Shenandoah District held another tremendous women’s retreat with 650 coming together in Williamsburg, Va., with the theme: Discover the Joy. Sonja Burpo and Haley Morgan Smith were among the guest presenters. Sonja is one of the principal characters in the Heaven is for Real story. Haley is on staff at North Pointe Community Church in Atlanta, Ga.
One of the highlights of the conference was a community outreach project in they had a pizza delivered during the evening rally on Saturday night and gave the delivery person a $1,000.00 tip, raised in a collection from conference participants. The one who received the gift, Mindy, was a single mother with two children. The atmosphere was electric. Mindy wept and was showered with love. Needless to say, it was a moving experience. Praise the Lord for the hearts of God’s people.
Andrea Summers, director of the Wesleyan Women’s Movement, taught a seminar in the conference and stated afterwards, “At a time when retreats and conventions struggle to meet registration goals, Shenandoah’s Discover the Joy is growing in momentum. This inter-generational gathering included women from churches across Virginia and West Virginia. Women in their late teens and women in their late eighties loved engaging in a web of relationships that included peers and members of all generations.”