What a wonderful and life-changing weekend at Midwest Deaf Women's Retreat!

On a pleasant fall weekend, October 21-23, one hundred and one (101) ladies from 9 different states came to the 22nd Annual Midwest Deaf Women's Retreat at Spencer Lake Christian Center, Waupaca, Wisconsin, to worship God together.

Guest speaker Charmaine Koppinger (CODA), from Minnesota, shared and preached a strong message on the subject of healing based on Isaiah 53:5 and the freedom to worship God in a way we enjoy doing - such as dancing and drawing/painting. She brought her husband, Larry, and her ministry partner, Diane, to minister to us. A few of the wonderful reports: many ladies stepped up to dance and sing as God moved among them; a few were healed of physical pain; some were touched by God with emotional pain/past; and one precious lady accepted Jesus into her heart. Sunday, the last day of the retreat, ended with a powerful example of the Father's love.  An unforgettable weekend!

Founder/Chairperson of Midwest Deaf Women's Retreat (MWDWR), Rev. Cindy Dively of MN, introduced and welcomed 2 new committee members: Stephanie Wilcox of Kansas and Brandee Wineinger of Illinois! The rest of MWDWR committee: Kim Durrah (WI), Diana Kinder (WI), Bridget Timmers (MN), and Stephanie Visscher (IL). Amy Pringle was also introduced as National Deaf Culture Fellowship's North Central Regional Officer under NF Women's Ministry.

SAVE the DATES!  October 19 - 21, 2012. The 2012 guest speaker from the west is Peggy Lee LeFors (Deaf)! See you next year!

We - the Anchor Deaf Women's Ministry (Illinois & Wisconsin), Deaf Women Fellowship of Minnesota, Midwest Deaf Women Retreat, 2 pastors and 1 layleader (19 ladies in all) - attended our 1st Deaf Ladies Leadership Retreat (DLLR) at Maranatha Deaf Church A/G in Wisconsin from August 19 - 20, 2011.  The goal of the retreat was to learn and develop our leadership skills in the ministry.  Elizabeth Beldon (Deaf) was the speaker and she did a fabulous job!

Elizabeth shared with us on the theme of the retreat which was "God's Prescription for a New You" – using Isaiah 40:31, "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles."  Elizabeth also taught us in depth of the Beatitudes and what being a leader is truly all about.  The mission of the Deaf Ladies Leadership Retreat is: "Through edifying, encouraging and equipping, our Deaf leaders/ladies will become one in accord." 

The DLLR will be held every 3 years.  Thank you Rev. Cindy Dively for starting a leadership retreat for women.  We look forward to the 2nd retreat in 2014!

More than 45 ladies came together to learn from Anchor guest speaker, Lucy Schmidt (Deaf), on adding faith in worship to our God. Lucy’s messages were encouraging and motivating. The 8th Annual Anchor Deaf Women’s Ministry was held in Normal, Illinois at First Assembly of God Church on Saturday, May 14, 2011.  The Anchor Deaf Women’s Ministry is scheduled every year in the Spring to edify women of Wisconsin and Illinois in the Word of God and have fun together!

The Anchor Committee wants to say THANK YOU to the men who helped set up lunch and served us ladies! Also thanks go to Sandy N. for taking various pictures during the event.  If you would like to order a CD of ADWM photos (about 100 pictures), please call Sandy N. at 309-222-8105 vp.

If you happen to be at General Council in AZ, please join with me at Women's Ministries Luncheon on Wednesday, August 3.  You may pay $40.00 online by adding the event to your GC registration when you click the link below.

You may purchase tickets for this eventat this web address:  http://generalcouncil.ag.org/register

If you are already registered for GC and would like to add a WM Luncheon ticket to your registration, please call Sheila Mixer at (417) 862-2781 ext. 4052.

Please let me know if you are going so I can reserve a seat for you.  Thx!

