Encouraged by the love of God
Reflections on three March women’s retreats
Spring is a great season for taking time to be refreshed and renewed. More than 160 women in ministry across Japan did that this year. Three retreats were held in the first half of March and Japan Harvest has compiled a report from some who attended these events.
Kanto Women in Ministry retreat
Sixty-seven women gathered on March 6-8, 2019, for the 26th annual Women in Ministry (WIM) retreat in Kanto. Women from all over Japan, including Hokkaido, gathered for three days at the Fukuin no Ie retreat center in the beautiful green hills of Okutama in western Tokyo. Twenty-six were attending for the first time.
The speaker was Bible teacher and pastor’s wife Helen Dalzell from the UK. She challenged the women with deep biblical truths from 2 Corinthians. Robin Walters and Megan Morganstern came from the US to lead in heartfelt worship.
There were also resource people and counselors available for the women to talk and pray with. They enjoyed free time to do crafts, go to the onsen, or walk along the many wilderness paths. Two workshops—one on singing and one on grief—were offered, as well as plenty of time to fellowship over homemade snacks. Women ministering with the Nozomi and Megumi Projects came from Tohoku, bringing jewelry and kimono cloth items to sell.
Small groups gathered after each of the three messages. Daily “morning stillness” gave participants a chance to think, pray, and fellowship over the challenging and encouraging Bible messages. On the last evening there was an opportunity to worship in song and share God’s goodness in spontaneous testimonies. There was also an unusual chance to learn Scottish dancing.
Next year’s WIM Spring Retreat will be March 4-6 at Megumi Chalet in Karuizawa. Please join us!
Hokkaido Christian Women’s Fellowship Day
After the WIM retreat in Kanto, Helen Dalzell spoke at the Hokkaido retreat at the OMF Hokkaido Center in Sapporo on March 9. As one attendee said, “Thinking deeply about the true meaning of the words—God as compassionate and comforting, encouraging—was a dynamic beginning.”
Each participant received a special gift designed by Tina Figilister—a coloring postcard with the theme verse of the conference, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3 NIV).
The retreat theme was “Encouraged by the Love of God.” The teaching was divided into three sessions, titled “The Father Love of God,” “This Changes Everything,” and “We Do Not Lose Heart!” Dalzell prepared outlines for each talk which provided valuable guidance and thought-provoking questions.
When attendees preregistered, they were given YouTube links to the songs which we sang. This helped them become familiar with the songs before the retreat.
The schedule included time for attendees to either join small groups to discuss the topics and pray together or to be alone with God. One woman observed that that opportunity was “refreshing for both introverts and extroverts.”
One participant expressed the importance of “time away from home and family responsibilities to focus on worship.” In a form of worship, many women joyfully shared the various responsibilities of setting up, cooking, dish-washing, and clean-up.
Although a delicious lunch prepared by volunteer cooks refreshed our bodies, there was other “food.” One participant called the retreat “spiritual food and refreshment while enjoying fellowship with Christian women from other backgrounds.” Another said, “It was good to reconnect with old friends and make new friends.”
For some, the retreat set the stage for specific answers, as one woman said: “God told me what I should do next for the future. I made new Christian friends. Sharing and getting others’ insights and encouragement about my personal issues helped me understand what God’s doing in my life.”
Hokkaido is a large island and Christian women cannot easily gather, but one attendee said, “I am always encouraged to meet other ladies from Hokkaido as [this retreat] is often the only time we can connect.”
“It is always a blessing to meet other Christian sisters, to sing praises and pray together as well. God has shown his compassion and comfort through this fellowship day,” exclaimed another.
Kansai Christian Women’s Conference
As a fellowship of more than 70 Christian women from all over Kansai and beyond, as far as Nagoya, we began the day worshipping God for his amazing love and grace. We celebrated our reality as saved in Christ and praised God for his life-giving Word freely given to us.
Our speaker, Flossie Epley, taught us from Psalm 119:1-8 that to continue along the path of blessedness, which is living God’s way, we need to be saturated with God’s Word and let it change our thinking and behaviour. Along with the psalmist, we were prodded to admit our failure, shame, and inability to walk God’s way in our own strength, and to desire God’s enabling with deep, heartfelt yearning. With great relief and joy, Flossie pointed us to dependence on God, who has graciously saved us through Jesus and will not leave us but continues to speak to us through his Word. She reminded us that “God is not silent unless your Bible is closed.”
After some post-lunch stretching and aerobics, the kids headed back to the childcare room (provided free) and we got down to some practical digging and treasuring. We shared ideas for getting into the Bible using a variety of learning styles. Then we dug into Colossians—investigating historical context, eternal truths, and possible applications. With this foundational understanding, we took time to treasure the glorious truths we found—creatively appreciating and mulling over them. We enjoyed each other’s presentations of God’s truth through posters, paintings, reflections, photos, even a rap song and a dinner menu! We spent time responding to God in prayer. Finally, with hearts full of joy, we raised our voices in harmony to sing, “It is well with my soul,” and headed out with peace in our hearts—eyes fixed on the light- and life-giving treasure of God’s Word.
Woman in Ministry (WIM) exists to equip, encourage and empower women in ministry in Japan. WIM is a ministry of JEMA. Upcoming Kanto prayer day and retreat information is available at www.jem.org or by e-mail at wim@jema.org.
Contributed by Susan Driscoll, OMF missionary in Tokyo; Rachel Hughes, CMS missionary in Kansai; and the Hokkaido Christian Women’s Conference Committee.