Pearls of Wisdom Retreat

 

This past weekend, we held our annual PWOC fall retreat up in Seoul. In the past, this event was run as a joint retreat with ladies from chapels around the peninsula. But due to budget cuts, stuff like that is no longer possible. In some ways that's too bad. Getting to know ladies from other bases and worshiping together would be a unique opportunity. But we also took full advantage of our freedom to plan the retreat ourselves.

Our AMAZING programs coordinator, Sarah Markowski, was given a vision for a testimony-based retreat and called it 'Pearls of Wisdom'. We asked four different ladies from our group to share their testimony, and equipped all of the ladies to write and develop their own testimony story. I'll admit that, at first, I had a hard time envisioning how this theme would come together and I wasn't sure our ladies would feel like they'd learned as much as they would have if we chose a topical focus. But the whole thing was so powerful and spirit-led. I think we all walked away with great memories, feeling refreshed and inspired to go out and follow Christ.

We stayed overnight at the Dragon Hill Lodge in Seoul, went out to dinner in Itaewon, and then returned to the South Post Chapel at Yongsan where we began the formal portion of the retreat. Our amazing worship leader helped set the stage with some songs about trusting God in all circumstances. Then my friend Jessica Kinney shared her testimony about Experiencing God in the Daily Grind. Jessica's a very busy mother of three home-schooled boys, and shared what the Lord has been teaching her about priorities and time management while living here in Korea. She gave us some great, practical ideas for how to better connect with God in the middle of our busy schedules. That talk alone was worth the trip up to Seoul!

After that, I shared some pointers for writing your own testimony and encouraged the ladies to take some time that weekend to think over what God has done in their life and how they would explain their faith to someone who asked them why they believe in Jesus.

Once our evening session was over, we went back to the hotel and some of us got together in one of the hotel rooms for popcorn and a movie. We watched the new popular Christian film called God's Not Dead. It's a really, really great movie. Very convicting. I highly recommend it! Below is a trailer.

On Saturday, we all had plenty of time to get to know each other better and swap testimonies over the delicious meals we shared. We had 36 women at our retreat, and they are all beautiful, unique, and have so much to teach me about God!

 Again, we got to spend some time worshipping the Lord before our session began. Our worship leader, Leigh Anne, selected an unofficial theme song for the weekend called "Blessings" by Laura Story. Leigh Anne is such a gifted singer and all of us were moved to tears each time we sang the chorus. The words: "What if your blessings come through raindrops, what if your healing comes through tears", spoke to each of us in very personal ways. I had to video tape the song so we could all relive that moment after we returned to normal life. I missed the first verse, but the rest of the song is here:

 On Saturday we heard three more testimonies. The first was from Kristen Waldrop. Her testimony was entitled "I called, He Answered: The Power of Answered Prayer." She shared the story of adopting her son Andrew. Their struggles with infertility and learning to wait and trust in the Lord tugged at all of our heart strings. I know she's normally very uncomfortable speaking in front of crowds, but she did a great job!

After that, we watched a DVD recording of a testimony from another one of our ladies. (Yes, I taped and edited the whole thing. ;^) ) She's an active duty officer who was diagnosed with breast cancer 10 months ago. She shared what that's been like, going through chemo treatments while living and working in a foreign country, and how it's affected her family. She is a great example of grace under pressure, and her faith was very inspiring!

Our final testimony was from my close friend, Cortney Piper. Her story was called: "A Change Will Do You Good: Faith Found on a Broken Road." I knew she'd struggled in her faith and veered off the path for a while in college. But I learned a lot about my dear friend that day. It is truly remarkable seeing how far she's come in her faith. Her life is a powerful testimony to the fact that God is in the redemption business! She is such a light in our community and naturally overflows with God's love and grace. We were all moved by her example of practical, raw, passionate faith.

The final thing we were left with was an image Sarah had been meditating on while planning this retreat. On a family vacation to Malipo Beach, she and her kids collected a lot of sea glass. She enjoyed teaching her children how the sea glass was once garbage - cheap, dirty, broken, jagged waste that bobbed around in the ocean and was polished over time by the waves and sand. Now they're smooth, polished, beautiful, and treasured. The only difference between the broken glass bottles and the sea glass that we display on our mantle pieces is the transformation process. Before we have a relationship with Christ, we are just like that broken glass. But if we'll embrace the way the Holy Spirit is working on us, and transforming us into the likeness of Christ, the end product will be truly beautiful! To help us remember this idea, she had some of her sea glass turned into necklaces that we could take home! How cool!

Sarah Markowski - miracle worker!

 I was so blessed by my weekend away with these ladies! God is so good and I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve them.