May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and
Christ’s perseverance. II Thess. 3:5
Last month fifty Tabitha women leaders came from miles
around to share three days together. The
pampering at this retreat was the fact they didn’t have to gather firewood,
carry water, or cook during this time. Some walked four hours to get there. The
draw? God’s Word and fellowship with other
sisters in Christ. Not only do each of
these ladies have vibrant relationships with Christ, but they are all committed
to reaching and teaching other women with God’s Word.
Our
purpose for the retreat: II Thess.2:16,17 – that our hearts would be encouraged
by Christ and strengthened for every good deed and word.
The setting – A children’s home on a steep slope in western
Kenya.
Many of the leaders didn't know each other, so we had some
get acquainted games.
Worshiping
together was a joy!
Reports of God’s faithfulness were given by each team, as
well as several personal testimonies.
We
awakened to the morning mist.
The Lord directed our hearts into His love during our
morning personal devotions.
Linda, Peris and Pastor Koech taught on Ministry Teams from I
and II Thessalonians.
As we learned biblical qualities of ministry teams, we met
in teams for evaluating ourselves.
Praying together as teams was a big part of our retreat.
Chai time, three times/day – kept us warm and kept the
fellowship flowing!
Each
of the eight centers presented special numbers.
And the top center leaders who meet together monthly, sang our
song for 2014, which they had composed from Psalm 95.
Thankfully, the dining hall which served as our teaching
hall, could convert to a recreation hall for an afternoon of ladder ball. This space was a blessing, as it was wet and
cold outside.
The ladies had lots of fun playing and cheering on their
teams in this sport, new to them.
More teaching…
Exercises in collaboration.
Some pastors came at the end to greet us, and we had a time
of prayer for those leaders whose husbands are still unsaved.
Our host leaders bade us farewell. Sarah, second from the right, manages the
children’s home along with her husband, teaches primary school, and is one of
our top Tabitha Bible study leaders. Her
husband, Pr. Koech, says she is a changed woman since she began leading the
studies three years ago. Her love for
the Lord and for the Word runs deeply. We
thank God that this is true for most of these top fifty leaders.
Prayer requests:
As the ministry grows, changes are always needed in dividing
up groups, bringing up promising leaders into more responsibility, making
changes where things aren’t going well…
Pray for wisdom for Peris, Pr. Koech and myself as we pray and confer
together with some of our other leaders.
We desire to get some of our studies published this
year. Pray for clear steps forward in
this in the first three months of 2015.
We are continuing our study of the Gospel of John, beginning
the 16th chapter. Pray that
each of the members of our 200+ studies will be impacted each week as she meets
Jesus in the Word. Pray that each woman
would share with her children and husband the truths she is learning and that
they would also be drawn to Christ.
