By David Rogers. September 15, 2011. CHEROKEE COVE -- Twenty-four men from Blowing Rock's Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church and other area churches met at Cherokee Cove Family Camp and Conference Retreat near Mountain City, Tennessee, September 9-10. Photos by David Rogers

It was an overnight, 18-hour weekend of testimony, inspiration, prayer, reflection, communion, service, fellowship and Bible study -- and an experience that most in attendance will not forget.

The Men's Retreat was the brainchild of longtime Rumple member Chuck Hendrix and Stuart Stevens, co-owner of Cherokee Cove with wife Samantha.

Members of the organizing committee included Danny Kirkland, Syd Spainhour, Jimmy Smith, Richard Forbes, and Curt Salthouse.

A former intern at Rumple Memorial, Rev. Amos Disasa was scheduled to lead the meditations and Bible study that were the focus of the retreat, but his wife, Sarah, was about to give birth to a baby girl (it happened on Monday), Shepherd Temple Disasa. So instead of making the three-hour trip to Cherokee Cove and prospectively miss the birth of his child, Rev. Disasa videotaped his lessons and meditations, and led Saturday morning's breakout sessions with the help of technology.

Disasa began serving as the organizing pastor of Downtown Church in Columbia, South Carolina, in October 2010. He previously served as associate pastor at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Columbia.  Amos was born in Ethiopia and immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1983. He and wife Sarah attended Presbyterian College, where he graduated in 2001. After college he travelled to Brazil to work with street children.  He eventually completed his graduate studies at The Divinity School of Wake Forest University, in 2006, which is about the time he served his internship at Rumple and won the hearts of many Blowing Rock residents with his ministry and sermons.

In describing Downtown Church, Disasa says it is a "...new church development of Trinity Presbytery (PCUSA). We are a community of unfinished people in pursuit of truth. We believe our story is bigger than Sunday mornings — it’s happening all over our city as we share our individual journeys of faith. Rooted in the richness of our Presbyterian tradition, we worship together with joy. Christ called us to a life of change. It is our hope to always look different."

Disasa's ministry to the non-denominational Men's Retreat at Cherokee Cove was augmented by Rev. David Long, Hendrix's father-in-law, who delivered two inspiring meditations and led Bible studies.

A surprise personal witness came in the form of High Country actor Ed Pilkington on Friday night, who shared the trials and tribulations of his faith journey, which included many "side trips" and doubts along the way of his walk with Christ.

By all accounts, it was an inspiring retreat and the organizing committee members were generous in their special thanks to the Stevens family at Cherokee Cove for making everyone feel at home and offering spirtual inspiration of their own.

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