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Marriage is forever....doesnt mean you need to pay on your wedding that long. Gateway Retreat has the perfect venue for your outdoor wedding.

HISTORY: AGENCY INFORMATION: Gateway Retreat is a faith based, community retreat center located in Gallatin Gateway, Montana that gained 501 © (3) nonprofit status in 2012. It is a place for fun, recreation, reconnecting as a family, for grand adventures outward on the trails and inward into souls. It is a place to learn and exchange ideas and enjoy fellowship and nature. Some see it as a place for sanctuary – a place of peace and healing. For others, Gateway Retreat is a place for awakening and adventure, inspiration and transformation. It is important to note here, that our retreat center is not affiliated with or run as a local church nor is it meant to replace an ongoing faith community. We can and do, however, bring the unique focus and characteristics of retreat ministries as an asset in support of what local communities of faith are trying to do. MISSION: Gateway Retreat has as its core mission the goal “to provide an opportunity for people to refresh and/or re-energize their spirituality, faith, mind and/or physical well being, as part of fostering personal development and improving their quality of life.” We intend to accomplish this by offering a retreat experience for those who are seeking to reignite their pastoral imagination, while exploring their lifelong spiritual growth. As a community organization, we strive to become informed and collaborate with the exciting outreach work being done by local churches, districts, other community organizations (including social service program agencies), conferences, national and international groups and agencies. These types of cooperative partnerships have generated very powerful experiences that have touched people deeply both within and beyond faith based dwellings. A few examples we aspire to bring to fruition in the future – once our lodge is completed will be, day camps with migrant workers, retreats for persons living with illness, creation vacation camps for low income families, mission trips, returning veterans (and their families) retreats, and so on. These are experiences that require a relationship with others, in order to bring visions to reality. We can also be a witness and a voice within a larger faith-based Community around issues that are part of our focus, such as environmental justice, abuse prevention, welcoming the stranger, etc. Part of our role in outdoor ministries is to help people study the full spectrum of scripture to understand it better. Our vision is that all might experience peace and solace through discovery and transformation. Our values reflect: Caring and Hospitality – to embrace one another, peace and social justice, careful stewardship of the Earth and the resources entrusted to us, respectful of people on various quests and of different beliefs and perspectives; Spiritual Yearning – to seek a relationship within our communities and beyond our own cultural experiences, growing in awareness of our being and our Oneness; Curiosity – to learn and to share stories of the world with one another, exploring its people and cultures, its history, its creatures, its landscape; Family – to provide youth and family enrichment, sustaining the nature of multigenerational experiences and reunions, developing healthy decision-making and leadership in youth and in adults and, Creativity – to dance, sing, paint, sculpt, act, write, weave, play, laugh. Our camp/retreat ministry is uniquely poised to serve as a bridge between seekers and spiritual awakening – a bridge, also, between humanity and the whole community of creation. We want to initiate partnerships that assist local faith based communities and individuals as well as spiritual leaders to greater awareness and within their fellowship and those beyond. Faith-based camps and retreats such as Gateway Retreat at their best engage people in the art of stillness and attentiveness to the wonders around them and to the Source of it all. It is especially important for children, youth and adults in our culture who have less and less opportunity to spend time in the natural world and when they do so, it is often focused on activity rather than being present. If they come to love and value the creation, it enhances their love and appreciation of it. This is the unique power of the settings in which we are privileged to be in ministry. Our 10 acre property currently has a log cabin that can accommodate up to 6 people; room for up to 100 tents in pastureland lying adjacent to the Gallatin River; basic amenities and water; on-site recreational activities and a growing list of local partnerships for individuals to explore the area. CAPITAL NEED: We have built a 2,200 square foot multi-purpose lodge that we believe will enhance the retreat experience. With assistance from local builders’, faith-based youth organizations, private donations and many volunteers, we completed the core of the lodge in 2015 and have used it as a day event facility hosting special events, community and family events, baptisms, daylong ministerial retreats and workshops. To fulfill our plan, we need additional funds for the infrastructure (plumbing and electrics), and design furnishings. Won’t you help us accomplish our mission?

There is something special about Gateway Retreat. A constantly flowing brook brings natures chorus into the cabin and you can be at peace from stress and the grind of daily life. As a non profit we are still finding our purpose and mission. As the newly elected President I am looking at applying for grants that would help welcome groups of Veterans abd their family's regain quality of life and peace in their post service lives. Workshops, weekend retreats honoring those who served on behalf our country are a target area for future programs. Veterans...let me know your thoughts. Peace...and thank you.See you soon in Big Sky country!a

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