Getting Ready

Vida Nueva's women's retreat is this weekend.  There's been so much preparation for this weekend and we're praying that the 140 women who attend will be richly blessed.  The theme of the weekend is "Cambio de Rumbo," which is translated, "Change Direction."

  

We will be completing a study on the life of Jonah--God asked Jonah to change direction and go to Nineveh.  However, Jonah made the decision to change his direction and go toward Tarsus--miles away in the opposite direction of where God wanted him to go.  Jonah's bad decision had consequences for him and for his shipmates.  I'll save the rest of the teaching for after the retreat.

The ladies of Hilo, Aguja y Biblia started preparing the craft for the retreat about six weeks ago.  We thought we were finished, but the women just kept enrolling.  I made 10 more whales this week and then yesterday, Maria Elena and I assembled 110 bags (have 30 more to do today) with the whale, buttons, needle, instructions, etc.  I'll be helping her during craft time on Sunday.

We weren't the only ones working on the retreat, Ena and her leadership team worked all day yesterday and are still working today to be sure everything is ready.   

Pray that all goes smoothly and God is glorified!

Metamorphosis!

This weekend Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva's annual women's retreat.  Just over 130 women from all four of our sites (Miravalle, Crown Plaza, Lourdes, Apopa) traveled two hours north of San Salvador to Hotel Alicante.  This year's theme was "Metamorphosis."  

The two days were full of activities (painting our personal Metamorphosis tote bag, visiting a butterfly garden, games and dramas), sharing (prayer time, meals and group discussions) and personal reflection time.  

The days were also full of great Bible studies as we heard from three different teachers who focused on the phases of the butterfly life cycle.  First, Ena Lopez taught us about the caterpillar!  Did you know that not all caterpillars become butterflies?  This reminded us of immature Christians who still need milk long after they should be feasting on the meat of the word (Hebrews 5:11-14.)  Dr. Marta Colato taught about the chrysalis.  We never realized until we saw it on video just how the small caterpillar struggles to envelop itself in a hard protective shell.  What comes next for the chrysalis?  Waiting!  They are wrapped up and hanging from a thread for 21-23 days.  The chrysalis reminds us to put off the set aside the old things, renew our minds with the mind of Christ and be ready to become a new creature (Ephesians 4:22-24.)  Patty Contreras finished the study by talking about the finished work of the butterfly!  Just like the butterfly there is a process to follow to be transformed into a new creature.  It includes worshiping God, finding peace in his Word and offering him our surrendered lives.  (2 Kings 5:1-14.)

We were left to answer the following questions:  In what part of the process of metamorphosis are we?  What do we need to do to begin/continue the process of transformation so we can become the women Christ intends us to be?

Here are some great pictures from the weekend!

 Craft time

Chrysalis at the butterfly garden

Beautiful orange butterfly

 My small group discussing after the first Bible study session

 Grounds of the hotel--a bit too cold to swim, though.

 It was so great to get to know the ladies in my small group

 

Group picture in our Metamorphosis shirts