Fellowship and camaraderie at the Hills of Peace Men’s Retreat 2025

By Becky Middleton, Canada West Mission Centre Co-President

It was my pleasure and privilege to be at the CWMC Men’s Retreat, Sept. 20–21, to assist in the kitchen. I HEARD about the enjoyable activities of the weekend schedule. What I SAW was a group of men in fellowship and camaraderie, working together both in the kitchen and on the grounds putting some things away for winter, helping each other, and genuinely enjoying good food and spending time together! It was truly a delightful wrap-up to the season’s camping program at Hills of Peace! Long may it continue.

I would like to share camp director Dan Esch’s reflections:


“Fifteen men gathered on Friday night, September 19th, at Hills of Peace Campground for the 17th version of Men’s Retreat. There have been various formats throughout the years, led by guest ministers from all over North America. There is a pretty constant format. We always have an ice breaker—multiple choice answers to trivia questions, minister preferences, whatever pops into our quizmaster Jae Senga’s head—and the tricky part is that we have to give our answers using Xbox controllers. It gives us a chance to find out some fun facts (few Canadians have a TV in their bathroom) and learn a little bit about our guest minister (Chris Phelps would love to have a superpower). Then it was time for our first of many great snacks and call it a night.

On Saturday Chris hosted four sessions centered on Turning Hope Into Action, asking us to focus on the story behind the story; in between we took down the tent and hauled the dock onto the beach. We kept our strength up with more pie than we needed at supper and waddled off to our final session where Chris had us choose hymns to sing and tell why they were important to us.

Our campfire was led by Doug MacArthur, assisted by Chris. Doug has a skill for blending silly songs with spiritual and Saturday night was no exception. It was pretty cool to hear some songs so deep. Of course, there was a reference to THE campfire (you had to be there) and then we headed back to the kitchen for more snacks.

Sunday morning the tradition is to have communion. Ryan Levitt led the service and Chris provided the message. After that we had to move some equipment and then we headed for home.

Special thanks to the 15 men who gathered and our cooks Susan Levitt, Isabelle Williams, and Becky Middleton. Men’s Retreat is a mix of spiritual, social, and secular. It is a chance for young and the not-as-young to meet, share, worship, and do the things to close up the camp. You get to share in a road trip and will be blessed that you came.”

So next year when you see the announcement, say YES to the invitation!