It is Friday evening and you have just arrived at the Scottish Mission Women’s retreat feeling stressed and harassed from the busyness of the week and the rush to get away from home to the retreat venue an hour or two down the road. Very soon however, you and thirty other women are doodling on blank sheets of paper, with an assortment of colourful pens and pencils and you can feel the tension dissipate. You realise that you have come to the right place. The rest of the weekend will be bursting with creative interactions filled with colour, story, testimony, song, and self-care. You leave feeling refreshed in body and soul. This is the weekend in a nutshell. If you attended, you are probably still reflecting and talking about your experience.
The Scottish Mission Women’s Ministries retreat took place on the weekend of 5-7 August, on the campus of Stirling University. The campus features beautiful buildings which surrounds a large lake. Getting anywhere requires a lot of walking -- too much perhaps -- but the exercise is good for a sense of wellbeing, and for creating opportunities to interact and talk while moving between events.
On Friday evening, Simone Coetser, a high school teacher and pastor’s wife from Aberdeenshire gave a talk: “Called to be a queen.” She invited the retreat participants to find connections between the story of Esther and their own lives. She shared personal experiences in her life, ranging from a struggle with depression and isolation, facing down overt racist attitudes during the Covid pandemic, and her quest to find ways to make a difference. In telling her story she said, “I learned through my life experience, that it is possible to deal with almost anything through the practice of prayer and fasting, deciding to make a plan, and remembering that God is ultimately in control.”
The talk naturally flowed into a workshop on praying in colour. For many who attended the event this was a new method to pray. The women doodled pictures and shapes on blank sheets of paper as they reflected on an awesome God. Then they focussed on their personal relationship with God and the pages were filled with new colours and new images. When they began to pray for the issues that were foremost on their minds, and for each other, the doodles and the colours started to coalesce into rich artifacts of personal meaning and value.
One participant commented afterwards that this was just what she needed on this Friday evening as it allowed her to let go and open a space in herself to engage with the thoughts and events of the weekend. Almost everyone commented that this was unusual and different, but that they found it to be an effective way to pray. They had discovered another way to be in the presence of God, and to communicate with a creative God in new and creative ways.
Sabbath brought more creativity and more colour into the events of the retreat. First up was a conversation, with some women from the Bible. Directed by Temitayo Odewosi six of the retreat participants took on the character and personas of Miriam, Rahab, Deborah, Abigail, Esther and Mary. Their reflections took the form of monologues about their life experiences, but also opportunities for questions and responses. A highlight of this presentation was that each biblical character came from a very different background, but that God could use them regardless of their circumstances, and even their mistakes. Miriam was struck with leprosy at one point of her life. Rahab was pagan and made a living in some questionable ways. Esther was an orphan. Mary came from a bad neighbourhood, but they all played a vital part in God’s plan.
Jennifer Mendes rounded off the early session with a a quick summary of the Sabbath school lesson in which she made multiple connections between the topic of Christian endurance and strength in times of hardship, and the stories that had just been told.
The worship service presentation was led by Cedrene Botha, the wife of Pastor Jimmy Botha, Scottish Mission president. She brought more colour and creativity to the weekend. Her talk was based on the story of the woman at the well. She had brought a model of an actual well with her as a prop. The well was filled with colourful ping-pong balls and each woman was encouraged to pick a ball from the well. All the women who chose a specific colour were then grouped together for prayer to start the session.
Cedrene’s presentation was also filled with biographical experience. She shared how she and her husband realised that they would not be able to have children and how they struggled with this. Reflecting on how Jesus connected with the woman at the well, she explained that “Christ meets us where we are. The Samaritan woman was never asked for what she was not able to give. But when she found a connection with Jesus, he challenged her and drew her into a greater potentiality for her life.”
During her presentation, Cedrene collected all the ping-pong balls from the women, and placed them into a jug. The balls now represented the combined experiences of joy and hardship of all who attended the retreat. Then she poured water into the jug. The water represented the Holy Spirit. As the water filled the jug, the balls spilled over the edges. This represented the blessings that their lives could become in their interactions with the people around them.
Throughout the weekend, there were opportunities for testimony and prayer. Music also featured strongly through the weekend. Two of the participants celebrated their birthdays over the weekend.
On Sabbath afternoon the women socialised and listened to a health presentation by Dr Claudette Comersamy, Scottish Mission Health Ministries leader.
As evening drew near, Jessica Perea, pastor’s wife from Edinburgh and Dunfermline gave a talk. Keeping with the theme of abundance, she spoke about how the gifts of the Spirit worked in our lives to help us serve out of abundance. She also introduced a practical way to explore the gifts of the spirit in one’s own life: the practice of journaling.
Jessica’s talk raised so much interest that the ladies continued to interact with her and each other well into the evening while eating popcorn and drinking smoothies in the residential area of the retreat. The weekend had truly become one of cups that were overflowing, whether it was a spiritual sense of abundance, or ping pong balls in containers with water, or bowls filled with popcorn.
On Sunday morning there the focus was on self-care and the pace of the retreat became even more relaxing. Simone Coetser spoke about being “God’s daughters.” As they explored themes of spiritual self-care, Simone guided the women through a facial and hand massage routine trying out luxurious beauty products specially sourced for the event. Simone shared her recent experience of being part of a beauty pageant and winning a title. She spoke about the value of being open to taking risks and letting God lead you and use you, even in unusual places.
Feedback after the event was overwhelmingly positive. In the WhatsApp group for the event, the women spoke about the good balance of activity, providing a variety of experiences and presentations, but also opportunities to connect with one another and interact. One participant said that the weekend achieved the goal of feeling refreshed and renewed. “We left, feeling that our own cups were full and overflowing.”
Christine Shaw, who attended the event from the Edinburgh district said, “The speakers gave us great talks to help us reach out to other ladies. We were able to share our experiences and to be of comfort to each other. I found our prayer time very helpful. The music was beautiful, voices of complete strangers sounding like a choir.”
Simone Coetser said “I felt there was a feeling of acceptance and welcome and sisterhood. Making space for each woman to be themselves, to be honest, and find support. Safety to share, to be heard, to be able to be yourself, be supported.”
The women’s ministries retreat was organised by Scottish Mission Women’s Ministries leader, Margareth Mukisa. Keep an eye out in your local churches or on the Scottish Mission Website and newsletter for future events of a similar nature.
