“During the weekend of the Hispanic Women's Retreat, 'El Retiro de Damas,' the Lord allowed me to touch the edge of His cloak,” says Angelica Vasquez. Vasquez is one of more than 290 women in attendance at this year’s retreat at Camp MiVoden in Hayden, Idaho.
The purpose of this year’s event, entitled “Triumphant Despite the Scars,” is to come away from secular activities, to meet with Jesus and connect with their peers from other churches. This was fulfilled for Vasquez. She says, “For several years I lived with disappointment by something that happened in my childhood, but, like that woman with blood flow, Jesus restored me and gave me healing.”
The 2018 registration broke all records, and Camp MiVoden was packed, yet the willingness of the attendees to organize themselves in groups to make even more room in order to allow others to attend was amazing.
The theme song, “What a Beautiful Name,” authored by Brooke Lidgerwood from Hillsong Worship resounded loud and clear over the lake in the “idioma del cielo” (language of heaven) and in the hearts of the attendees.
A tradition since 2009, hundreds of ladies take the third weekend of April to walk away from their regular activities to meet with Jesus, recharge spiritual batteries and learn how to follow Jesus in a more comprehensive way.
On Sabbath evening, the ladies enjoyed a social event in the cafeteria. They displayed recycled dresses they designed and decorated completely from repurposed cloth or items. Many had prepared for this event with other women from their local churches.
On Sunday morning the ladies had the opportunity to share testimonies of the blessing the weekend was for them.
Vasquez says, “Now I know in my heart that I am a beautiful and willing woman. Love to my Heavenly Father because He never left me in my moments of weakness. Now I understand that all the difficult situations made me stronger because I always looked for God. Although my healing takes a long time to arrive, my God is restoring me and my home because restored people restore people."
The Hispanic Women’s Retreat main speakers were Carolann De León, a family counselor, and Patty Marruffo, family and youth pastor at Garden Grove Church in California. Jenniffer Ogden, Walla Walla University Church family pastor, spoke to the young ladies.
Registration for next year's retreat opens Feb. 1, 2019. See you there.
A number of teens joined this year's retreat.
The Saturday night fashion show featured clothes made from repurposed items.
