The Collins Group

It all started out as a fun deal: six couples plus RobAnne and I decided to get together one May and pray for the upcoming summer. We were all involved in camping ministries, and we were so busy doing the work, we thought we needed time just to rest our souls and be together with people who understood the issues and the challenges of running a camp.

We called ourselves the Collins Group because we met at the Collins Lodge, a bed and breakfast at Forest Home. There was an immediate bond between these seven couples, despite different ages, different sized ministries, and different perspectives on what a camp should be. We’ve met for nine years now, and we no longer talk about camp. We spend two nights and three days together, and we just talk about our souls – we talk about our kids, our fears, our insecurities. We’re able to cry together and be together in a powerful way.

I know I’ve heard other people talk about groups like this, but I have one. And it’s so refreshing not to have to pretend to be something we’re not – not to have to lead, not to have to be perfect or have all the answers. It’s a group where we can listen, and we can question, and we can pray together. Usually we meet as couples, but on the morning of the second day, we split up guys and girls. It’s powerful just to be with brothers who want to listen – not condemn, not give answers, but just listen.

If I could give a gift to the missionaries on our field, I would give the gift of a group like Collins – a group of good people trying to serve a living Lord.

http://www.americanmissionary.org/