NFWM President

Cindy Dively "CD"

2nd Annual Liberty Deaf Women Fellowship, March 26, 2011, Saturday at Liberty Deaf Church – A/G from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and again 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. we had “Quiet Influence” based on I Peter 3:4, saying “Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in”.

 We had 24 ladies attending. Cindy Dively, our NF Women’s President from Minnesota was our speaker and she was so anointing. One deaf lady told me that she enjoyed Cindy’s speaking and the fellowship and she wants to come back next year for 3rd annual! What a blessing to see 24 ladies to be blessed by God’s word and His presence. We had 2 young ladies performing a special ASL song. Several ladies come forward for healing prayers. The best part is that we all prayed for each other. God was surely upon them. Praise His name.

 We all went out to Drusilla Seafood for a time of fellowship. We can see Cindy enjoyed our Southern/Cajun food.

 After that we came back for more of Cindy’s preaching…we had outside a little bonfire that we all turned in our personal notes to the fire, believing God hears our inner prayers. We had words of encouragement.

 Hope and pray you all enjoyed seeing the pictures. The pictures were taken by our 2 wonderful photographers: Carla Miller and Helen Woodward.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlanne74/sets/72157626244376319/   taken by Carla Miller
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlanne74/sets/72157626365902079/   taken by Helen Woodward

The ladies of Twin Cities Deaf Assembly of God in St. Paul, Minnesota took over the service.  Sister Deann Dirkx, from North Central University, preached the Word related with "Quiet Influence."  We had a Women Ministries offering.  After service, we went out to eat at Olive Garden with two groups of women and men sat separately.  We enjoyed the fellowship!

We are FREE!!!  We have VICTORY!!!

Ask the ladies who went there for their testimonies!

Written by Chairperson of DWR Cindy Dively

 

There were 69 ladies from ten states at the 21st Deaf Women's Retreat (DWR) in Wisconsin!  The 10 states were: Colorado, Florida,Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.  The committee members are thankful for the Deafblind interpreters and a Special Service Provider to meet the needs of a Deafblind lady.

 

Sister Karla Babin, from Missouri, was the speaker with the theme topic: "Need the Lord's Favor".   The verses related to testimonies are Isaiah 61:1 – 3.

 

 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, 
   because the LORD has anointed me 
   to proclaim good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 
   to proclaim freedom for the captives 
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a] 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor 
   and the day of vengeance of our God, 
to comfort all who mourn, 
 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— 
to bestow on them a crown of beauty 
   instead of ashes, 
the oil of joy 
   instead of mourning, 
and a garment of praise 
   instead of a spirit of despair. 
They will be called oaks of righteousness, 
   a planting of the LORD 

 

She brought a group of three ladies from her church to share their stories by using their Cardboard Testimonies.  Here are two of them: 

 

Proclaim good news to the poor. Bind up the brokenhearted

 
The oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

 

Each lady shared their experiences on how they were in bond, abused, and addicted until they found Christ who set them free.  They also led beautiful worship on Saturday evening as well as one meaningful song on Sunday morning after the communion.

 

During Communion service, Sister Hedy Miller shared an interesting history of the Passover bread called "Matzo," a flat, unleavened bread.  She showed how the unleavened bread represented the crucifixion of our Risen Lord.

 

There were four special talent shows presenting a "Onward Christian Soldiers" song in Korean Sign Language, a song in Russian Sign Language, a Russian dance, and a gospel magic entertainment.

 

On Saturday morning, we had a time of silence to remember our beloved DWR committee Barbara Reu's mother, who passed away recently. Barb Reu wasn't able to be at the retreat. Three DWR committee members received an award for their service on the committee a number of years: 10 years - Bridget Timmers of Minnesota; 10 years - Diana Kinder of Wisconsin (Kim Durrah received the award in Diana's absence due to a family obligation); and 15 years - Barbara Reu of Illinois.  BIG congratulations to three of them for their faithfulness on the DWR committee all these years!  On a side note: Barbara Reu has stepped down from DWR committee.  She will be missed, but she plans to continue attending the retreat!

