Attend a Retreat
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The Spring 2020 retreat is scheduled for April 17-19.
All retreats are free and confidential. Our retreats are held in the Central Arkansas area. They usually start at 2 pm on Friday and go through lunch on Sunday. Contact us at GoDeeperStillArkansas@gmail.com if you would like more information. A retreat allows you to get away from the responsibilities of everyday life and focus on receiving the healing of the Lord while allowing others to serve you and meet your needs.
You will be immersed in support, love, worship, and Scripture as we walk through a healing path for the weekend. Many return home refreshed in the Lord, carrying a new identity to start a new season. Remember, there is no cost whatsoever to attend a retreat. Retreat Description
Friday afternoon The retreat starts with a welcome, introductions, and some opening remarks to set a framework and expectations for the weekend. Next, we spend some time in singing and worship. This invites God’s presence and His peace and prepares our hearts to be knit together. Friday evening This evening is spent in sharing our stories. For many of you this may be the first time you have ever openly shared your story, but it is a critical first step in the healing process. Some of our team members will also share a brief story from their life. Some team members have had abortions and others have not, but we all have a story of a healing journey. We believe it’s important for us as team members to be vulnerable and transparent with you, even as we are asking you to do the same. Saturday morning We start the morning with worship, and then we do a teaching called ‘The Perfect Sacrifice’. This is taken primarily from Isaiah 53, and covers the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. After the teaching, a team member will lead you through a time of prayer addressing forgiveness and reconciliation. Saturday afternoon Redemptive grieving is a necessary step in the healing process. We address this issue and offer you tangible ways to connect with your lost child (ren). This gesture brings a redemptive action to your grief. Next, we affirm the vital role of motherhood and fatherhood. Abortion damages the heart of a mother and a father. Only as your mother's or father’s heart is spiritually reconciled to your lost child (ren) can you be free to embrace your calling to mother or father from a healthy heart. We refer to this calling as the “Mother Mantle” and the “Father Mantle”. We affirm this healing step with a powerful symbol as well. Next, we address taking responsibility for the consequences of abortion that can affect our living children, our cities, our churches, and our land. We then pray with you to break the common spiritual strongholds that can be erected in our lives as a result of sin and poor choices. You will then have an opportunity for personal prayer ministry or for free time. |
RETREAT ADVANTAGES Our heavenly Father is full of mercy, grace and compassion. He longs to see the wounded and grief-stricken healed and set free from their captivity. The Bible teaches in Isaiah 61:1-3 that God has anointed us, His people, to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and to bring freedom to the prisoners. Further it says that we are to comfort all who mourn, to give a garland of beauty instead of ashes, to anoint with the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and to place a mantle of praise where there has been a spirit of fainting. This scripture is the backdrop for our Deeper Still retreats. God can bring healing to people in a variety of ways, but we have found that a retreat setting is the most conducive venue to help women go to deep places of healing in a short amount of time.
So, what’s not to love? |
Saturday evening After dinner, we do some sharing from the day and spend the evening in “crying out” for the restoration of the many areas of your life where you have lost hope, passion and vision. We combine our prayers with worship and celebration of the work God has done. By this time, joy begins to spring forth!
Sunday morning We end the weekend with a beautiful memorial service, communion and brunch.
For the next 2-3 weeks following the retreat, we initiate an email chat to help you continue to process your experiences. Then, 4-6 weeks after the retreat, we have a reunion dinner… a time to reconnect and share what has happened in your life since the retreat.
Sunday morning We end the weekend with a beautiful memorial service, communion and brunch.
For the next 2-3 weeks following the retreat, we initiate an email chat to help you continue to process your experiences. Then, 4-6 weeks after the retreat, we have a reunion dinner… a time to reconnect and share what has happened in your life since the retreat.
How has a post abortion healing retreat changed your life? Here are real testimonies from real women.
I thought I was healed. But attending the Deeper Still Retreat reminded me that God, in His infinite wisdom, patience, and love for me, always desires and helps me go deeper still with Him. It’s amazing...with every new small step, each whispered ‘yes’ from me, He has shown me new freedom from the guilt, shame, and pain of my abortions. I reconciled with my children, spiritually speaking, who are now with my Heavenly Father. For the first time, I feel joy at the thought of meeting them face to face. I have been so blessed, that I have no choice but to thank Him and share my story with others who are wounded and captive to the shame and guilt of abortion.
- A Rock Creek Real Woman
I was so ashamed and felt confident that others would shun me if they only knew ‘the real me’. I “looked okay,” played all the church roles...even with a smile. But inside I was dying, broken, alone. ‘Getting over’ the baby I had aborted as a teen was simply not happening... some 20 years later and I was grieving still. When someone shared their abortion story, how God had broken the chains of bondage to their abortion sin, I admitted to her, “Me too. I’ve had an abortion too.” After going through an abortion recovery Bible study I attended the Deeper Still Retreat weekend. I stand up a new woman...my heart has been cleansed, I’m convinced that God not only still loves and forgives me, but that He has a great plan for my life. I. Have. Purpose. God has given that to me.
- A Rock Creek Real Woman
I was abused by a family member as a teen and had 2 abortions before my sixteenth birthday. My sense of worthlessness and lack of control over my life sent me spiraling into a life of drugs, alcohol, poor choices in mates, and, much to my despair, I was distant and inattentive to my living children. After going to a Deeper Still Retreat, I met God in a whole new way and was forgiven, not only for my sin of abortion but so many other things. When I got home from the retreat I shared about my past with my now grown children and asked for their forgiveness. I now have a real relationship with them and talk with them weekly. One of them shared, “I always felt like I had a sister!”
