The Tribune

By YOLANDA DELEVEAUX

The word “retreat” signals a withdrawal from the chaotic clutter that 21st century lives have become, from the constant buzz of a world tugging at us for our attention, away even from the distraction of family and loved ones and womanly responsibilities – to a safe space for individual reflection, renewal and focus, for bonding with the like-minded, sharing and reconnecting.

The National Women’s Ministry Retreat of the Church of God of Prophecy, held at SuperClubs Breezes Resort & Spa late last year, provided such an opportunity where women could step away from the everyday and into His presence, into his purpose, into position.

The more than 200 women gathered had come prepared to step into His presence. They were ready, committed to, anxiously expecting and yearning to embrace the opportunity to wrap themselves in the presence of the Lord, yielding to his Holy Spirit, exposing their hearts and minds to be renewed while reconnecting with their sisters in Christ on a journey that is both an individual and collective one.

Standing at the forefront, Minister Angela Swann, National Women’s Ministry director, believes the retreat provided an opportunity for the women of the church to advance deeper into the intimacy of His presence as they cast aside their day-to-day concerns to hear from God, and to be reminded of His purpose for their lives.

Held under the theme, “In His Presence…Pursuing the Presence of God 2019”, inspired by Psalm 16:11, Minister Swann and her team spent many tireless hours planning and organising the retreat, but the exercise was not an end in itself. At its conclusion, the hope and expectation, Minister Swann explained, was that the women would build and fortify their relationships with God. The objective of the retreat also extended to include the family of God and how women relate to and interact with their sisters in the Lord.

“Hearing God speak to my spirit was a great encounter. Having the plans of God implemented in my life was greater. Sharing both with my sisters and seeing how God excited them to move together with me was encouraging. But fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives was the greatest adventure of the Retreat – ‘Pursuing the Presence of God 2019’ – because we actually advanced closer and deeper into the intimacy of His presence,” Minister Swann said.

Launching into the retreat, the opening session was facilitated by Minister Damaris Thompson, and the tone was set for the three-day event with a powerful time of prayer, praise, ministry and worship. Bishop Dr Franklin Ferguson, National Overseer of the Church of God of Prophecy in the Bahamas, accompanied his wife, Minister Dr Rovena Ferguson, who attended the retreat and gave the closing remarks and prayer during the first session. Bishop Ferguson was heartily welcomed as he brought greetings and encouraged the women.

Brother Dwight Ferguson, senior pastor of the Elizabeth Estates Church, was the guest speaker for the opening session. He shared a powerful word from the Lord, drawing from the theme’s scripture, Psalm 16: 1-11. He illustrated God’s unique ability to at once uncover the truth of our lives, of the hidden desires of our hearts and the secret motivations and fears, and bare all before him, while at the same time, as we draw closer, it allows the Almighty to cover us completely under his wings, giving us refuge, protection, guidance and the safety that we need to navigate this world.

The Saturday sessions took on a more informal approach as the women came together in small group encounters. Minister Shawnette Roye, workshop session facilitator, oversaw a time of prayer, scripture reading and worship. Dr Joanne Walker, international guest speaker/facilitator, then led the women through a series of self-reflecting exercises that helped each of them understand the role of discernment in the life of the believer. They also uncovered the reality of their relationship with the Lord – how they were interacting with Him, were they spending both quality and quantity time with Him, how was the Lord revealing himself to them, were they positioning themselves to hear from Him.

Through this session of teaching, group discussion and internal reflection the women at the national retreat were encouraged to enter into a more dynamic, more intimate relationship with their Heavenly Father.

The closing session can best be described as a time of powerful praise and worship. Under the direction of Pastor Dianne Coverley, session facilitator, we entered His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. The presence of the Lord was in the midst as the worship team sang the songs of Zion, encouraging the women to release their praise to the Almighty.