 

Fun activities included:  Bonfire with S'mores, Bible Trivia game, Crafts, and trip to the Red Mill.

 

Some of the ladies were slain in the spirit and one new believer received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Glory to God!

 

Our next DWR will be from October 21 - 24, 2011 at the same place, Spencer Lake Christian Center, in Wisconsin, and our speaker will be Charmaine Koppinger, a CODA, from Minnesota.

Hope to see you there!

1st Mid-Atlantic Deaf Women Retreat in Falling Waters, WV
"Thirsty? I Thirst for God, the Living God!"
October 8-10, 2010

From Our National Deaf Culture Fellowship Women Ministries Northeast Regional Representative:
        "I want to say this was so awesome in first ladies at MADWR retreat. The speaker Cindy Dively are great messages.   Yes I am thirsty for God , the living God rain.. rain.. rain.. bubble.. bubble.. bubble.. wave.. wave.. wave..  Halleujah.  It was good to meet ladies with new and old faces. 
God bless you all!"

Barbara Confreda
NF WM NE Regional Rep.

From Mid-Atlantic Deaf Women Retreat Team:
        "We were so blessed and honored to have our NF Women President Rev. Cindy Dively to be our first MADWR speaker. We were approx. 40 ladies from MD, VA, PA, NJ, DE, and RI in the ages of 20's to 60's. There were many new faces as well as old faces.
 
On Friday, after we all have arrived, we were excited to spend the weekend together, in fellowship with each other and to worship God. Cindy started off with the sermon "Why seek the Lord, Why?". This was a starting point to a spiritual hunger, that only God can satisfy and fill.   

On Saturday, in the morning Cindy did an awesome teaching on "Free Me From Ungodly Fear" and giving our fears to God. We were divided into groups of 3-4 ladies each. Each group was given an orange. Each person peeled off a piece of orange skin as we took turns to share of ungodly fears, we had related to ourselves, our families, God, our churches, and Deaf World. It was an important part of the healing process to be set free from fears.

In the evening, we wrote our fears on a piece of paper. Afterwards, we did a Prayer Walk to a fireplace throwing the papers into the fire by faith, believing that God set us free from our fears. Cindy made a very interesting point here: Fears in our lives can block our thirst for God, the Living God. Several ladies mentioned that they felt a release from fear after throwing the papers into the fire. We came back to an awesome time of worship, praising God for what He has done.  The same evening, Cindy preached "Pentecostal in My Soul". It is the Holy Spirit, the living water, that we need! 

On Sunday, after a good night sleep, we were ready for more. "Woman at the Well" was an anointing sermon. Jesus wants us to come to Him as we are, with all our fears, worries, struggles, frustrations, and all. And He wants to make us whole, and what more, He wants us to be filled with flows of the Living Water, the Holy Spirit! 

We were ladies from different backgrounds and walks of life, and it was a great blessing to see how we all shared our fears with each other as sisters in the Lord, and all trusting God together to set us free from ungodly fear.  ARE WE THIRSTY? YES, WE ARE THIRSTY FOR GOD, THE LIVING GOD!"

(Retreat pictures are on our MADWR Facebook group and a few pictures will be added on www.pdcag.org/madwr.)

Lene Hobbs, Jennifer Ramos, Marilyn Skidmore, Sook Kang, and Sharon Sandoval
MADWRTeam

Comments from our Team:
- "It was an amazing experience being a part of the committee for MADWR. But my favorite part was God pouring out His Spirit especially strong on Saturday night, and renewing His daughters. I can't wait for next year!".   
- "I went to many retreats in the past and this one is the best I have ever been in as God did His awesome part in all of us. It was God!"
- "It was beyond my thoughts of what this retreat would be, that no words can describe, the message was exactly what I needed to hear and respond to.  This was an answer to my prayers!