- A Rock Creek Real Woman
I thought I would feel relief after my abortion. No one knew but my best friend who took me, and the clinic worker assured me it was ‘just a glob of cells, not a baby at all’. I knew better but, in my attempt to bury the gut-wrenching guilt, I would not even speak the word ‘abortion’, stopped going to church, and even changed to a new group of friends. The worst thing after the abortion was the nightmares... every night I had these horrible dreams of murder and death... usually involving children. It was horrid. Depression became my new name. I had a secret that I could not share, covered with fervor for fear someone would find out. I married and when we became pregnant I could no longer bear the pain alone. I sought help, attended a recovery Bible study and eventually attended a healing retreat. If I have anything to share, it’s that God loves us, in spite of our horrid sin, and He not only wants to heal us from that sin, He wants to heal us to a new beginning, a new way to live life in freedom. Don’t bear your secret alone... share it with someone you trust and seek help.
- A Rock Creek Real Woman
I’ve never been able to conceive a child after my abortion. I was confident that this was punishment for my sin... that God was angry with me. The abortion affected my entire life... I didn’t smile and laugh much. Depression was always there. In desperation I agreed to attend a Bible study for post abortive women (SaveOne), then attended a Deeper Still Retreat a few years later. Please don’t hear me being trite or ‘churchy’ when I say I understood for the first time that Jesus’ sacrifice of His life gave me the freedom from my sin and the freedom to start over, to have a real, joy-filled life. It’s all about Him, His love, His grace, His mercy. If you’ve had an abortion, tell someone you trust, message the church (rcsaveone@gmail.com), go to a Bible study, attend a weekend retreat... God does not want His children to live in shame, He wants us to experience freedom.
I thought I was healed. But attending the Deeper Still Retreat reminded me that God, in His infinite wisdom, patience, and love for me, always desires and helps me go deeper still with Him. It’s amazing...with every new small step, each whispered ‘yes’ from me, He has shown me new freedom from the guilt, shame, and pain of my abortions. I reconciled with my children, spiritually speaking, who are now with my Heavenly Father. For the first time, I feel joy at the thought of meeting them face to face. I have been so blessed, that I have no choice but to thank Him and share my story with others who are wounded and captive to the shame and guilt of abortion.
- A Rock Creek Real Woman
I was so ashamed and felt confident that others would shun me if they only knew ‘the real me’. I “looked okay,” played all the church roles...even with a smile. But inside I was dying, broken, alone. ‘Getting over’ the baby I had aborted as a teen was simply not happening... some 20 years later and I was grieving still. When someone shared their abortion story, how God had broken the chains of bondage to their abortion sin, I admitted to her, “Me too. I’ve had an abortion too.” After going through an abortion recovery Bible study I attended the Deeper Still Retreat weekend. I stand up a new woman...my heart has been cleansed, I’m convinced that God not only still loves and forgives me, but that He has a great plan for my life. I. Have. Purpose. God has given that to me.
- A Rock Creek Real Woman
I was abused by a family member as a teen and had 2 abortions before my sixteenth birthday. My sense of worthlessness and lack of control over my life sent me spiraling into a life of drugs, alcohol, poor choices in mates, and, much to my despair, I was distant and inattentive to my living children. After going to a Deeper Still Retreat, I met God in a whole new way and was forgiven, not only for my sin of abortion but so many other things. When I got home from the retreat I shared about my past with my now grown children and asked for their forgiveness. I now have a real relationship with them and talk with them weekly. One of them shared, “I always felt like I had a sister!”
- A Rock Creek Real Woman
I thought I would feel relief after my abortion. No one knew but my best friend who took me, and the clinic worker assured me it was ‘just a glob of cells, not a baby at all’. I knew better but, in my attempt to bury the gut-wrenching guilt, I would not even speak the word ‘abortion’, stopped going to church, and even changed to a new group of friends. The worst thing after the abortion was the nightmares... every night I had these horrible dreams of murder and death... usually involving children. It was horrid. Depression became my new name. I had a secret that I could not share, covered with fervor for fear someone would find out. I married and when we became pregnant I could no longer bear the pain alone. I sought help, attended a recovery Bible study and eventually attended a healing retreat. If I have anything to share, it’s that God loves us, in spite of our horrid sin, and He not only wants to heal us from that sin, He wants to heal us to a new beginning, a new way to live life in freedom. Don’t bear your secret alone... share it with someone you trust and seek help.
- A Rock Creek Real Woman
I’ve never been able to conceive a child after my abortion. I was confident that this was punishment for my sin... that God was angry with me. The abortion affected my entire life... I didn’t smile and laugh much. Depression was always there. In desperation I agreed to attend a Bible study for post abortive women (SaveOne), then attended a Deeper Still Retreat a few years later. Please don’t hear me being trite or ‘churchy’ when I say I understood for the first time that Jesus’ sacrifice of His life gave me the freedom from my sin and the freedom to start over, to have a real, joy-filled life. It’s all about Him, His love, His grace, His mercy. If you’ve had an abortion, tell someone you trust, message the church (rcsaveone@gmail.com), go to a Bible study, attend a weekend retreat... God does not want His children to live in shame, He wants us to experience freedom.