.GAP Retreat - Servanthood - February 2013
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by John Benedetto / Leuven, Belgium

After a 6 a.m. flight from Dublin, my first impression of Leuven consisted of a great Belgian welcome and a big, wrm waffle with chocolate drizzled on top. What can I say; I was sold from the start. Unsurprisingly, our time in Belgium ended up having more substance to it than my initial experience. 

The theme for the retreat was Servanthood, a topic hopefully not unfamiliar to Gappers. Our first major session was led by Paul Jordan; right away he talked about how servants need to take on the mind of their master in order to serve their master well. 

It struck a chord with me that a servant must deny himself completely before he can serve as Christ calls him to serve. I think this left us with a very uneasy feeling, especially considering how radical a decision this is in today's culture. It was a challenge for us as servants seeking to go deeper in service!

On Thursday we took a trip to Ghent, where we had the opportunity to see a couple of stunning cathedrals and take a tour of a medieval castle built in the year 1180.

Throughout the week both the guys and the girls got a taste for what household life was like in Leuven. Niamh McFadden led the household experience for the female Gappers from the region who had a great time. Joe Fahd did an excellent job in giving each male Gapper an opportunity to lead the household in different ways. To top it all off, we spent Friday preparing for the Student Worker Outreach Training (SWOT) weekend where we were able to serve a training weekend for students workers from around the European region. The retreat was a great opportunity for us to grow closer as Gappers who have had to hurdle many of the same obstacles this year. All in all, the craic was had.