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SYCAMORE GETAWAY: AWAY FROM WORK AND LIFE’S SHEGE

The word “Getaway” probably makes you ask: “What exactly are we getting away from?” 

Well, that’s an easy question: we are running away from the hustle and bustle of being a functional human (Re: Stress!). 

Everybody needs to take a step back and breathe once in a while and sycamore gave us that much needed rest. It was a time to relax and let go. In other words, it was a SYCAMORE GETAWAY! 

It was a beautiful moment for people to abandon all the hustle and bustle of life and just spend time with the church family. 

Were you there?  or Are you waiting for all the tea to be spilled? If you were there, then this is going to be a reliving of the beautiful moments that made three days feel like 3 minutes. If you fall into the latter category, then get ready to see the getaway through the the eyes of those who indulged in the much needed break that the Getaway gave. 

So let’s meet the wonderful people we spoke to.

Christianah Olapoju: Christianah is the team lead Sycamore branding and resources. 

Olamide Agunloye: Olamide serves in the Sycamore worship team.

Toba Oyebamiji: Toba is a wonderful photographer and he volunteers as a Sycamore photographer. 

 

On a scale of 1 to 10 , how much did you need a vacation? 

Toba: 7/10 ish, I didn’t even plan on going until a few days prior

Christianah: Between 8 and 9, I am quite indecisive. 

Essentially, I was dealing with burnouts and I just really needed a break and a change of environment. I needed to see life from a different point of view.

I just wanted a break from everything I was doing, work, activities etc. I just wanted to breathe, like “let the poor breathe”.

I felt suffocated and choked at that time and just needed that break. I wish I could have extended the vacation because it wasn’t enough

Olamide: 6/10 because my days felt like everything was repeating itself, just that sense of routine. I also didn’t know I was going to go, till maybe two days prior.

By the time I got back it felt like it wasn’t enough, but there was just that spring to my step, there were more innovative ways to make my days look brand-new. I took my laptop to the venue thinking I was going to continue my online classes, but when I got there I just decided to live in the moment and enjoy it. I literally gave myself that break I needed

Although the getaway was filled with many exciting memories, which one really stood out for you? 

Toba: The food!

Also the community vibe and the bus ride to Ilaji was so much fun. The games were fun. I played jackpot after so many years and it was extremely fun. 

The football game was too lit. We played in the rain, even the pastor was drenched and didn’t stop playing, which was a major highlight. We all ended up with body pains that night, but it was worth it. Then I got to interact with a lot of new faces in church for the first time. By the way, I played almost every sport in that place

So you were like a “Jack of all sports”

Toba: Haha, yeah

Olamide: The food, bus ride, bedrooms, movie night, the moment where we watched service together, games, and the community of the church family.

I learned how to play ayo on the getaway. It was me just effortlessly beating the people I played with, it was so great to see. I am not really good with games. I don’t like them because most times I don’t win, but this time I felt like I needed to try and I was winning and winning and winning. I felt so great. It was an awesome experience actually. 

Christianah: The movies and the gym workout which landed me in body pains. The bonfire was a really exciting one for me, like of all the memories that we had in the getaway, the bonfire was for sure my best. 

There was this particular game we played in the bonfire that was hosted by Dr. Tee and Lanre, and I just randomly found myself saying through the day “in the bar, outside the bar”. 

What made it an exciting one for me was to see everybody being themselves. There was nothing like trying to be who you aren’t, everybody loosened up. The games played during the bonfire carried everybody along, like the chair dance game. I had good laughs. 

If there is one thing in the getaway that you’d like to have forever, what would it be? 

Toba: One thing – free time! 

Christianah: That sense of belonging in a family and community of people who are not guarded and have no walls around them, and just seeing how childlike people are. 

There was no tension, everybody was just being themselves. One thing that I would like to have forever would be that bond and sense of family, being able to be vulnerable and honest with people of like mind and the same beliefs as you.

Beautiful. It sounds like an extension of a Lifegroup

Christianah: Oh yes! 

Olamide: It was just the mind that I had free time, I didn’t have to pick up after myself and I also didn’t have to think of what to cook. Making a decision on what to cook always drains me mentally, so if I could have one thing forever it would be not thinking about what to cook.

That sounds like a pamper session you desperately needed 

Olamide: Exactly! 

Did you have any funny moments? 

Toba: Playing football on the wet pitch was extremely hilarious. Grown men were falling everywhere. 

Haha, I thought we left playing in the rain in our childhoods 

Olamide: I had lots of funny moments, the one that stands out to me right now is of Sis Taiwo dancing break dance at the bonfire. The bonfire had a lot of funny moments, especially that break dance. The movie night was also very funny.

Sister Taiwo can break dance? Haha

Christianah: I definitely had funny moments of myself and my roommate ensuring we don’t leave the hotel room without our key because we only had a copy of it and also trying to decide who would go with the key. There was a time I misplaced my bag and went into a state of panic but when I found it, I could only laugh at myself. 

ALSO READ: VOLUNTEERS’ FORUM: EMPOWERING MINDS AND A CALL TO SERVICE

As christians, our actions (fun moments inclusive) are based on the bible, so what scripture could you use to describe the getaway? 

Toba: I don’t have a scripture for it, but the experience was a reminder of one of Pastor Tolu’s teachings about being intentional about REST, and how God commands it. Maybe a scripture that will fit in for me is 

Psalm 16:1 “In God’s presence there is fullness of joy”

I honestly experienced this, and being around God’s people and having the best of times was a “full” experience for me.

Christianah: “Isaiah 26:6 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust you”. 

This is because rest is not just a physical thing it is from within. It is a thing of the heart, a rested heart is a rested life, everything that happens in our heart flows into our lives. 

 

What do you have to say to those who couldn’t make it to the getaway for one reason or the other?  

Toba: Start saving up for the next one

No time to waste

Christianah: Yes please, start saving up. It is just something you need to prioritize and plan for. It is an experience that you can’t live through viewing recaps and pictures. It’s something you need to experience yourself. 

That was a very insightful peek into the wonderful moments that have been seared into memories. Sometimes we feel so caught up in the loops of daily life that we forget to take a step back and really live. The Getaway affords that opportunity and it isn’t what anyone should procrastinate on. 

Lolade Folorunso and Claire Okoh volunteers with the Content Team at Sycamore Church

(Blogposts are creative expressions generously provided for Sycamore Church. The ideas and thoughts do not necessarily represent the position of Sycamore Church)

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