ministry in Honduras to the Garifuna people, so we praise the Lord for that!

Please pray for our remaining time here as we wind down our week and for our travels back to Oregon. Pray for the altitude sickness, especially for Gavin as he seems to be affected by it most and the food here does not seem to "agree" with his tummy. Pray also for our team member Christi, who had to leave today to Dallas, TX, because of a recurring back injury. Pray for healing and wisdom for her and her doctors and peace for her and her husband as the make decisions regarding potential surgery.

Thank you for your prayers and partnership in the Gospel. We cannot do it without you!

With love,
Corey, Kirsten, Gavin & Garret