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On August 8-12, Toledo HBF and Chicago HBF joined together and went to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee for our Discipleship Retreat. From Toledo: (Adults) Tuf Francis, Krystyn Beech, Peter Park, John Wilson, Luke Kiwatkowski, (Kids) Hannah Wilson, Daniel Wilson, Tabor Wordelman, Mark Kiwatkowski, Sam Park. From Chicago: (Adults) Isaac Lim, Sarah Little, (Kids) Rebecca Pierce, Mary Pierce, Michelle Melzer, Charlie Kim, Anna Ahn, and Mary Lim. Chicago HBF left on Saturday, August 7th, and drove a UBF van to Toledo and stayed there for a day. On Sunday (8/8/10) we attended the Toledo UBF Worship Service and had a group Bible study on Joseph. That evening we left to West Virginia, occasionally stopping at restaurants for meals and finally, late at night, we lodged in a motel.

The first day (Mon., 8/9/10), instead of going straight there, we went water rafting on the New River and rowed together through the rapids. Right after that, we drove to the Smoky Mountains national park area and set up our tents at night and had a 2nd group Bible study on Joseph.

On the second day (Tue., 8/10/10) we went on a 2.7 mile hike, around 6 miles back and forth, which took about 4 hours. Though tiring, we all felt very refreshed afterward and it was a good exercise. At the top we saw a tall waterfall with many rocks and a small stream. While coming back to the camp, it started to rain and it flooded our tents. All our sleeping bags and pillows were drenched, but since it was already dark we couldn't wait for our things to dry. So, we made a decision to sleep at a motel instead of in our tents for the rest of the trip. The next morning, Sarah Little, Luke Kiwatkowski and Krystyn Beech had to stay at our camping site and dry all of our sleeping bags at a nearby Laundromat. Still, we had to work together to solve the problem so it helped us to learn about teamwork and how to overcome difficulties.

The same day (Wed., 8/11/10) we went to do a service learning project with the Berean Ministry for 6 hours. Some worked on a ramp for a woman who couldn't walk, and others painted a house. The people there were very kind to us and served us lunch. Afterward, all of us attended a Berean HBF meeting, and Toledo and Chicago played for singsperation. We listened to a message by Tuf on Joseph and we learned about leadership and stewardship. Then Berean HBF, Chicago HBF and Toledo HBF all played ultimate frisbee together. At night we had a campfire back at the campsite.

On the last day (Thur., 8/12/10), we saw other waterfalls and rivers and also saw the beautiful mountains. We had another hike all the way to the highest point(2012m) of the Smoky Mountains, but drove most of the way there and only hiked about 0.5 mile to the top. Since it was foggy we couldn't see much, but we enjoyed the hike up. Our trip ended with dinner altogether in the outskirts of Cincinnati, and Toledo and Chicago HBF split up from there to go back home. Overall the trip was exciting and fun. We learned about co-working together and about stewardship from Joseph.