Gauteng
Women's Retreat
By Meri Matti
There
is a little known jewel of a conference centre south of Johannesburg,
South Africa, called Life Change Centre, Eikenhof.
It was there that the WCG congregation of Hope Christian
Fellowship organised the Gauteng Women’s Retreat from 19th
to 21st March 2004.
The
Centre's hosts welcomed us; Nanette and Jimmy Robertson who made us
feel very much at home. Everyone
was delighted with the beautiful garden setting, fresh towels and
welcoming chocolate on each bed.
Nineteen attendees plus a good handful of day visitors enjoyed
the first of our delicious meals, followed by an enlivening praise and
worship service to set the tone.
The
next day saw the theme of the Retreat starting – Women’s role in
Relationships. Our guest
speakers during the conference were Brenda Eckstein, teaching us on
marriage, Charmaine Davids, giving us the characteristics of a
Christian woman, Pastor Bernie Lebatie from Radio Pulpit on some
‘don’ts’ in marriage, and a finalist from last year’s Boss of
the Year competition, Dr Sandra van der Merwe on women’s role in
leadership and change.
As
well as the communion celebration, the most memorable part of the
retreat, according to the report back, was the video series, Secrets
of the Vine for Women, given by Darlene Wilkinson. Everyone left
feeling they had learned something important enough to change their
lives.
On
the Sunday, the care and bonding that had taken place really showed.
A newcomer to the group, Barbara, received the disturbing news
that her house had been burgled the previous night, but her family had
fortunately slept through it all.
Her new friends prayed for her, and continued to pray as we
knew she would be distressed at what she found when she returned home.
Elated
by how well the retreat had gone, we bid a fond farewell to Eikenhof,
knowing that during this weekend, God had been polishing His precious
jewels. We were
determined to go back home to make a difference for the Kingdom in all
our relationships.
<Picture
removed by request>
Left to right, Anastacia Miles,
Giselle Rabe, Janet Maytham,
Charmaine Davids, Nanette Robertson.
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