Discipleship Retreats revisited ~ April 2022

So….if you’ve followed our news over the years, I (Barb) have led a few retreats for women, both in Belgium and now in Sweden. Sometimes it's just been women of the church.  Other times it's been pastors' wives.  And other times it's just been with a new group of Jesus followers who needed teaching in their own language (which, thankfully God provided teachers and translators because I haven't learned Arabic or Farsi yet!)  My biggest delight in doing this is bringing together an international group of women to a quiet place to hang together, cook together, craft together, pray together, cry together, laugh together, and listen to each other and to God together.  And this latest DR retreat, 2-3 April 2022, was no exception.

We started with an international brunch at church and gift bags from the world.  Super fun!

Getting our brunch space set up at Wesleykyrkan....candles...flowers...gift bags...food from the world as we celebrate the world that God has placed us in and those who He is bringing to us!

 

In fact, in many ways, it was like a dream come true!

We had prayed for 15 women.  We ended up being 14, because at the last minute one of our Swedish guests ended up being sick with a cold.  Thank you, God, for each woman who was able to dedicate this time to you.

The words that greeted us at the Höllvikensstrand retreat center....God, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can and the understanding to realize the difference.

That all important first fika!  in the sunshine...outdoors...priceless!

 

Feeling totally blessed in this moment....and we had just arrived!

Fika buddies ~

We had prayed for good worship.  Our 3 worship leaders – Elin, Rut and Victoria – were amazing.  We were ushered into the presence of God with song and word and silence.

Because Jesus is the center of it all!!

 

Love the chorus on this one that keeps repeating...."in you we find freedom!"

We had prayed for solid teaching.  Well, I can’t judge myself but I can honestly say that Johanna’s teaching on practicing listening to the voice of God was just great.

Teaching in the quiet of the night in the chapel

 

We had prayed for good weather.  Check out the pictures.  No need to write anything further!

And the list goes on…….

Because every retreat and missionary update should include a sunset photo op!

I'll call this one "A on the sea"!!

No words to describe how beautiful it really was...

 

We listened.  To God and to each other.

We sat in silence.

We cooked together and managed to not set off the smoke alarms!

We reflected on God’s Word and the message of hope that is ours through Jesus Christ.

 

Some of us were new to the conversation.

Some of us have been talking and listening to God for years.

Many languages were spoken by the world that was represented in the room:  Swedish, Danish, English, Romanian and Russian, Arabic, and Farsi.

All were welcome.

All was ready ~ thanks to Jesus!

And, as introduced at last year’s retreat at Åhusgården in Åhus, there was a dip in the sea.

Except that this time, Barbara Jean Swanson embraced this aspect of Swedish (and Danish) culture and got in the water with the other 4 young Scandinavians.  Water temp was 2 degrees Celsius, air temp was 4.2 Celsius (so translated that to 35.6 Fahrenheit in the water, and 39 Fahrenheit in the air.  Here’s a few pics to prove it!

Before we dipped in....I asked if I could go in the water with my winter wool hat on....they just laughed at me and assured me that I didn't want to put my head in the water....what do I know??!

To the sea we did go...and we weren't the only ones enjoying an early Sunday morning dip~

 

Contact me personally if you want to see the video....you know how to find me!

Feeling blessed!

By the sun.

By friends.

By God!