Bringing a word from the Lord during this final session, Dr Walker explored the encounter between Jesus and the woman with an issue of blood. The eighth chapter of Luke tells of how Jesus travelled from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. He healed many persons, restored many lives that had been torn apart by demon possession and his miraculous work had been talked about far and wide so wherever he went there was a thick crowd of persons seeking to get close to the Saviour, seeking to get something from the Saviour, seeking to be restored by the Saviour.

Against this backdrop, Dr Walker explained that we could begin to understand why this woman with the issue was there to be healed. She pointed out that initially, it was not even her story, Jesus was actually on his way to heal Jairus’ 12-year-old daughter – Jairus, the synagogue leader. But then the woman, whose name the Bible does not record, interrupts his journey.

It was at that moment that Jesus, on his way to Jairus’ house, surrounded by his disciples and followers, surrounded by a crowd so thick as to almost crush him, felt someone touch him. It was the woman with the issue of blood. She had grasped the edge of his cloak and instantly been healed.

Carefully dissecting the passage, Dr Walker shared with the retreat how this woman, who was the exact opposite of Jairus – he, the well respected Jewish leader with a family and with wealth to support his loved ones, while she was poor, having spent all her money trying to rid herself of her illness and likely estranged from her family and community because of it – was committed to pressing her way in closer because, like Jairus for his daughter, she was desperate for a touch from the Saviour.

Walking them through the scriptural report, Dr Walker demonstrated how the key to seeing real change in our lives, in our situations, sometimes begins with desperation, a hunger and thirst for Christ and His restorative power and His saving grace. Regardless of how the world might characterise us, measure us, weigh us in the balance and find us wanting, as women we too have access to Christ and to his holy presence.

As her labour of love through ministering God’s word came to a close, an unexpected, but very powerful moment was experienced when Dr Walker invited all the young women attending the retreat – those under the age of 25 – to come forward for prayer. Almost a dozen teenagers, girls and young women stepped forward and were received with an incredible outpouring of love. The older women – mothers, grandmothers, aunts and loved ones – rushed to lay hands and pray with and for them. Tears flowed as hearts and hands were lifted before the Lord. A prayer of covering went up for these young women, a prayer over their future concerns, relationships, careers, schooling, ministry, for safety and long life and good health. In that moment the retreat enlarged its territory to include those who 20, 30 years from today will hopefully be the supporting members of the National Women’s Ministry.

While feeding the spiritual was the primary focus, the retreat also allowed the women a time of fun and fellowship. For a grand finale, following the final night’s session, there was a ‘60’s Midnight Soiree’ – “a time for the women to laugh, unmask, be entertained and share life experiences to uplift and encourage one another” – all done while they were dressed in their bell bottoms, platform shoes and Afro wigs.

“This retreat was a refreshing experience for me. God affirmed to me the power of finding rest and a home while I am in his presence. A year ago, God showed me that I needed to love his presence in order to see Him in the fullness he has. This retreat taught me how to make this possible,” said Sister Ghalysa Swann.

“Overall an impactful spiritual encounter for each church director to take away and build on to develop the local women’s ministry,” said Minister Donna Delancy, Women’s Ministry director for the East Street Tabernacle

Sister Charis Johnson added: “I thoroughly enjoyed this year’s ladies’ retreat. ‘In His Presence’ reminded me of the importance and significance of His manifested presence being in my everyday experience The workshop sessions challenged me to experience a newness of God. Every year I get a new opportunity to experience a different aspect of this God. It really is going from glory to glory. The one thing that stood out to me was in the session where we spoke about discernment. The challenge that was put forth, what if God is choosing to speak to you in a different way. What if He is now choosing to speak to me through dreams. I should never get used to only hearing Him one way. I cannot wait to share what I have learned with others.”

“Deep down in my spirit I knew I wanted to go to the retreat. But because of Dorian I was spending my resources helping friends, family and strangers alike. So, my choice was not to go. However, I still felt a tugging to be there so I thought I would just commute back and forth to the sessions. However, God opened the door for me to sleep over. And now I know why,” said Sister Sharon Ferguson. “I enjoyed all the sessions, I learned so much. The practical posture for the day and scripturising in His presence was eye-opening.”