CRANDALL, GA—On Sunday, Feb. 21, Cohutta Springs Conference Center opened its doors to the Murray County, Ga., community for a
Valentine’s banquet. As an attempt to reach out to the residents of Cohutta’s
home in the North Georgia Mountains, Cohutta Springs organizes four events
every year specifically designed to bring people on-site and help them
“experience Cohutta.”
In the spring, they organize a huge Easter egg hunt, with
tons of activities for kids. In the summer, a Family Fun Day event offers the
opportunity for parents and children to enjoy the zip line, water slide, blob,
and other summer activities. In the fall comes the “Christian-style”
Oktoberfest. In the winter, guests are invited to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
This year, the theme for the Valentine’s banquet was “An
enchanted evening.” After a delicious meal served by the Cohutta Springs staff,
guests were invited to watch a highly-entertaining DVD from Mark Gungor, a
nationally recognized marriage expert who loves to explain how men and women
are wired differently.
Peggy Hallman, director for mission development, organized
this event. “The invitations to this couple’s banquet were sent by the Chamber
of Commerce to their members and information was given to the local paper,” she
says. “I believe that God sent the guests to us and He blessed our efforts. We
will be able to continue building relationships with people from our community
with follow-up sessions of the Mark Gungor DVD we showed. One activity during
the Valentine’s banquet was ‘A Message in a Bottle.’ After decorating a bottle
with a heart charm and ribbon, and filling it with silk rose petals, each
person wrote a message to their mate to put in the bottle.”
Several guests sent encouraging feedback to Cohutta Springs.
“My husband and I had a great time. Everyone at our table did,” shared Donna
McConkey of Hixson, Tenn. “The entertainer was fantastic. The film was
light-hearted and great fun. It was very well represented. And the food! The
menu was great. The message in a bottle was a very nice touch. Bill and I plan
to open it on our 40th anniversary, which will be in two and a half years. To
me, The Enchanted Evening was perfect. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We would do it
again.”
Forty-four couples attended this community banquet. Eleven
of them were not members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. After Peggy
encouraged them to sign up for the follow up session, five out of the eleven
couples signed up to come back on March 14 to watch the second part of the
video.
Georgia-Cumberland Conference Mission for
Spiritual Life
:
Intimacy with God is nourished by prayer, study and application of the Word,
public and private worship, and faithful stewardship that strengthen a personal commitment to serving
Jesus as Savior and Lord.
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