BSM Fall Retreat 2007 at Glorieta, NM

Last weekend, I made a last-minute decision to go for the fall retreat at Glorieta, New Mexico. We stayed in the cabin owned by First Baptist Church, El Paso. They were real nice because they allowed us to use for free! It was a really good trip because I got to spend some time away from school and all... It's been a stressful semester and it's time for a short break! We had so much fun together and most importantly, I got to spend some quality time focusing on God. Enough said, here's some pictures from the trip!!!


There were 4 bedrooms with bunk beds (bathrooms in each room), a kitchen and a living room in the cabin.


Majestic view in front of the cabin! Isn't it gorgeous???


The fall colored trees...


More trees...


The Glorieta Conference Center and the beautiful pond!




A short visit to Santa Fe, New Mexico. That's Jonya and her husband, Chris (who is the BSM director).


Jonya and I inside one of the malls in Santa Fe... (Don't worry, I only bought some cold medicine there...didn't shop for clothes and other stuff...)


Jonya and I under this lovely tree in Santa Fe! Ain't it pretty???


A group picture of all of us who went for the retreat!

Leadership Retreat & Diana's 25th Birthday Bash!

We had a Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) Leadership Retreat last Saturday. The BSM director's wife, Jonya made the super yummy cinnamon rolls and sausage and cheese balls from scratch! She's really a great cook! It was really nice discussing and planning activities for the upcoming semester. The BSM director, Chris reminded us of the importance of servanthood in our lives.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. " (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)

Among the activities planned are helping the freshmen and students move in to their dorms this week before college starts, the FOCUS conference that we will be going to from Sept. 7-9, mission projects at the Rescue Mission (a place for the homeless), the free lunch given to all students on Wednesdays, etc... After that, we went out for lunch at San Francisco Oven (BSM gave us a treat! hehehe!).

Group photo of all the ladies! (Yes, we outnumbered the guys!!!)

My lunch... Coastline BBQ Chicken Panini with pasta as a side order... simply deliciousssss!

Back to the leadership retreat... At the end of the one-day retreat, we went around the UTEP campus in pairs and just prayed as we walked around (they called it Prayer Walk). We walked and prayed for the school, students, professors, and almost everything in our 30 minutes walk. It was really neat because we were the only ones on campus that time (remember, it's still summer vacation and it's a Saturday!). It was a peaceful feeling knowing that God is walking with us and all we have to do is just commit everything into His hands... Trust and have faith in Him.

After the leadership retreat, I went back with Eliana and Noemi to Eliana's house because we had 2 hours before Diana's party. Eliana straightened our hair for us! She's really a pro! (p/s: it's my 1st time straightening my hair! hehe!)

Left to right: Eliana, Me, Noemi

The pictures below were taken at the party:

Left to right: Noemi, Me, Diana (the birthday gal!)

Left to right: Christina, Me, Justin (they're a cute couple!)

Top row from left to right: Noemi, Paloma
Bottom row from left to right: Eliana, Me

Top row from left to right: Josh, Noemi, Steven
Bottom row from left to right: Eliana, Me

There's more of us in the BSM but I didn't get a chance to take all of their pictures. Maybe next time!