Hospitality Retreat

At the end of June, we did our first-ever hospitality staff retreat.  In fact, it was the first retreat like this that we’ve ever done with any of our staff.  We went to a beach resort along the Arcadian Coast called Moulin Sur Mêr.  

outside our rooms

This was a first-time experience for everyone on our hospitality staff.  It was truly a privilege to be a part of it.  Although the ladies (and Jinel…poor guy, he gets grouped in with the ladies so often, they even dubbed him with a feminine form of his name (Jinelia) as a joke)--although the ladies, have learned and served so much this year, this gave them the opportunity to be on the receiving end of service.  What’s more, they were able to make many observations that can encourage them and help them develop in their work.

They also had rare time to rest and relax and play.

As is poignantly told on the Lemuel blog, one striking difference between the Plateau and the beach resort is the plentiful abundance of water.

The ladies had never seen live monkeys before, and got quite a kick out of them (especially since one of them was named "Benjie," which is the name of one lady's son).  

One of them grabbed me and said,

“Krischelle!  A pregnant woman could never look at that thing!!”

Rather bemused, I asked, “Why not?”

“Because she’d get such a shock, she’d go into labor!”

Oh.

We held two group sessions.  One was a devotional in which we looked at what a redeemer is, why we need a redeemer, and Who is our Redeemer.  The second was a time for the ladies (always read “and Jinel”) to share the things they had observed and learned, as well as how those things could be helpful to them in their work.

One last exciting part of our trip was a visit to the resort’s museum.  Moulin Sur Mêr sits on what was once a sugar cane plantation.  Its original owner was actually killed on a trip to re-capture slaves who had run away and sought safety in the area that is now St-Marc. 

The tour guide gave us history and showed us artifacts dating from when the original natives (called Taïno in French) were on the island up to the modern day.

This piano was really old....I'm not sure I was supposed to be sitting on that bench.

The image of the "nèg mawon" is an icon in Haiti.  After just a taste of the brutal cruelty of the French, and with the freedom of Africa still fresh in their memories, many slaves broke their bonds and escaped to the mountains.  The conch shell became their battle call.

Moulin means "mill," so Moulin Sur Mêr translates"mill by the sea." In the background, you can see the huge mill that was used to expel the cane juice out of the sugar cane.

broken chains

There was also an exotic resident on the grounds of the museum.

You can read Bonita’s perspective of the hospitality retreat here on the Lemuel blog.