Brenda’s Bulletin

Archive for April, 2016

April 16, 2016 Joyful and Content!

April 16, 2016 - 2:54 pm - Posted by Brenda Matthews

It’s hard to believe that it was just last Saturday that we held the ladies’ retreat with the theme of “Joyful and Content” and I am sooooooo grateful for your prayers.  God gave us a fantastic day.  Since planning it and preparing it absorbed my time over the last several weeks (even precluding a beach trip!) and since you prayed it into being, I’ll tell you all about it.

Comenzando el Día 9 de abril

I was amazed with the punctuality of the ladies in a culture not known for that.  By the time the bus arrived, we were all there and could leave right after taking some photos.   We had a welcome, breakfast, and ice-breaker.  I stretched out teaching the memory verse because the horses weren’t ready, so hopefully we all learned “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord!  I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!” (Habakkuk 3:18, NLT) in its context and are ready to apply it to our lives.

Actividad AM Caballos

It was worth the wait for the horses!  This was the first time the majority of the women had ever been on a horse and the majority of them actually did a trail ride.  A huge thanks to Susu, Bob, Steve and Jennifer for taking care of all that was involved.  Let me clarify that when I mentioned what I was thinking of in relation to praying for safety, it was not because I was thinking of falling or meeting a scorpion (as some of you noted)!  My major concern was that there were no incidents with the horses.  Well, that would make for a boring day.  The first group came back with bleeding arms – fortunately just from some scrapes with branches.  The second group had two horses come galloping down the road with rather frightened women aboard.  They can laugh now!  The lead horse was from the ranch and just wanted to go home and eat while the second horse followed.  Bob and Steve arrived shortly thereafter to rescue the damsels in distress, but by then the horses were stationary.  The third group was made up of the ladies who expressed zero interest in the horses.  I just wanted them to at least get close to a horse, but, in the end, all but three of the ladies were on the horses.  I was incredibly relieved when we got through the rotations with no broken bones!

Actividad AM Manualidad

There were three rotations going on in the morning.  Another group was the craft where the ladies could express their artistic abilities.  Each of the 22 of us got to take home a lovely memento with our theme verse thanks to all the preparatory work and guidance of Irene (flowered blouse).

Actividad AM Búsqueda Fotográfica1

The other group was the photographic scavenger hunt.  I gave the groups a long list of items with the instructions to take the photo of as many of the group as possible with the item and to be creative doing it.  There are a lot of signs with the letter “E”, so one of the items was to find 3 “E”s.  I love the creativity of one of the groups to get that photo!  I still haven’t received all the photos, but I plan to put together a photo presentation and have a retreat reunion in a couple of months.

Enseñanza

It wasn’t all just fun and games.  The ladies wanted to dig deeper into the Scriptures, so we had four sessions in which to do that in the book of Philippians.  We first got to know about all the suffering Paul went through and was going through as he wrote the Epistle of Joy, so we knew that the command to be joyful and content applies to all situations and in all circumstances because our joy and contentment is found in the Lord and strengthens us.

Enseñanza Actividades

Okay, I confess that I did add fun and games to the teaching time.  In one activity, they noted the joy-stealers, but they were later covered with items we are grateful for.  At the end, the teams formed an acrostic of “Gozosas y Contentas” that reflected what we learned from the teaching.  I’ve saved all of those visuals to use at the retreat reunion as well where I hope the ladies will be able to share a lot of testimonies of how the truths of God’s Word have helped them become more joyful and content.

Adoración

Of course, we also had some awesome times of worship led by Karlene and Lois.  Another huge thanks to Karlene for all the work and prayer put into the whole experience.  We ended the day worshipping God in song and prayer.

Personas y Grupo

Thanks for praying about my camera.  The repairman was able to do a temporary fix, but when it breaks, I’ll need a new one.  Hopefully “temporary” lasts a couple of years! (Although I doubt it.)  Fortunately, there were lots of other people taking photos at the retreat.

And then I forgot to take a photo of Thursday’s exciting event!  We finally started the new cell group!!!!  It’s not what I had envisioned because I was hoping for it to be made up of people who didn’t know anything about the Bible or salvation.  I’ve been faithfully inviting them and they say they will come (Mexican culture), so please continue to pray that God will move them to come.  So Thursday we started with people from El Faro.  Clara (top row of the group photo with a headband on) had already made the commitment to accompany me and we were joined by her sister Magui (2nd from the left in the top row, beside Clara) and a new couple who only started coming two weeks ago, Aníbal and Siria (Siria in the yellow top in the group photo).  They discovered the church on Facebook.  You could also check us out here: https://www.facebook.com/iglesiaelfarolapaz/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel   Anyway, we had a fantastic time together with everyone participating and lots of energy.  I’m really looking forward to leading this group through The Person of Jesus study!

I’ve continued to teach or review a memory verse each week at the Tuesday morning ladies’ meeting and I just rescheduled my turn teaching because,.. Belkis is coming to visit!  I’ll be taking some vacation time and continuing with some ministry, so I’d appreciate your prayers, but I forewarn you that I’ll be falling even further behind with correspondence.  I really feel badly about so many of you that I have not answered, but I can’t give much hope that it’s going to happen.  Do know that I love to receive your emails and the assurance of your prayers – they are a source of encouragement and joy!

Joyful and content,

Brenda

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