Sixty-seven ladies from across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois came together for the annual Women’s Retreat at Camp Wakonda October 4-6, and all said they were blessed. Guest speaker Tawny Sportsman, said she felt the Holy Spirit move and she too was blessed by the entire weekend. She experienced the love expressed by the ladies and she enjoyed the hugs.

Here are some key thoughts from Tawny’s presentations:

You need to enter through the gate, that represents Jesus Christ through whom we come into the presence of God.

The altar of sacrifice required the death of an animal or a lamb to pay the price for sin. Jesus is the real sacrifice and He died on the cross. We need to ask for forgiveness daily. God does not want less than your best. We need to ask for forgiveness and we need to be specific and give God the GPS coordinates. If there is no trust, there can be no intimacy. If you trust God, share with Him and confess your sins daily.

The laver where the priests washed their hands and feet before they entered the sanctuary. We need to have a daily baptism, daily cleansing and a renewal of dedication.

The lamp stand lit the entire sanctuary representing the Holy Spirit. We need to be completely emptied of our sins by daily confession and daily baptism and then there is space, room to be filled by the Holy Spirit. Then we can demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22, 23

The table of shewbread: the table represents His presence, Jesus Christ is the bread of life. Embrace God and turn away from sin daily. Feed on God’s Word. Put on the full armor of God. If you miss any part of your armor, the devil will attack that area where the armor is missing. Ephesians 6:13-18

The altar of incense: Jesus Christ is interceding on our behalf for others and for ourselves, but we need to be specific in our prayers.

There are gifts that God wants to give us and they are the gift of forgiveness, the gift of a clean and new heart. We can have light and comfort and peace as we are daily being filled with the Holy Spirit, and with spending time in His Word

The evil one cannot survive in the presence of God.

In everything, we must give thanks

We must bless and not curse, and that includes not saying anything negative about someone else, and we must forgive others since God has forgiven us. If we cannot forgive, we cannot be forgiven by God.

The ladies experienced the modern version of the sanctuary service and actually walked through a miniature size version of the sanctuary. Each symbolically confessed their sins, washed their hands, entered into the lit sanctuary, ate the shrew bread, offered prayers at the altar of incense and surrendered their hearts to God. They individually received a hug from the presenter, Tawny.

The rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the ladies! They enjoyed and were uplifted by the company, great food, awesome breakaways, and intercessory prayer in the chapel They also experienced a 3D puzzle of the sanctuary.

Thank you ladies for attending and participating in this great spirit-filled weekend. A special thank you to Scott and Tammi Baker, Shanna Chavez, Josefa Campos and her staff, and to the Women’s Retreat Committee members: Deidra Roat, Celia Patchett, Joan Carlson, Deb Egger, Nadine Thomas, and Carrie Veldman. Also a very special thanks to you, Tawny Sportsman, for sharing your time, knowledge, gifts and talents. Most of all thank you God for taking control of the weekend and blessing us all abundantly.

May we all continually spend time with God, and may we be used by God to seek and save the lost, telling others about Jesus Christ.

Patricia Antoine-Norton, Wisconsin Women’s Ministries Coordinator