Last week Ron and I, along with 10 other Covenant missionaries attened Missionary Connection Week (MCW) in Skokie, IL.  Some of the connections involved wires and outlets, but the most significant connections were personal ones.  It was a wonderful time of connecting in five different dimensions.

We connected with God.  Each day began with worship, singing, devotionals as a group, and time alone with the Lord in prayer and Bible reading.  Our final session together, Sunday morning, we had a worship service and communion. 

We connected with each other.  There were times of sharing stories of our lives and ministries, prayer for each other, fellowship, food, fun, and laughter.  We also spent a fun evening with retired Covenant missionaries.  The years of faithful ministry to a wide variety of peoples of many languages and nations represented in that gathering was amazing.

We connected with Covenant World Mission.  As Covenant missionaries we are part of a larger team.  We had the opportunity to get re-acquainted with the staff who serve in the Chicago office, handling administration and personnel aspects of our work.  We also learned about what else is going on around the world in Covenant mission.

We connected with the Evangelical Covenant Church.  President Gary Walter and Vice President Donn Engebretson spent some time with us talking about the mission and ministry of the Covenant.  We also heard from the leaders of other departments of the Covenant in both formal presentations and an informal evening to chat with  them.

We prepared for connection with our ministry partners.  All 12 of us participants will be travelling around the US this year to connect with our ministry partners.  So we learned some new skills in face to face presentation, as well as new technology to facilitate our connections with you, our partners in ministry.