Skip to main content

Battles of the Feminine Soul

    This past August 16 ladies, 13 from João Pessoa plus 3 from interior Paraiba cities, embarked  on a four day trip to learn about our "Battles of the Feminine Soul". Leaving our families, work or our daily tasks is a battle in itself, but we wanted to experience this journey to enrich our spiritual lives and be ready to face our troubles and strives ahead of us. We left early, taking a 12 hour bus trip, 2 dozen ladies from Recife tagged along and we reached our destination safely around 8 P.M. on a Thursday night.
     The XXI Women's Seminar was held in Aracaju for the first time, and all 177 ladies that attended this year were very excited about the lectures, workshops and fellowship, that was to take place there. The hostesses did a wonderful job with our facility arrangements, we were able to enjoy a beautiful retreat site surrounded by nature, with simplicity and comfort. The atmosphere was relaxing, the food was delicious, but the most enjoyable part were brought by several speakers, two of our own,  that delivered wonderful messages of encouragement, addressing very relatable issues we face in our daily lives, juggling with our marriage, young or teenage  children, housework, jobs, church services, elderly parents, relatives or friends in trouble, grief, emotions, hormones, aging, persecution, faith and so on. We know we are on the winning side, but how wonderful it is to be reminded and to have the opportunity to share, and to hear from our fellow "sisters in arms."  It was heartwarming. We came back renewed and reassured that all our battles belong to the Lord, and we are fully committed to resist till the end serving in His army.

Monica Newlin

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"What About Baptism?"

Edda and I went to a nearby city to study the Bible with a family, Genilda (who is already a Christian), Ana, Mariana, Luiza, and Jefferson. While we were reading God's Word, Ana's husband, Silva, came in and sat down, and then blurted out: "What about baptism?" It took me by surprise because he has barely studied with us, but, most certainly, is already thinking about spiritual matters. Our Bible study then took a lot of detours, answering this question or that. Silva said he still has a lot of questions, and we pray that the Lord will use us to answer them, bringing him to understand the Good News!

One More Goodbye

This year has been rough for Borges's family. They lost a pillar in their family, his wife's mother in February. Now her brother has passed, buried today. He was diagnosed with prostrate cancer 18 months ago. A policeman, used to taking care of the family, he had to settle with being taken care of by the family as his body gradually shut down when the cancer metastasized to his bones. Borges and Geilza have spent every free moment taking care of Demilson's needs, and it has been torture watching him slowly wear away. His colleagues in the Military Police carried his casket, played taps on a trumpet, presented his family with a Paraiba flag, and thanked his family for supporting him in defending society for nearly thirty years. It was a nice gesture, but the event that gives us believers hope in the face of death is Jesus winning over the grave. He is our certainty that a grave is not the end.

Prayers and Fasting for our Families

One of the most devastating attacks of the enemy against God's people is when he invests in our families. We pray for protection for our loved ones, but we live in a world that never tires of trying to divide our families, constantly pulling and poking at our faith to find a vulnerable spot.   The congregation in João Pessoa, in the face of one difficult situation after another, has taken a whole Sunday this month to stay together in prayer and fasting for our families.   We are praying for couples in the church losing hope of solving their differences, Christian wives tearfully bearing the responsibility of maintaining the marriage with non-Christian husbands, mothers and daughters in unrelenting tugs of war, unemployment and financial strains, and the most shocking of all, one of our teenager, who is barely beyond childhood, confessed to the church that she is 8 months pregnant (her own mother only found out a week before). It g...