Fall Women’s Retreats

at Mission Meadows, Portage Lake Bible Camp and Covenant Mountain Mission Bible Camp

Women from dozens of churches have already attended Great Lakes Conference Women’s Retreats this Fall – at Camp Mission Meadows and Portage Lake Covenant Bible Camp. Registrations are still open for the retreat at Covenant Mountain Mission Bible Camp.

Mission Meadows Highlights

As we arrived for the retreat at Camp Mission Meadows (on the shores of beautiful Lake Chautauqua near Jamestown, NY) we were shown the sign-ups for the various activities that were going to be offered over the weekend. So many things to choose from – Foccacia Bread Art, Axe Throwing, Shell and Rock Art, Yoga, Dancersize, and probably others that I am forgetting! The sign ups were filling up fast and everyone was excited for the weekend to begin!

Our speaker for the weekend was Rachel Johnson, a “daughter” of Stoneridge Covenant Church near Pittsburgh and a graduate of North Park University and Princeton Seminary. Rachel was a camper at Mission Meadows in her childhood and teen years, and later served on summer staff. Her message was based on the scripture of Ruth, tying in Ruth’s noble character and her goodness with the love God has for us and how we need to love ourselves.  “He made us On Purpose, and in order to love others well we have to love ourselves.” She ended one of her serious messages with the song from Mr. Rogers, “I Like You As You Are”.

I like you as you are
Exactly and precisely
I think you turned out nicely
And I like you as you are

I like you as you are
Without a doubt or question
Or even a suggestion
Cause I like you as you are

I like your disposition
Your facial composition
And with your kind permission
I’ll shout it to a star

I like you as you are
I wouldn’t want to change you
Or even rearrange you
Not by far

I like you
I-L-I-K-E-Y-O-U
I like you, yes I do
I like you, Y-O-U
I like you, like you as you are

I think we all (mostly) know God loves us, but what if we all really believed He liked us too?  Pretty powerful stuff!

PLCBC Highlights

Two weeks later Portage Lake Bible Camp (Onekama, MI) hosted the second women’s retreat.  Upon check in we were greeted by many warm smiles and warm popcorn! We were given our nametags with the schedule and our room assignments. We were informed to meet in the chapel at 6:30 for a snack and games. Well, the snack was an incredible charcuterie “board”. It was a feast with several different types of cheeses, olives, meat, nuts, and dried fruit. Not your typical snack! We were then given a piece of paper with bingo squares and “facts”. We needed to match the women in the room with the facts in the squares. The ones with most initials in the squares would receive a prize. There were three winners!

Some of the activities offered throughout the weekend were watercolor painting, coloring, macrame, movie night and sugar scrub making. The movie night included a magnificent warm pretzel buffet with all the toppings! Our cook, Patty, went all out!

Julia Sandstrom was our speaker for the weekend. Julia recently moved to Grand Rapids, MI from Manitoba, Canada. She is now a teaching pastor at Thornapple Covenant. Her message was about “Hearing from God”. She gave us a handout that helped us understand the difference between “The True Spirit” and “The False Spirit” and how to discern between the two. She also led us in three spiritual practices – The Examen, Lectio Vitae and Lectio Divina.  The Lectio Divina on Sunday led to a lively and informative conversation. I loved listening to what other women gleaned from the passage.

Then it was time to leave, but not before a group picture. The sun was shining brightly along with the smiles of the women who will go home feeling rejuvenated and hopefully a little closer to God.

CMMBC Coming Up

Covenant Mountain Mission Bible Camp in Virginia will hold their Women’s Retreat November 3^rd through the 5^th.  Sara Charlton, Lead pastor of St. John’s Covenant Church in Millersburg, OH, will be speaking on the theme of “Honey in the Rock” based on Psalm 81:1: “But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” You can register here.