PELITA - The Methodist Church Newsletter
Listed below are articles abstracted from past issues of PELITA
September 2008 - Friendship with God
A Prayer Retreat for Methodist Pastors' Wives
This special Prayer Retreat was held for Methodist Pastors’ wives from various Annual Conferences. It was to give an opportunity for the wives to have a time of fellowship and rest spiritually and physically, away from home and church commitments.
It was organized by Reconre Ministries, and the Director, Dr Lee Bee Teik, was our retreat facilitator. We thank God for her love and passion to minister to us. Approximately 50 of us enjoyed the beautiful and peaceful environment at Clear Water Sanctuary in Batu Gajah, from 18 - 21 August 2008. We are also grateful for the loving service rendered to us by the retreat organizer, Mrs Dorcas Ong of Ipoh Wesley and her dedicated team of helpers.
The theme of the retreat was Friendship With God. Each session started with a wonderful time of worship led by gifted worship leaders. The carefully chosen hymns were beautiful, with lyrics that melted our hearts and drew us closer to God. After each session we were given a time of personal reflection when we observed a time of silence to listen and talk to God and to journal our thoughts.
The four sessions were centered on the theme of friendship. We began with God’s call and Jesus’ invitation to friendship with him. In the midst of our ministry with our husbands, it is hard not to neglect our own vineyard, which is our personal relationship with God.
Jesus’ farewell speech in John 15 spoke of His great love for us by laying down His life for us, His friends. What is our response to His attentive love? Who is God to me? Those were some questions posed to us. How we view God affects our attitude and the whole of our lives. A distorted image of God may be due to our
weakness or emotional damage, our sin and wrong teachings.
The last session spoke very aptly of ‘forgiveness at the heart of friendship.’ We were encouraged “never to tire of forgiving and so give the devil no hold. Be merciful and compassionate, spontaneously and wholeheartedly. The Lord forgives you all day long; in the silence of your heart, then, do the same, untiringly and sincerely.”
Not many of us were familiar with Prayer Retreats with silence at designated times. We did not find it easy and needed much self-control but learnt that silence was a gift that we offered each other as people seeking a sacred space to be still and to reflect on the presence and action of God in our lives. This was much needed to guard our secret garden and cultivate a more intimate relationship with the everwaiting Bridegroom, our Lord Jesus. The retreat ended with a covenant service and the Lord’s Supper.
We treasured the time of bonding and fellowship as sisters in Christ with a kindred spirit and special calling to be Pastors’ wives. We would like to encourage even more wives to join future Prayer Retreats, to come away and withdraw to a time of spiritual, emotional and physical rest.
Yem Soh Kit
Wesley Methodist Church, Klang